Roger Gonourie joined Crown Commercial Services (CCS), Cabinet Office in November 2022 as Chief Commercial Officer and is a member of the Executive Board. Prior to joining CCS, Roger was Head of Global Sourcing for Swiss Re responsible for establishing a professional procurement function for the management of Swiss Re's external spend portfolio. Roger also served in senior Procurement Director roles for Novartis, based in Basel and Pfizer at their regional headquarters based in the UK, leading teams responsible for procurement across the pharma, consumer, animal health and nutrition businesses. In addition, his career spans procurement in retail and transport. He gained extensive transformation experience in procurement, supply chain and Digital, from his 10+ years consulting for Coopers & Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers after starting his career as a design engineer at Land Rover. Roger is a graduate of the University of Sussex, United Kingdom with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply. This role followed a successful career in the private sector spanning more than 25 years, most recently at Virgin Media, firstly as Managing Director for Wales and West, and subsequently as the UK SME Business Director.

Alex Burghart was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 27 October 2022. He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions from 20 September 2022 to 27 October 2022, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 16 September 2021 to 6 July 2022. Alex was elected as Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar on 8 June 2017.

Lindsay is the Deputy Director for Procurement Reform at the Cabinet Office. She joined the Government Commercial Organisation in 2016, initially working as senior category leader for employment and labour market in DWP and subsequently as Head of Small Business Policy at Cabinet Office, working with all central government departments and SMEs to break down barriers to entry. Prior to joining the civil service, she gained 10+ commercial experience from the private sector, working in the Aerospace, property management and FMCG sectors for both large multinationals and SMEs, including spending 5 years abroad in Germany, Netherlands and Canada working on complex projects.

Lorraine leads STAR Procurement which is a very successful, high performing public sector shared service that is leading collaborative change and transformation through procurement and Social Value. STAR supports four Greater Manchester Councils and now two Liverpool City Region Councils that joined STAR in 2023. Lorraine has led STAR for almost seven years and in 22/23 they supported the retention of 78.9% local spend within Greater Manchester for her four partner Councils. STAR have continued to improve the Social Value captured as added value through procurement securing 38.5% accumulatively of the collective contract value since April 2019. The National Social Value Taskforce is a ‘coalition of the willing’ of public, private and voluntary sector representatives who act as advocates and creators of this ‘Social Value Movement’. Lorraine has been part of this since its formation in 2017 as was appointed as Chair in June 2023. Lorraine received a national award ‘Best Council to do Business With’ historically which she received at No.10 Downing St. She personally contributed to the improvement of Public Contract Regulations 2015 and Lord Young’s Reforms as she attended a Select Committee in the House of Commons to respond to a Public Procurement Review. Lorraine was also highly commended in Leadership at the National Social Value Conference 2020 and STAR won an award for embedding Social Value into the procurement processes in 2021.

John Fitzgerald Coyne, nicknamed ‘Fitzy’, is an expert at developing commercial strategy and skills for the modern business. Named after the 35th President of the United States he had the privilege of working closely with his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver a long-time advocate for children's health and disability issues who founded the movement that became Special Olympics. John began his career in the Irish tourism sector and in 1991 became the first ever Commercial Director at Liverpool FC where he was tasked with broadening the financial, commercial and business development aspects of the club. After leaving Liverpool FC, John spent some time at Sports Wales before moving to the health sector where he has largely remained since. John was most recently the Managing Director an NHS owned Teckal Company, SWFT Clinical Services Ltd. Here he managed a turnover of approximately £50m a year and 280 staff. He’s appeared on ‘This is your Life’ and ‘Question Time’ and interviewed Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Cecelia Ahern and Colin Farrell for cover stories for the Irish Post newspaper, and once even presented to a President! John is a keen runner and lives with his wife Lisa and daughter Darcy. He became the Director Commercial and Procurement for the Welsh Government in September 2021.

Linda O’Hare is Assistant Director – Procurement, at Business Services Organisation (BSO), Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS), in Northern Ireland (NI). PaLS is the sole provider of professional procurement and logistics services to all Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations in NI. BSO PaLS manages £1.3bn of expenditure per annum, has circa 420 staff, with procurement offices and warehouses situated across NI. BSO PaLS manages procurements and contracts across all categories of goods and services - clinical, non-clinical, social care and ICT. Linda has 23 years Public Procurement experience, in the Health Services in both Ireland and NI. Prior to this she headed up the purchasing department in the 5-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin, and in her early career held a number of management roles in the hospitality industry. In her spare time, Linda takes long walks in the countryside, spends time with family and friends and likes to travel extensively.

Gareth Rhys Williams was appointed Government Chief Commercial Officer at the Cabinet Office in 2016, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of PHS Group, a leading provider of outsourced workplace services in the UK. Gareth is an experienced CEO and Non Executive Director, with a consistent record of reinvigorating and reinventing listed and private equity backed companies through creative growth strategies. He has a strong record of driving transformational change in large, complex and federated organisations. Before joining PHS, Gareth was CEO of Charter International, the FTSE 250 engineering group, until its successful sale to Colfax Corporation in 2012. Prior to that, he was CEO of Capital Safety Group Ltd, since sold to KKR, and CEO of Vitec Group plc, the supplier of broadcast and photographic equipment and services.

A strategic and hands-on commercial/procurement leader, Philip has a proven track record of achievements across multiple categories (Business Process Outsourcing, Technology and Digital Systems and Solutions, Financial Systems, Logistics and Record Storage, Travel Management, Professional Services, Contact and Service Centres). He has had a robust Commercial career across the Public Sector, Finance, Automotive, Rail, Road and Construction Industries. Philip has responsibility for Common Goods and Services across Technology and Digital Categories of spend and manages £7.2bn across several categories including Cloud and Digital, Networks, Software Cyber and AI, Digital Futures, and Technology Products and Services across central government, public and third sector (charities and social enterprises) organisations across the UK. Prior to joining Crown Commercial Service Philip headed up the Information and Technology Commercial and Procurement Group at Highways England as the Commercial and Procurement Director. Prior to this he was the head of the Digital Platforms, Programmes and Applications Category at the Department for Work and Pensions where he was also the Commercial Director for the Universal Credit Programme. Before joining the UK Public Service, Philip worked for Siemens where he had responsibilities for a multi-site and multi business commercial activities spanning the UK, Germany and elsewhere in Europe, South and North America across several industry sectors including: Automotive, Transportation (Rail, Civils, Communications, Electrification and Signalling) and Financial/Business Services.

Jane is a Professor in Procurement for the Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) section of Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. Jane’s subject areas for research and teaching include innovation and social public procurement, supply chain management, and collaboration. Jane is the strategic lead for Procurement Labs in a WEFO funded project, Infuse (Innovation of Future Public Services). Jane is Programme Director for the UK Government funded 'Help to Grow Management' programme delivered at Cardiff Buisness School aimed at supporting SMEs with business growth. Additional Roles: Member of IRSPP (international research study on public procurement) Branch Chair of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) South Wales Associate Director (MICW) of Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW), Cymru.

The HCSA promotes the work of procurement and supply chain staff at all levels in healthcare. The Association provides training events and educational seminars, sponsors awards and hosts two high-profile annual conferences. The governance of the Association rests with the board of Trustees. The Executive runs the day to day business of the Association supported by a National Council of Regional Coordinators, Specialist Area Coordinators and National representatives from across the U.K. HCSA is a registered charity in the UK, is entirely self-financed through a combination of income from conferences, seminars, other training events and advertising.

Professor Jo Meehan is a Professor of Responsible Procurement and the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at the University of Liverpool Management School, and a visiting professor at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology in Finland. Jo’s research centres on modern slavery in supply chains, social value in public procurement, and power. It explores commercial practices that allow social inequalities and environmental harm to persist, and crucially, what might be done to enable systemic change. Her work has won numerous international awards, and she is a regular public speaker committed to challenging business responsibilities and delivering impactful research. Prior to joining academia, Jo had extensive procurement experience in the private sector working for a global blue-chip company and she has been described as “one of the UK’s most influential procurement academics."

Laura is a EMCC accredited Executive and Leadership coach, with 10+ years' experience in leadership and management roles in Procurement & Supply Chain businesses, supporting Procurement teams to deliver value through employee engagement and change management initiatives. Laura has broad experience of working across global organisations in both the private and public sector, both in the UK and in Europe, gaining invaluable business, cultural and multilingual experience across large teams. Laura delivers bespoke coaching & leadership development programmes for Procurement leaders & their teams, blending 1:1 and team approaches to support them in driving a greater strategic impact within their organisation. In her work, Laura holds a judgement-free and confidential space for CPOs and Procurement Leaders, partnering with them & their Procurement teams to increase their self-awareness, soft skills and confidence, so that they can increase their impact within their organisation in a way that supports their wellbeing.

Ian Schollar is the Head of CIPS Business Study Centre at CIPS and has had a progressive career in procurement and commercial roles spanning over 30 years in both public and private sectors. He started his career with Mallory Batteries (Duracell) in 1983, before spending 15 years working within both central and local public sector organisations. He was responsible for procuring a diverse range of categories from breathing apparatus for fire fighters to high tech radar systems for air traffic controllers. In 1998, Ian became a Senior Advisor for Crown Agents, an International Development Agency. He was project lead on numerous capacity building projects working in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe and headed up the procurement and supply chain training at their Training Centre. Ian has worked at CIPS since 2005 and has a particular passion for professional development. Ian is a Fellow of CIPS and holds a Master’s Degree in Management, Learning and Leadership from Lancaster University Management School.

Charlene is the Head of Policy Delivery for Supply Chains & Service Offering at Crown Commercial Service, the largest public buying organisation in the UK. Charlene moved into the commercial policy arena after over 12 years in category and commercial roles in the public sector. During this time she worked with colleagues across Cabinet Office and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to deliver the pilot procurement for delivery of social value within CCS, and helped develop PPN 06/20 on Social Value for Central Government.

Grahame joined BiP Solutions in 2003 as Production Director with responsibility for the multi-disciplined media and production department, including Content, Research and Distribution. Prior to that, he worked in various senior editorial and publishing roles for the media company EMAP plc. Grahame was appointed Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the BI Division in May 2012 and became Sales & Marketing Director in May 2016 with overall responsibility for driving revenues through private and public sector sales, marketing and events teams. In January 2017, Grahame was appointed Managing Director of the Media and Marketing Solutions division of the BiP Group. In this role he assumed overall responsibility for two of BiP Group’s recent acquisitions – Pro Mark Media and Ingenium – as well as BiP Solutions’ events and training portfolio. Following a restructure of BiP Group in April 2018, Grahame was appointed Sales and Marketing Director for the Business Intelligence and Public Sector business units, before subsequently being appointed Director of Public Policy, Research and Communications in 2023.

John began his career as a laboratory assistant before becoming a qualified Master Brewer. Having spent 10 years in brewing production, John moved onto various procurement roles in the industry prior to spending 2 years in the food industry working for one of the country’s leading chilled food producers. In 2006, he joined the NHS being involved in the growth and development of two regional procurement organisations before joining Anchor 2 years ago in the role of Head of Procurement and Purchasing.

Malcolm Harbour is an Associate Director of CPC, with an expert steering role in the ‘Challenging Procurement” programme and in the development of IPEC. Chairs the Consortium for Research in Innovative and Strategic Public Procurement (CRISPP).

Alex is the Comms and Engagement Lead, as well as also leading the L&D implementation roll out within the Procurement Reform team in MOD. Her role involves engaging with stakeholders from within the commercial function, as well as the wider Department and with Industry colleague alike, and ensuring that they are all fully aware of the reforms, and feel empowered and confident moving towards Go Live. Alex has been in the Procurement Reform team since February 2021, but before that has worked in Commercial Strategic roles, such as EU Exit, Def-Comrcl Covid19 crisis response and Strategic Supplier management. She also has experience in Commercial Delivery roles, having joined the Department under the Graduate commercial Scheme.

As Head of Procurement Reform, Ben is responsible for leading the MOD’s defence and security elements of the Cabinet Office led Procurement Bill. Working closely with the Cabinet Office, Ben leads a multi-functional team, bringing together commercial, legal and change delivery expertise ensuring the provisions within the Procurement Bill meet the requirements of Defence and that these provisions are fully scrutinised via the Parliamentary Process. An equal priority for Ben focuses on preparation for implementation of the new rules. Working alongside colleagues within the MOD and CO, but also with colleagues from industry, Ben recognises the success of the new rules is dependent on sufficient training, understand and preparation ahead of the go live date. Ben is a career civil servant, working in the MOD for the past three years programme managing the development of the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy before joining Defence Commercial. Prior to the MOD Ben spent 10 years in the Ministry of Justice working in a variety of fields, including policy, strategy, operations, Private Office and estates. Ben has a proven track record of working in high-profile and pressured environments, bringing his enthusiasm and positivity to those challenges and always delivering on time.

Moira Skinner is Founder / Director of ProcureCo – the pre-tender market engagement platform that directly connects buyers and suppliers in the public sector and social housing markets. Moira has extensive experience on both the buyer and supplier sides of the public sector procurement process – across the public and private sectors. She has worked for and with large corporates, SMEs and micro-businesses with a focus on SME engagement and social value. Moira is Director of community interest company 3D Change – the architects of the London Jobs Fairs and the Procurement Opportunities in Social Housing (POSH) programme, which harnessed the power of public and social housing sector procurement to create programmes contributing to social value. Working alongside a distinguished group of procurement professionals and industry leaders, Moira has drawn from her knowledge, insights, and influence to develop ProcureCo as a digital platform which responds to the Procurement Act (2023) and facilitates meaningful pre-tender market engagement between buyers and suppliers.

Tom is a Commercial Agreement Manager working Crown Commercial Services and specialising Cyber Security Services for the public sector. He has worked in a category/procurement role for the past 3 years and has a wealth of experience across a range of technology agreements.

Darren leads a team of twenty-three procurement staff responsible for all procurement activity at Durham County Council. In 2016 Darren was awarded the Cabinet Office’s first ever award for Social Value Leadership for an Organisation. He is Chair of the Local Government Association’s National Advisory Group for Local Government Procurement and is the Chair of the National Social Value Taskforce.

National Highways, formerly Highways England, is the government company responsible for the country's motorways and main A roads. This includes modernising and maintaining the highways, as well as running the network and keeping traffic moving.

National Highways, formerly Highways England, is the government company responsible for the country's motorways and main A roads. This includes modernising and maintaining the highways, as well as running the network and keeping traffic moving.

Kristen joined Crown Commercial Service (CCS) in 2013 and has worked in various roles across the business over the past 10 years including project management, commercial strategy of £bn frameworks and business development. Kristen recently followed her passion for the environment and took on the position of Head of Sustainability, working to decarbonise the £30bn annual spend through CCS. Kristen works closely with public sector buyers, suppliers and industry bodies to help accelerate the journey towards achieving CNZ by 2050 at the latest. Kristen is MCIPs qualified.

At WRAP, we want to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future. We want to halt environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity and protect both our lives and the planet. In a thriving world in which climate change is no longer a problem, we will be able to provide for a growing population and raise people out of poverty. WRAP is at the forefront of making the world a more sustainable place. By bringing people together, acting on facts, we will drive change and protect our planet.

Alan Heron is a procurement professional with over 20 years’ experience across both the private & public realms and multiple sectors including IT, automotive, healthcare, and public sector markets. He has extensive experience of Public Procurement legislation, contract negotiation, and contract management. Recently awarded a fellowship to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply, Alan is an established and recognised procurement expert. He has been Director of Procurement with Places for People Group, one of the UK’s largest property management and Placemaking organisations since 2015.

Matthew is currently the Deputy Head of Commercial Services at Digital Health and Care Wales and has responsibility for all procurement and sourcing of national digital clinical systems and IT Contracts for DHCW and the NHS in Wales. He has been a proud member of procurement in NHS for the past 15 years and has worked across multiple commodity areas including medial, pharmaceutical and utilities before joining DHCW 8 years ago. Recent engagements for DHCW have included acting as commercial lead for the procurement of national systems for Laboratory Information Management, Radiology Imaging solutions and Pharmacy and ePrescribing systems for the whole of Wales. Digital Health and Care Wales is part of the NHS Wales family and a trusted partner. DHCW is taking forward the next generation of services needed to transform health and care delivery to provide world leading digital services, empowering people to live healthier lives.

UKUPC is a partnership between eight UK consortia who created a formal entity to support collaborative procurement within Higher and Further Education. All eight consortia work together to share knowledge and best practice, to support each other and our wider procurement community. The UKUPC Board is comprised of heads of the UK regional purchasing consortia (APUC, HEPCW, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC), the head of TEC and the head of TUCO.

UKUPC is a partnership between eight UK consortia who created a formal entity to support collaborative procurement within Higher and Further Education. All eight consortia work together to share knowledge and best practice, to support each other and our wider procurement community. The UKUPC Board is comprised of heads of the UK regional purchasing consortia (APUC, HEPCW, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC), the head of TEC and the head of TUCO.

Amy Noble, an accomplished and dynamic leader, currently serves as the Director of Procurement at The University of Liverpool, shaping consistent and sustainable strategies across departments. Her emphasis on efficiency, sustainability, stakeholder understanding, and effective contract activities reflects her commitment to streamlining operations and creating a value-driven procurement ecosystem. Amy is known for fostering innovation, overcoming challenges, and bringing strategic foresight to create an effective and forward-thinking procurement framework at the University. Her journey is marked by a dedication to excellence, adaptability, and a focus on sustainability and efficiency, contributing to continuous process improvements within her team.”

We protect the security, independence and interests of the United Kingdom at home and abroad. We work with our allies and partners whenever possible. Our aim is to ensure that the UK’s Armed Forces have the training, equipment and support necessary for their work, and that we keep within budget.

Adrian has many years of experience working in local and central government, including periods in front-line services. He currently works on the implementation of responsible purchasing policies in the Crown Commercial Service. He supports and advises commercial teams on the application of policies such as social value, equality and modern slavery prevention in procurement activities. He also responds to requests for assistance from commercial officers from wider public sector bodies. He is interested in how public sector commissioning and contract management skills can bring the widest possible benefits to society. He often talks to colleagues and commercial practitioners across the public sector about how procurement can have the most impact on modern slavery prevention. He and his family live in London.

Alison started her Procurement career as a graduate with BAE systems working on complex and collaborative international joint ventures. This was a fascinating intro to the world of strategic supplier relationships and organisational partnering to achieve great success – both collaboration and excellence have continued to be at the heart of Alison’s values. As a working mum she sought out an equally challenging role, minus the international travel, in NHS procurement with the North West Collaborative Procurement Hub, later acquired by NHS SBS in 2011. She now has over 20 years experience in the complete procurement lifecycle, specialising in collaborative procurement and commissioning. Alison has always been immensely passionate and proud to be a leader in developing her approach to effectively procuring healthcare services. This led her to create NHS SBS’s Healthcare Improvement Solutions service designed to enable collaboration whilst navigating procurement law, which she believes is fundamental to transformation for ICSs. In 2019 as a strategic partner to Greater Manchester, she led the procurement support for NHS SBS to create the Nightingale hospital, building on years of service and partnership to this vast and complex ICS. With years of experience working with commissioners and providers nationally, across the whole patient pathway, Alison continues to support NHS systems in navigating procurement legislation and policy to achieve effective integration. In her role as ICS Solutions lead for NHS SBS, she is now also responsible for advising ICS finance and procurement leaders to design and create single integrated procurement functions to maximise the use of technology and data to unlock strategic procurement value.

Stuart joined Trowers & Hamlins in February 2019 and is a member of the firm's Public Procurement group. He specialises in public procurement and advises the public, private and third sectors on Public Procurement, Subsidy and building safety issues. Stuart advises clients on complex procurement strategy and structures, and helps clients navigate all kinds of procurement issues, including structuring flexible procurement procedures, advising on shared services and collaboration, and the incorporation of transparent evaluation methodologies. Additionally, Stuart regularly delivers training on a broad spectrum of procurement matters including the use of framework agreements, incorporating social value into the procurement process and evaluation models.

Alison, a Partner and the head of Procurement at Muckle LLP, is a seasoned expert in public procurement. With a distinguished track record, she has actively participated in numerous high-profile procurement exercises, representing both the public sector and bidders alike. Alison's extensive experience encompasses advising on procurement for significant outsourcing initiatives, urban regeneration projects, and public/private partnering arrangements. Additionally, she provides valuable counsel on procurement challenges, contributing to a team that has effectively pursued and defended major procurement claims.

Daphne is a Senior Manager in the Net Zero and Sustainable Procurement Team at NHS England, where she supports the team to deliver a net zero Carbon Footprint Plus for the NHS. In 2020, the NHS became the world’s first national health system to commit to become ‘carbon net zero’. Carbon Footprint Plus includes the NHS’ wider supply chain, aiming for an 80% reduction in emissions by 2036-2039 and Net Zero by 2045. Daphne led the development of the Evergreen Assessment and works across the diverse and complex NHS supply chain to deliver net zero carbon, drive social value and eradicate modern slavery across the supply chain. Before joining NHSE, Daphne supported public sector organisations with their sustainability programmes including development and implementation of NHS Green Plans.

Carl has a wealth of public procurement experience, having previously led the award-winning procurement team at one of Wales’ largest housing associations. Before joining Welsh Government, Carl worked for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), where he taught procurement and contract management best practice to public and private sector organisations across the globe. Carl also played an important role in CIPS’ work post-Grenfell, and supported the work of Working Group 11 to agree specific procurement competence levels for people involved in the construction of new higher risk residential buildings. In his current role, Carl is responsible for developing Welsh Government’s wider Procurement Reform engagement activity, working closely with stakeholders across the Welsh public sector to ensure that they are ready to maximise the opportunities arising from procurement reform.

Sara is an innovative, award-winning business leader with close to 30 years’ experience leading public and private sector enterprises. Throughout her career, Sara has been motivated by a desire to reach the most vulnerable and neglected members of society, raise their living standard, and see their dignity restored. During her time in the public-sector Sara delivered a range of public-sector frontline services that went beyond her role including mentoring young women at risk of exclusion from education, the creation of specialist outreach teams to tackle youth crime, the creation of an innovative safety project educating women in prison about the dangers of arson and the delivery of Liverpool’s super zone The Fire Fit Hub (Fire Fit). Seeing an opportunity to create an organisation that was truly capable of and committed to making a difference in people’s lives, Sara embarked on the journey of social entrepreneur in 2016 when she founded Rise Construction Framework (Rise). Rise is a social business that uses profits generated by the procurement of capital works and services to fund community intervention and prevention services that tackle some of society’s darkest issues including domestic violence, homelessness and mental health & well-being. In 2021 during the pandemic Rise launched Thrive an organisation that exists to help care leavers live happy, safe and fulfilling lives; since its launched Thrive has changed the lives of 100’s of care experienced young people.

Innovate UK is the UK’s national innovation agency, supporting business-led innovation in all sectors, technologies and UK regions. Innovate UK help businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive, and easy to navigate.

Rebecca Rees – Partner and Head of Public Procurement at the international law firm, Trowers & Hamlins. Rebecca is a leading national expert in public procurement law and has significant experience in advising clients in the public, private and third sectors on public procurement, subsidy control and building safety strategy issues. She advises clients on procurement strategy and structures, how to conduct flexible and compliant procurement procedures and compile objective and transparent evaluation models and guidance. With particular interests in value-led procurement, social value and building safety, Rebecca is a member of the Working Group 11 for Procurement Competency, DLUHC’s Procurement Advisory Group, and HACT’s National Social Value in Housing Taskforce. Rebecca is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Construction Law at Dickson Poon School of Law at Kings College London and is currently undertaking a PhD in public procurement, focusing on price evaluation models at the University of Nottingham.

Gwen left university with an engineering degree and started her career in boat building, working in Devonport Royal Dockyard, eventually managing the small boat workshops. On moving to the northwest she moved into construction, starting in high-speed retail and then in contracting, delivering office parks and schools, in a variety of roles including programme, site, project and contract management. Having worked all over the UK, in 2008 Gwen joined Procure Plus, a not-for-profit regeneration company, supporting housing providers to procure and manage refurbishment works alongside supporting people in those communities into work. The company has grown significantly and now supports over £200m of construction related works and, working in partnership with organisations such as CiTB, City and Guilds and the Ministry of Justice, helps around 750 people per year into training and employment. As Managing Director, Gwen is responsible for ensuring its continued success.

Cadence Marketing specialises in connecting your business with public sector buyers at the right time through data-driven and targeted marketing solutions. Based near MediaCityUK, Greater Manchester, our team of enthusiastic experts deliver B2G marketing campaigns to boost our clients public and private sector success.

Delta eSourcing enables efficient, effective and compliant procurement. Utilised by thousands of public sector buyers every day, its Buyer Portal, Tender Manager, Supplier Manager, Contract Manager and eAuctions services can be used independently or else combined to form a comprehensive and effective end-to-end procurement solution. In challenging times, Delta eSourcing delivers transparency, compliance and value for money.

Tracker is the only end-to-end business development solution with the unique intelligence you need to find, bid for and win more business. With access to Europe’s largest database of opportunities and competitive insights – you can engage earlier to sell more effectively and win more business. And Tracker’s just got even better – now you can also upload opportunity documents and manage your bid responses all in the one place. Focus on winning business – not looking for it.

Gemma Waring is a qualified bid writer, trainer, and coach. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, Gemma has worked in the sector for 20 years and her career has been marked by exceptional achievements due to her determination to succeed and her passion for empowering others. A beacon of diligence and reliability, Gemma is recognised for setting and upholding high standards. Her enthusiasm for the procurement sector is infectious, propelling her to stay abreast of industry developments and generously share her knowledge, including being a key played in the roll out of the Procurement Act 2023. Gemma's dedication recently earned her the prestigious title of Runner Up in the APMP UK's annual awards in the Supplier of the Year category and seen her continuously develop her own skills as an advocate of life-long learning. At the helm of G Waring Consulting Ltd since 2019, Gemma orchestrates success in public sector tendering and procurement projects – securing new business and successful outcomes across the board. Notable accomplishments include bid writing endeavours for blue-chip companies, securing multimillion pound contracts, working with Scottish Government on a national training campaign, and securing successful outcomes in complex multi supplier / multi lot frameworks and DPSs. In her role as Lead Trainer and Skills Coach for the Bid Coordinator Apprenticeship, Gemma also runs multiple cohorts, shaping training content, and assessing learners for long term development and supporting new entrants to the sector to grow and flourish. Gemma Waring is not just a consultant and trainer; she is a driving force behind transformative change, infusing every project with unmatched enthusiasm and expertise.

Natasha is a visionary social impact leader, serving as the Director of Member Services at Social Value UK and an Advanced Accredited Social Value Practitioner with Social Value international. She has experience in working with local government to develop outcomes-based funding and delivery models and social impact bonds that maximise social value. She brings decades of experience in building the new social economy in the UK and globally through working across sectors in policy development and planning, impact investment and voluntary and community sector development and growth.

David leads on South East Consortium's partnership programmes – ensuring its Members are well-served and that the brand message and tone of voice is consistent every time. His team drives forward a range of initiatives on influencing solutions for the sectors future and shortening the skills gap.

Darya Bahram RIBA, MAPM, MCIArb is a Research Associate at the King’s College London Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, Vice chair at Radcliffe Housing Society. She has held senior role at the Association of Consultant Architects as Secretary General, Head of Professional Appointments at Assael Architecture and is currently the committee member of the Construction Blockchain Consortium. Darya is a published author and speaker on a range of topics including ‘Procuring Net zero carbon construction’ , ‘Procurement strategies for incentivizing collaborative delivery to optimize whole-life outcomes’, ‘Blockchain and smart contracts’, ‘Disruptive technology and collaborative contracts’, ‘Modern methods of construction: contractual mechanisms supporting long term relationships’ and ‘Guidance on Collaborative Procurement for Design and Construction to Support Building Safety’.

Since 1976, NEPO has worked in partnership with North East local authorities on the strategic procurement of high value goods and services in order to deliver savings, maximise efficiencies and promote best practice. Collaboration is at the heart of everything that NEPO does. Our procurement solutions are the result of extensive consultation with the public sector, suppliers and end-users, so that we deliver positive outcomes for the communities we serve.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) delivers branded payment solutions through the prepaid products, technologies and network that connect brands and people. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty, and revenue, and we reliably execute security-minded solutions worldwide.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) delivers branded payment solutions through the prepaid products, technologies and network that connect brands and people. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty, and revenue, and we reliably execute security-minded solutions worldwide.

Thrive is a flexible and intuitive software solution which enables organisations to better capture, manage and demonstrate their social value and corporate responsibility activities. Modules within the platform include Social Value Reporting, Employee Volunteer Management and Grants/Donations Management. Our clients include a diverse range of public and private organisations, all of which are keenly focused on differentiating themselves to clients, employees and other stakeholders based upon their sustainability and community investment credentials; including the NHS, City of London, Tesco, L'Oreal, Kier, Avanti Trains, Yorkshire Water and many more.

Adam a Procurement and Supply Chain professional with 5 years’ experience working across a range of industries and sectors. For the last 2 years he has worked for Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association (MTVH), managing the Corporate Services category and £70m in annual spend. Adam is passionate about social housing and focuses on driving cost savings and value-add activities across his procurement projects, to ensure that MTVH can continue to provide affordable housing for residents across their property portfolio. He also leads on sustainability, working collaboratively to implement MTVH's sustainability roadmap and their 2030 action plan and beyond.

Darren is a telecoms industry specialist with extensive experience building company strategies in both start-up and blue chip organisations. At ITS Darren leads the network strategy, bringing industry knowledge, market intel, exceptional analytical skills and commercial acumen to evolve the ITS network offering in the marketplace. He supports all activities that include collaborating with local authorities, government bodies and frameworks to drive the rollout of full fibre infrastructure in the UK.

As the charity of the social housing sector, we have supported the transformation and development of housing providers for over 60 years. We believe the provision of housing is about more than just bricks and mortar – it’s about enhancing peoples’ lives. To us, housing providers are at their most successful when focused on the social value they create and meeting the needs of their residents and investing in their thriving communities. We exist to help them do this.

Tracey Dawes, Solutions Director at Reed Talent Solutions, has over 20 years of recruitment experience, she partners with clients across the public sector to design and implement bespoke recruitment and resourcing solutions to meet clients current and future workforce plans.

As a leading public sector procurement organisation with 50 years’ experience, YPO not only has a huge range of products and services at market-leading prices, but most importantly, the expertise to help you find the best solution.

Peter has had a varied career with over 40 years working strategically and operationally in the Public Sector. Starting out as a Chartered Civil Engineer and working in various roles, always championing improvement and efficiency. Currently Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement at Manchester City Council since 2019 which was preceded by 7 years delivering a collaborative procurement programme for Greater Manchester and 5 years supporting a range of collaborative and transformational projects in the North East of England. As chair of the LGA’s Procurement National Advisory Group and the iNetwork Connected Procurement and Commissioning Workstream, Peter provides a link between national policy makers and the NW region’s procurement practitioners. Currently focussing on using progressive procurement to address inequalities and prioritising the needs local residents, Peter is looking forward to maximising the opportunities provided by the Procurement Act and the National Procurement Policy Statement whilst also devising ways to ensure that the Council’s suppliers match our zero carbon ambitions.