Speakers

EVENT CHAIR – Liz Welton

Corporate Procurement Manager/Assistant Director, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Coventry City Council and Chairman of SOPO

Liz is a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply through examination and has worked in procurement for 30 years in both the public and private sectors. Her previous employers include Sealink, the Health Service Supply MBC, Islington Council and South Glamorgan County Council. She has been with Solihull Council since 1988, originally as Principal Purchasing Officer. She completed a corporate review of procurement and was appointed Corporate Procurement Manager for Solihull MBC in November 2004. Since then, the Corporate Procurement service has delivered over £10 million worth of savings. The service was the winner of a SOPO Outstanding Achievement in Procurement Award in 2009 for two successful partnering contracts let to support Solihull’s Property Services Team. Starting in January 2009, Liz developed a shared procurement service with Coventry City Council. The 12-month pilot was a success and Warwickshire County Council has agreed to work to a shared procurement strategy and a shared savings plan with Coventry and Solihull. Liz was a founder member of SOPO 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 has again been Chairman of the Society since November 2008.

Dr Paul Blantern

Chief Executive, Northamptonshire County Council

Paul has been Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council since 1 June 2010. He joined the council on an interim basis in 2008 and was appointed Corporate Director for Customer and Community Services where he was responsible for a wide range of customer-facing services as well as support services such as HR and IT. Paul also instigated the council’s innovative shared services partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council, which is attracting interest from the public sector for its potential to deliver backroom services in a professional and cost-effective way. Paul started his career in the private sector, rising to become managing director of the commercial arm of Severn Trent plc. He has worked with a number of major utility, business and public sector clients, delivering significant improvements through a range of projects at a strategic level, including the creation of Network Rail. Before joining Northamptonshire County Council, Paul was Director for Customer Services at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

Peter Booth

Procurement & Business Development Manager, Corporate Procurement Service, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Pete has worked in procurement throughout his career. Until the start of 2008, he worked in the private sector for a number of global organisations including Massey-Ferguson (now AGCO), British Airways, Dowty Group, TI Group, Messier-Dowty (part of Snecma), and ALCOA. Since 1990, Pete has operated at Director/VP level, with responsibilities ranging from national to pan-European and to global remits. This included the development of procurement activity involving Eastern Europe, Asia and the Far East. For five years, Pete was based in Singapore.

He joined the public sector with Solihull Council in late December 2007. The subject of the ‘breakout session’ which he will be running during the conference is the work he has done with colleagues across Solihull MBC regarding the design, development and implementation of a Business Charter for Social Responsibility. This has been very successful and has become a reference model for the Government-led Procurement Framework for Jobs and Skills.

Ian Conner, MCIPS, BSc

Chief Procurement Officer, Southwest One

Ian has over 30 years’ experience in procurement and sourcing, with previous roles in manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, telecoms and, most recently, Royal Mail. He is currently Chief Procurement Officer with Southwest One, a pioneering joint venture between Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Avon and Somerset Police and IBM to deliver public services in the South West.

Ruth Connorton

Partner, Eversheds

Ruth is head of Eversheds LLP’s national procurement team and is a partner in the firm. She has advised on procurement regulations since their inception and regularly advises on regulatory compliance in major transactions as well as the day-to-day activities of local authorities, NHS bodies, regional development agencies and central government/national agencies. In the utilities field, she has advised water companies, ports, airports and transport providers. Ruth is recognised in external directories, with Chambers and Partners legal directory quoting that she has a "direct no-nonsense style and quick turnaround times". She is also recognised by The Legal 500, which comments that she provides "very good, sound advice and not just what she thinks you want to hear". Ruth is a regular speaker on the subject of procurement, bringing a practical and commercial approach to the sessions.

Andrew Cooper

Team Manager, UK Public Sector Sales Team, American Express

Andrew is the Team Manager leading the UK Public Sector Sales Team at American Express. Within his role Andrew is responsible for the company’s UK public sector GPC programme, overseeing sales, account management and partnerships. Andrew has around 20 years’ experience in sales, marketing and senior account management within all areas of the public sector. Prior to joining American Express, Andrew was the Sales General Manager for Xerox UK Ltd, where he led the UK sales team working with the public sector.

Dr Glynis Davies FCIPS

Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)

Glynis joined the procurement profession in 1990, achieving MCIPS in 1991, and FCIPS in 1998. She has led significant changes in the procurement function of several public sector organisations: the Department for International Development, the British Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and, most recently, Birmingham City Council. Staff development – CPD – has been key to all these changes. Her interest in her own CPD led to a PhD on the economics of procurement relationships between the public, private and voluntary sectors, completed in 2004.

Bryan Forbes

SBRI, Account Manager

As an SBRI Account Manager, Bryan is responsible for developing and managing engagements with public sector organisations. This includes promoting the SBRI process to key decision makers, ensuring that they are supported in the deployment of SBRI into their standard operating procedures and in the development and execution of a pipeline of projects. Bryan joined the Technology Strategy Board in 2009. He also has a background in the IT industry where he has extensive experience of providing software systems to local government.

Bridghe Forde

Procurement Adviser, Department for Education

Bridghe is currently a procurement adviser with the Department for Education. She has many years’ experience of public sector procurement, originally as a civil servant and later as a consultant. She has worked for a diverse range of organisations including the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), HM Treasury, the Asylum Support Service, Capgemini and KPMG.

Rob Hine

Business Development (Specifiers), BSI

Rob has worked for BSI for the last 18 years and currently manages business development in the Specifier and Influencer arena. In addition to this he is a Director of the British Safety Industry Federation. Using his experience of certification and product approval, Rob has carried out training on behalf of the EU Directorate General for Trade in Asia as well as moderating a formal conference in Beijing with the Chinese government to attempt to create synergy between CCC certification and EU Directives. Having worked with public sector organisations, Rob has a good understanding of the challenges faced by procurement departments today and how organisations such as BSI can help them to work more effectively towards their goals.

Helen Hopper

PR Manager, Kyocera Mita

Helen joined Kyocera Mita as PR Manager in 2002 and her interest in providing business solutions to environmental challenges has grown through her work supporting Kyocera Mita’s Green Card environmental business network. Working with Kyocera Mita’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 Mita’s activities in the social networking sphere and is currently engaged in developing the ‘Greenlight’ online environmental business community. Web: www.greenlightonline.co.uk

AFTER DINNER SPEAKER – Steve Nallon

Writer and performer and original member of the Spitting Image team

Steve is one of Britain’s most versatile and prolific writers and performers, working in all aspects of the media from film and television to radio and theatre. He began his career as an entertainer over 30 years ago. After gaining a degree in Drama and English at the University of Birmingham he became an original member of the Spitting Image team, providing the voices of the Queen Mum, Roy Hattersley, Margaret Thatcher, David Attenborough and many more for the next ten years. Steve has continued his work as an impressionist on television, and his after-dinner speech demonstrating his skills as a comedy impressionist is in constant demand.

Nick Porter

European Policy Officer, Local Government Association

Nick joined the Local Government Association (LGA) in 2008 on secondment from Surrey County Council. As part of the LGA’s European Team, Nick works with the full range of partners – including Government, the European Commission and the European Parliament – to reflect the interests of local authorities throughout the European legislative process. Nick works on policy campaigns, including work on EU internal market rules and public procurement, and leads on the LG Group’s EU funding campaign.

Tracey Rawling Church

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, she has become a regular contributor to seminars and conferences on sustainability and CSR topics.

Peter Rushton

Incoming CIPS President and CEO, Optimum Business Solutions

Peter is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Optimum Business Solutions, a fast-growing procurement outsourcing, business support and consulting company based in South Manchester. Optimum supports customers in the UK and internationally in a wide range of general procurement categories with specialist service lines in vehicle fleet management and property services. A former CPO of Caradon plc and British Sugar, Peter also co-founded Xchanging Procurement Services (XPS) in 2001, and was influential in helping establish XPS as one of Europe’s leading procurement service providers. Peter is an established senior procurement practitioner with an extensive international sourcing and supply chain pedigree. He has delivered significant commercial results for leading organisations across a broad spectrum of industry sectors, including aerospace, FMCG, food processing, financial services and building products. Peter is the current Chairman of the CIPS Board of Management and will become CIPS President in November 2010.

John Scowen

Corporate Procurement Manager, London Borough of Havering

John has been in the field of purchasing for 38 years, starting off in the Health Service where he worked his way from Buyer to Assistant District Supplies Manager. He has been involved in local government purchasing since 1989 and has held the post of Corporate Procurement Manager for the London Borough of Havering since 1990. He has held the post of Chairman of the London Contracts and Supplies Group (LCSG) and was Chairman of SOPO 2002-04.

Nicol Thornton

Head of Procurement, London Fire Brigade

Nicol has more than 26 years’ procurement experience in both the public and private sectors, including with the Department of Social Security, NHS Supplies and TXU Europe. He joined the London Fire Brigade as Head of Procurement in October 2007 following a period with the Regional Centre of Excellence East on secondment from Suffolk County Council, where he had managed a radical change in the council’s approach to procurement. In June 2006, he joined the Regional Centres of Excellence Procurement Programme where he worked closely with local authority procurement professionals and other partner organisations including Communities and Local Government and the OGC. Nicol was until recently the local government representative on the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Council. He has also represented CIPS on the National Executive Committee of SOPO and is a former member of the management board of the Central Buying Consortium.

Claire Smart

Director of Strategic Procurement, 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.

Verity Smith

Professional Services Project Manager,
Gloucestershire County Council and South West IEP area

Verity is the Project Manager for the Professional Services Efficiency Project in the South West of England. She is employed by Gloucestershire County Council and funded by the South West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership to deliver the pilot programme on behalf of the Local Government Professional Services Group (LGPSG.) The LGPSG is chaired by Claire Smart (Director of Strategic Procurement from Gloucestershire CC) and has representatives from all nine regions of the country, as well as the OGC and Department for Education. Verity comes from a private sector background, and brings with her the drive and determination that is essential when delivering large change management projects.

John Tizard

Director, Centre for Public Service Partnerships

John is the Director of CPSP@LGiU (The Centre for Public Service Partnerships), which is an independent research and policy and practice centre . It undertakes independent research , policy development and consultancy on public service strategic commissioning, productivity, performance and governance with a specific interest in partnerships between public agencies and between them and the business and third sectors. John originally established CPSP at The University of Birmingham and moved it to set up CPSP@LGiU in January 2010.

John is currently advising Worcestershire on its Total Place pilot. He is a member of the advisory boards for Centre for Public Scrutiny, the Social Market Foundation and Advisory Panel on the Local Government Innovations Award Scheme. He was appointed to the Advisory Panel for the Government’s Review of the Public Service Industry in 2008.

He has wide experience in the business, public and third sectors. He was a senior executive at the Capita Group plc from May 1997 to December 2007 and prior to that a senior director at Scope. John had 18 years experience as a county councillor (1981–1999) and is a former council leader. He has been a non-executive director of a police authority and a NHS trust.

Estelle Watts

Principal Commercial Advisor, Department for Education

Estelle has been Principal Commercial Advisor at the Department for Education since 2007. She has worked on several major procurement projects including the sale of student loan debt and the setting up of reciprocal educational arrangements with China and a number of sub-Saharan African nations. Over the past 12 months she has been focusing on the application of her category management principles to the children's services markets. Before working with the DfE, Estelle spent seven years at the Department for Health, managing the NHS's spend on temporary staffing and prior to that, three years as a buyer for Tesco and BT.

Mandy Wright

Independent Consultant

Mandy recently retired from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) where she was Associate Director, working on strategic equalities issues for the Agency. She is being retained by IDeA to work on equalities, procurement and related issues. She was previously Director (Workforce and Diversity Issues) at the Employers’ Organisation (EO) for Local Government, where she was responsible for pensions, health and safety, procurement and efficiency as well as the EO’s equalities team.