Procurement & Supply Chain Insights

Pro Outsourcing — UK procurement and supply chain consultancy

Procurement Strategy Procurement Training Supplier Management

Why Your Buyers Aren’t Getting Better

Why Your Buyers Aren’t Getting Better Businesses ask me quite regularly to recommend training courses for their buyers. Usually the frame is something like “we’ve noticed our procurement team isn’t as good as it needs to be, so we’re thinking about training”. Which is a reasonable instinct, and sometimes it is the right one. When […]

Procurement Strategy Supplier Management

What Strategic Sourcing Looks Like When Someone Runs It Properly

What Strategic Sourcing Looks Like When Someone Runs It Properly Strategic sourcing is one of those phrases that gets used to mean quite different things depending on who’s using it. For some businesses it means running an RFQ instead of just picking up the phone to the incumbent. For others it’s a category strategy document […]

Procurement Governance Supplier Due Diligence

The Due Diligence That Would Have Caught the Supplier That Went Under

The Due Diligence That Would Have Caught the Supplier That Went Under Blog + supporting content | Supplier Due Diligence pillar | ~1,180 words | Pro Outsourcing Here is the pattern I see quite a lot. A supplier goes under. Not one of the small ones. A meaningful supplier for a meaningful category. The FD […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

Fractional CPO vs Interim CPO vs Consultant: What is the Difference and Which Do You Need?

Fractional CPO vs Interim CPO vs Consultant: What is the Difference and Which Do You Need? Three labels, three very different propositions If you have ever been pitched procurement support and walked away unsure what you actually agreed to, you are not alone. The labels get used loosely. Consultant, interim, fractional, advisor, partner. They sound […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

Procurement Outsourcing FAQ: 15 Questions CFOs Ask Before Signing

Procurement Outsourcing FAQ: 15 Questions CFOs Ask Before Signing CFOs do not buy procurement outsourcing the same way they buy software or a recruitment retainer. They are committing a function, a spend base, and a slice of governance to a third party for at least 12 months. The questions below are the ones I get […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

What a Fractional CPO Actually Delivers in the First 90 Days

What a Fractional CPO Actually Delivers in the First 90 Days The first 90 days of a Fractional CPO engagement need to move quickly. Three months is plenty of time to understand where the main procurement issues sit, decide what needs attention first and start delivering some commercial results. I tend to break those first […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

How a £40m Manufacturer Outsourced Procurement and Improved Margin by 4 Percent

The Day the FD Realised Nobody Owned £24m of Spend How a £40m Manufacturer Outsourced Procurement and Improved Margin by 4% The story below combines elements from several manufacturing businesses I’ve worked with. The commercial outcomes are real, but some operational details have been changed to protect client confidentiality. Most manufacturers don’t lose margin because […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

Signs You’ve Outgrown Ad-Hoc Procurement

Signs You’ve Outgrown Ad Hoc Procurement I knew something wasn’t quite right before we’d even opened the first spreadsheet. It wasn’t because anyone complained about suppliers. Nobody mentioned procurement. In fact, the business considered itself well run. Orders were being placed, invoices were being paid and production was moving. From the outside, everything looked perfectly […]

Procurement Strategy Procurement Technology

The Day Everyone Asked for the Template

The Day Everyone Asked for the Template A few years ago, I spent some time teaching MCIPS, and there was one moment that cropped up on almost every course. We’d spend the morning working through Kraljic, Porter’s Five Forces or stakeholder mapping. We’d discuss why the framework existed, where it added value and how it […]

procurement leadership Procurement Strategy

Procurement Strategy Outsourcing

Procurement Strategy Outsourcing: When the Strategic Brain Sits Outside the Business Not every business needs a Chief Procurement Officer. Most need a procurement strategy. There’s a common misconception that if your business doesn’t have a Chief Procurement Officer, you’ll either need to hire one or accept that procurement is simply transactional. In reality, there’s a […]