Nine Pieces of Advice from Award-Winning Procurement Execs
On 24 September, the inaugural Procurement and Supply Chain Awards took place at the end of day one of Procurement and Supply Chain LIVE London Global Summit. The awards celebrated the individuals, companies and startups that consistently ensure that innovation and excellence lie at the forefront of their work.
Across 14 categories, the awards acted as a platform to showcase the inspirational achievements that are taking place across the industry, whilst also helping to catalyse change for the future, too.
The procurement and supply chain industries experience change constantly, with developments in AI, machine learning and sustainability impacting the future of our industries. As a result of this, it has never been more important than now to stay alert to the state of the field and embrace change as it occurs to maintain a competitive advantage.
After the award ceremony, we caught up with some of the award winners as they shared their advice for those wanting to take their first steps in the industry.
1. Nita Nair
Organisation: Emirates NBD
Award: Procurement Transformation Award
Her industry advice: “Just do it and keep the end in the mind. Think of where you want to reach and draw up your path and you can be there.”
2. Deborah Bode-Harrison (accepted the award on behalf of Daniel Bahia)
Organisation: Anglo American
Award: Executive of the Year Award
Her industry advice: “understand the marketplace and category management in its true and purest form and bring something new and innovative to the table.”
3. Lauren Allen
Organisation: Exiger
Award: Supply Chain Innovation
Her advice: “be open to expand- we were known from a compliance perspective, but we've really expanded how we look at risk and supply chain in the last couple of years.”
4. Simon Knowles (representing SGS Maine Pointe)
Organisation: SGS Maine Pointe
Award: Global Logistics Award
His advice: “it's all about the customer delivering results and what they need, whilst being responsive in order to deliver a great customer experience that the customer will actually be very proud of.”
5. Ninian Wilson
Organisation: Vodafone Procurement and Connectivity Company
Award: Lifetime Achievement Award
His advice: “be yourself. Don't ever try and be someone that you're not - always stretch yourself for higher targets and higher achievement, whilst thinking about transformation as the way of doing business.”
6. Michael Long
Organisation: Jabil
Award: Procurement Technology Award
His advice: “Really think outside the box. We got this award for our digital adoption platform, which in itself isn't a procurement technology tool. It's all in the way you use it, in the way you apply it. So we put it (the digital platform tool) on top of our business spend management platform, which is Coupa. It's amazing in itself - you put them together and they amplify each other and allow us to bring a lot more value to the company.”
7. Chris Powell
Organisation: Argon & Co
Award: Procurement Consultancy Award
His advice: “make sure you invest time in the relationship with your suppliers because you can run the best procurement process in the world, but unless you've got the support of the suppliers you're working with, it's not going to deliver the results.”
8. Kris Spriano
Organisation: Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council
Award: Social Enterprise Award
Her advice: “don't go it alone. Large organisations are doing this, small organisations are doing this, and if we work together, we can make it better for the next generation and the world.”
9. Alex Grundy
Organisation: Spendkey
Award: Start- Up Award
His advice: “Believe in yourself and be persistent. Don't give up. I think it's important that any start-up journey has it's peaks and troughs, so you have to be very resilient and keep going.”
Essential diary dates for 2024 and 2025…
Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE continues to expand its repertoire of events, with more to come in 2024 and 2025. Discover our essential diary dates below.
2024 diary dates:
- Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE | 6 November 2024
2025 diary dates:
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Singapore | 11 February 2025
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE: Scope 3 | 5-6 March 2025
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Dubai | 29 April 2025
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June 2025
- Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June 2025
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE London | 23-24 September 2025
- Procurement & Supply Chain Awards | 24 September 2025
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Procurement Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Procurement & Supply Chain 2025
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