There is a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, and whilst none of us have a crystal ball to show what the future holds, we can be certain that our businesses need protecting and bolstering. This is a great chance for Procurement and Commercial Teams to partner with the business to deliver on efficiency opportunities and mitigate internal and external risks.

In these uncertain times, increasing focus is being put on reducing cost whilst increasing efficiency and performance. For many organisations, these targets lead a path to the IT Team and strategic sourcing.

A huge thank you to Hayley Packham from Procurement Heads for inviting the Aster Commercial Services team to be involved in an interview on Women in Procurement.

Supplier relationship management in Procurement as part of the lifecycle is a necessity and most organisations understand the benefit of managing third parties throughout the life of the contract. But is focussing on the top 10 spend suppliers enough? The importance of negotiating to get the best terms at the contract stage requires oversight post signature to ensure that the full value is delivered.

All businesses understand they can’t possibly operate without the help of third parties but the decision of when to manage requirements in house vs procurement outsourcing expertise can be a tricky one.

In over 20 years of working in Procurement we have found that it can mean many things to different people and organisations, which is probably why it goes under many names...