Speakers

Chair, LGA Improvement Board

David Parsons is Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) Improvement Board and a Deputy Chairman of the LGA. He is leading the national agenda for the RIEPs, sustainable communities and Total Place.

He has been Leader of Leicestershire County Council since May 2003. Under his leadership Leicestershire has twice been confirmed as a '4 star' authority. David is Chairman of the East Midlands Regional Assembly, a full member of the UK Delegation to the Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the European Union and a member of the Commission for Economic and Social Policy (ECOS).

David has been appointed to the Regional Economic Council by HM Government, which brings together representatives from all the Regional Economic Cabinets. He is also a member of the East Midlands Regional Economic Cabinet.

David was appointed CBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list for his services to local and regional government.

Executive Chairman, Future Purchasing

Jon is Executive Chairman and Director of Future Purchasing, a management consultancy specialising in procurement improvement, sourcing excellence and strategic supplier management. He spends most of his time working closely with chief procurement officers in many of the FT Global 500 companies as well as major public sector organisations, and has been doing so for the last 25 years.

He is co-leading a practitioner-focused research team examining category and supplier management in Europe and the US. He will present findings, together with case study illustrations in local government and the public sector, at the SOPO Conference.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply acknowledged Jon’s contribution to procurement professional development and innovation with their Swinbank Award in 2006. Jon is a regular contributor to CPO Agenda, is a member of their advisory board and has been a visiting research fellow at Birmingham, Verlick Leuven and Bordeaux Universities.

Chief Executive, Value Wales

Martin joined the Welsh Assembly Government in October 2006, as Chief Executive, Value Wales, having been Executive Director, Smarter Procurement at the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). At the OGC he led the work on procurement policy, sustainable procurement, the engagement of SMEs, capacity and competition in key markets, e-procurement, construction best practice and strategic supplier relations.

Martin had previous public sector experience as Director of Supply Strategy and Estates at the Department of Social Security and he became the first Commercial Director in a Government Department at the then Department for Transport & Local Government. He also has extensive experience in the private sector with high-profile companies including Babcock & Wilson, ICI, Esso, Glaxo and BAA.

Martin was a member of the 2006 Sustainable Procurement Task Force and Whitehall’s Sustainable Operations Board. In addition, he was closely involved in the Latham and Egan reports into the construction industry.

Vice Chairman of SOPO, and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Liz is a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and has worked in procurement for 25 years in both the public and private sectors. She has been at Solihull Council since 1988, originally as Principal Purchasing Officer, and was promoted to Head of Organisational Effectiveness in 1997, a role which encompassed corporate responsibility for Procurement, Best Value, Performance Management, Customer Consultation, Emergency Planning and CCTV Management. In April 2002 she was seconded to work on Strategic Partnering for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

Liz was a founder member of the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government and was appointed as the first Chairman when the new Society was launched in 1997. She has always played an active role on the National Executive Committee and is currently in her second spell as Chairman of SOPO.

Service Development Manager, Constructionline

Aoife is charged with developing the Constructionline service in line with BIS objectives of reducing duplication and the burden faced by suppliers, especially SMEs, when engaging with the public sector on construction projects. She works with a number of industry stakeholders to share best practice and champion the Latham Report’s call for a single national register of pre-qualified construction companies.

Aoife worked for the Security Industry Authority on implementing the Approved Contractor Scheme against the Private Securities Act 2001, and previously worked for many years in an SME environment, dealing with the issues faced by SME construction suppliers.

Aoife sits on the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) Forum Management Group and the BS100 committee for construction procurement, and has been an active stakeholder in the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s work to standardise equalities information in the PQQ process, as well as being a stakeholder in PAS91.

Head of Procurement, Eversheds

Mike is a partner in Eversheds’ commercial contracts group and head of the firm-wide procurement group. In addition, he is the local government champion for commercial work within Eversheds.

Specialising in local government work, public procurement and PFI/PPP project work, Mike has handled a number of major transactions for both public and private sector clients. Mike's recent experience includes acting for Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority on its Waste PFI scheme, which has a value of £4.5bn and is the largest scheme of its type in Europe.

Prior to joining Eversheds, he spent 11 years in local government, specialising in commercial and development issues.

Mike is a recommended individual in Chambers Legal Directory and Legal 500 and is a regular contributor to trade journals such as Municipal Journal and Local Government Chronicle.

Programme Manager, IDeA

Gordon is a programme manager with the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA). He is a public sector procurement specialist with 29 years’ practitioner experience.

He was formerly responsible for the delivery of all IDeA’s procurement support, and he recently completed a two-year secondment to the Cabinet Office’s National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning. Gordon is currently leading on the CLG-funded ‘Efficiency Exchange’, which aims to utilise Web 2.0 tools for collaborative efficiency knowledge sharing and problem solving – this will be the focus of his breakout session.

Gordon has made submissions on aspects of public procurement to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee and the NI Assembly and has been an expert peer reviewer for Defra’s Sustainable Consumption and Production evidence-based research programme. In addition, he has published extensively in the field of public procurement.

Director of Brand and Reputation, Kyocera Mita UK

Tracey joined Kyocera Mita UK in 1993, attracted by the opportunity to work on its pioneering ECOSYS sustainable laser printer range. As PR manager, she was responsible for the campaign that beat the launch of Windows 95 to the award for best technology campaign.

Moving on through product management and marketing communications, she was promoted to Kyocera Mita’s UK board in 2003. As a result of her work on Kyocera’s Green Card network, which promotes sustainable business practices, Tracey has become a regular contributor to seminars and conferences on sustainability and CSR topics.

European Officer, Local Government Association

Dominic joined the Local Government Association in 2003, where he built up a wide network of contacts within local government and Westminster before continuing his career in 2005 in the Brussels office where he leads a range of policy campaigns. His areas of expertise include local public services, EU internal market rules including public procurement, EU funding and regional development policy, and EU transport policy. His work involves direct liaison with Government, the European Commission, and the European Parliament to reflect the interests of local authorities in new EU legislation.

He chairs a European network in Brussels on public services and procurement which brings together over 30 local government associations to discuss EU policy issues affecting local authorities. He also chairs the UK's local authority European Officer Network (EON), and sits on the European steering committee for Interreg IVC projects.

Director of Strategic Procurement, Business Management Directorate,
Gloucestershire County Council

Claire has 20 years’ experience in corporate, education and social care procurement in both unitary and county councils. At national level Claire has been organising chair of the annual Social Care Commissioning and Contracting Conference, has served as a contributor to the DH national contracting guidance and the National E-Procurement Partnership and as Service Advisor for the IDeA. She is a member of the National Executive Committee of SOPO and currently chairs the OGC Local Government Professional Services Steering Group, an initiative designed to save £285m across the local authorities.

Claire’s mission is to drive best practice procurement principles and e-procurement across every area of local government spend, including the traditionally overlooked care and commissioning sectors. The value of this agenda has already been demonstrated through the delivery of over £3.8m of savings with the award-winning South West regional learning disability pricing tool and database. Claire is currently leading major change within Gloucestershire through the implementation of SAP and a £10m procurement benefits programme.

Procurement Advisor, Coventry City Council

Denise holds the post of Procurement Advisor at Coventry City Council. She has worked in the procurement field with Coventry for over 30 years and is able to demonstrate a vast amount of experience and knowledge.

In her current role Denise has successfully promoted procurement training across the authority, raising the standard of procurement knowledge. She has been instrumental in introducing a comprehensive guide to procurement for use by both procurement professionals and ad hoc users.

Denise has also been at the forefront of writing and implementing model contracts in the social care arena as well as for more general use.

Procurement Manager, Coventry City Council

Mick has held the post of Procurement Manager at Coventry City Council for over 12 years. He has played a large part in driving Coventry toward e-Government targets such as e-auctions and the implementation of e-tendering, and has led and advised on many of Coventry’s high-profile procurement exercises.

Mick is a member of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) Management Committee. He has been a member of many other CBC groups, including chairing the CBC Food Group from 2001 to 2003.

Deputy Director, Government Equalities Office

Alison joined the Government Equalities Office (GEO) in November 2008 as Deputy Director with responsibility for strategy. She leads work on areas such as equality in public procurement, negotiations on the EU anti-discrimination Directive and delivery of the Government's equality PSA target. Prior to joining GEO, Alison worked in the Treasury, the Cabinet Office (leading the independent review of royal family and ministerial air travel) and the Ministry of Defence, including five years in Saudi Arabia. She has also worked on secondment to the third sector as Director of Programmes for a multi-faith research body.

Alison is an accredited reviewer of major government programmes and has led reviews on a number of significant projects including the ID card.

Procurement Services Projects and System Manager, Coventry City Council

Angela is a Chartered Management Accountant and is Prince 2 Practitioner Accredited. She currently works as Procurement Services Projects and System Manager at Coventry City Council where she is responsible for the implementation of procurement systems including iProcurement and eTendering. Angela also manages the purchasing card programme, which has led to Coventry becoming a leader among local authorities in the use of these cards.

Prior to this Angela spent 10 years managing teams in internal audit and has experience of working in both district and unitary authorities. From 2000 she was seconded on a number of occasions to special projects including the Local Tax and Benefits Best Value Review, Housing Benefits Contract Management and an EDMS project.

Senior Contracts and Commissioning Manager, Coventry City Council

Simon is a Senior Contracts and Commissioning Manager at Coventry City Council, working in partnership with NHS Coventry. Simon has responsibility for Joint Mental Health Commissioning, preparation of contracts, needs mapping, service procurement, monitoring and contract legislation. Much of his work focuses on ensuring process, outcomes and expectations are equally managed by both providers and funders of services. Simon previously worked for 15 years in the voluntary sector for a national charity where his entrepreneurial skills helped him to develop a number of major projects and new services. These include several social enterprises and employment projects and the nationally acclaimed mental health website, “Jess”.

Head of Strategic and Commercial Procurement, Cumbria County Council

Alan is Head of Strategic and Commercial Procurement at Cumbria County Council where he is responsible for the leadership and management of the Council’s procurement unit, with a direct budget of £30 million and a non-salary expenditure in excess of £250 million. Alan’s role includes the development of corporate procurement policy, frameworks and procedures, the identification and delivery of efficiency savings, the use of a range of e-procurement tools and ensuring that the Council’s procurement practices contribute to the achievement of the Council Plan and Key Objectives. In addition, Alan is leading the establishment of a shared procurement service with the Cumbrian District Councils and other related organisations.

Alan has extensive senior management experience in the public, private and third sectors, including successfully leading the nationally acclaimed LM3 project whilst working as Head of Procurement at Northumberland County Council. He has received wide recognition for innovative procurement and has won several national awards, including the NP3 Award for Individual Excellence and the CIPS Award for Excellence. Alan is a peer reviewer under both the 4ps Gateway Review scheme and the IDeA Review process, and is an accredited Total Quality Management Assessor. He represents Cumbria County Council on a range of regional and national bodies and is a member of the SOPO Executive.

PR Manager, Kyocera Mita

Helen joined Kyocera Mita as PR Manager in 2002 and her interest in business solutions and environmental challenges has grown thanks to her work supporting Kyocera Mita’s Green Card environmental business network. Working with Kyocera’s customers, channel partners and the press has given Helen an insight into the varying viewpoints and drivers for environmental action in UK business today.

Helen is also responsible for Kyocera’s activities in the social networking sphere and is currently engaged in developing the ‘Greenlight’ online environmental business community, accessible at www.greenlightonline.co.uk

Senior Contracts Engineer, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, Highways and Engineering

Brian has been involved in construction for nearly 30 years, originally as a site engineer for the private sector before starting his public sector career as a construction site supervisor for West Yorkshire Waste Management and Leeds City Council Highways. He later specialised in contract claims resolution and in the development of contract documentation, as well as in the procurement of works in the Leeds City Council Highways department contracts section. Brian continued in this specialisation, first moving to Kirklees Metropolitan Council Highways as Senior Contracts Engineer, then joining Wakefield MDC just under four years ago in the same role. In the last 10 years he has also been heavily involved in the introduction of electronic tendering and in re-engineering the procurement processes to take advantage of the in the electronic tendering.

Director, Future Purchasing

Simon is a Director of Future Purchasing, a management consultancy firm specialising in procurement improvement, sourcing excellence and strategic supplier management.

Simon has 24 years’ direct experience in procurement management and consulting, with particular expertise in education design and delivery, strategic sourcing best practice and programme management. Prior to working in consultancy, Simon worked for British Aerospace and British Airways. He is currently leading an assignment to design and implement a new category management methodology for a pharmaceutical company in Northern Europe, involving extensive influence of category stakeholders, education and delivery of savings plans.

Simon has an MBA from London Business School and is MCIPS qualified.

Long Term Capability Management (LTCM) Contract Manager

Angela is LTCM Contract Manager for a long-term critical maintenance and repair contract for a fleet of highly specialised vehicles and equipment currently owned by Communities and Local Government (CLG) and used at a local level by the English Fire & Rescue Service (FRS). She leads a team of experienced professionals, managing the performance and quality of services provided by the Prime Contractor and exploring opportunities for cost savings, efficiencies and gainshare.

Before joining Firebuy, Angela worked for both Accenture and IBM, managing a variety of IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts for private and public sector clients.

She is a member of the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM)

Chairman, Global to Local Ltd

Helmut set up Global to Local Ltd (G2L), a sustainability consultancy, in 1996 after a long career in the public sector as a chartered Town Planner and Procurer of Services under Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). Since founding G2L he has focused much of his work on helping public sector organisations improve their performance using Environmental Management Systems. Clients range from the European Commission through to government departments, regions and local authorities.

He has developed a number of EU co-funded projects including ZEUS, which procured 1100 low-emission vehicles across Europe, and LEAP, which sought to connect environmental management with sustainable procurement.

He was part of the team developing the first National Sustainable Products Catalogue 2007-08, and is currently working with ESPO on mainstreaming sustainability through a number of key regional and national framework contracts. He also chairs the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) zero carbon task force, the Stroud District Climate Change Panel and the Hove Civic Society.

Procurement Lincolnshire

Sharon is Head of Procurement Lincolnshire, a groundbreaking partnership of all local authorities within the two-tier county of Lincolnshire, which unites a small borough council, five district councils, the city council and county council.  The service is delivered by a single procurement team, hosted by the County Council, and is set to deliver a range of benefits including year on year cash and process savings across eight main categories of spend. Before joining Procurement Lincolnshire Sharon was Head of Commercial Services at Lincolnshire County Council and prior to that she worked in senior commissioning posts in adult and children’s services. She has extensive experience of outsourcing and developing strategic partnerships. Before joining local government, Sharon worked in the health service in the North East and the East Midlands.