KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Ruth Parsons
Head of Public Service Reform and Efficiency Group, Scottish Government
Ruth joined the Scottish Government in April 2005, following a 21-year career in HM Customs and Excise. She has extensive experience in driving strategic change programmes and in delivering significant service delivery improvements. In January 2006, Ruth took up a new post as Head of the Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform Group, which has now merged with the Efficient Government Group to become the Public Service Reform and Efficiency Group. She has worked closely with the Cabinet Office, firstly in supporting the Civil Service Reform agenda in Scotland, and latterly contributing to the programme for Improving Leadership Capacity in the Senior Civil Service.

David Burnie – Renfrewshire Council

Geoff Clark – Scotland Excel

Geoff was appointed in July 2007 as the lead IT officer for the Scotland Excel project. He is responsible for the review and evaluation of the technology within the existing abc organisation and for the development of the technological direction taken by Scotland Excel. He brings with him over 12 years of project and client management experience gained from working in local authorities.

Lara Cook – eProcurement Scotl@nd

Dorothy Cowie
Project Director, Scotland Excel

Dorothy was appointed in October 2006 as the Director of abc, the authorities buying consortium which was established in 1996 as a purchasing agency for 12 Scottish Local Authorities. abc now buys on behalf of the 12 original member councils, four associate member councils and over 150 other organisations in the public and voluntary sectors. Dorothy is also the Project Director of the Scotland Excel project which aims to create a Centre of Procurement Expertise for all 32 Local Authorities in Scotland. Prior to joining abc Dorothy was the UK Procurement Director for Scottish Power, where she was responsible for leading a team of 51 procurement staff in developing and implementing appropriate procurement strategies and commercial frameworks for the Group's spend of some £800M per annum.

Jackie Foster
Procurement Development Manager (People & Skills), NPCOE

Jackie joined the Scottish Government in July 2007 to lead the development of People and Skills across Scotland. People and Skills has been identified as one of the priorities in the Public Procurement Reform Programme in Scotland. Her career in public sector procurement began in the NHS in Newcastle upon Tyne, leading a small team of specialist buyers, before moving to procurement management posts at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Borders Council. During her time at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue, Jackie was involved in the first Scottish collaborative contract for the supply of Protective Fire Clothing, and while at Scottish Borders Council she had a particular interest in enabling SMEs to compete for public sector contracts.

Kim Godwin
BAA Head of Supply Chain

Kim has previously reformed the whole purchasing process/values/policy and procedures at Barclays Bank where he was responsible for reform at a time when procurement was seen as being a non-core function at the Bank. He then set up on his own, specialising in procurement activity reform, and has been working on this at BAA for the past year and a half, reforming procurement activity across areas such as recruitment and contract re-tendering. Kim is currently involved in public sector activity with Defra.

Sylvia Gray
Vice Chair, Sustainable Scotland Network

Sylvia has been East Dunbartonshire Council's Sustainable Development Officer for over five years. During this time, she has been involved in the promotion of sustainability in a number of contexts, including procurement. She co-ordinated East Dunbartonshire's recent successful bid for Fairtrade Zone status, in which in-house procurement was a key aspect, and is currently looking at opportunities for low-carbon purchasing. Sylvia is also vice-chair of the Sustainable Scotland Network.

Stephen Gribben
Managing Partner, Executive Development

Stephen is managing partner of Executive Development, which provides a learning resource for personal and professional development. He is an experienced coach and business consultant specialising in emotional intelligence and working with some of the top executives throughout the UK, Central Europe and North America. Prior to launching Executive Development, Stephen was the founder and Managing Director of the International Training Network. He is also a member of the World Association of Business Coaches and an accredited facilitator of the Strategic Coach Programme and of emotional itelligence through Hay group.

Nick Halliday – Ford Motor Company Ltd

David Martin
Chief Executive, Renfrewshire Council

David is Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council. Prior to taking up post in 2006 he held senior management posts with several local authorities, working in the fields of economic policy, business development, community planning, housing, finance and environmental services.
He has been an executive member of the Scottish Society of Directors of Planning and has held several directorships of commercial and not-for-profit organisations. He is currently a member of SOLACE Scotland and a member of the Public Procurement Reform Board.

Irene McCulloch
Scotland Excel

Irene has 25 years’ experience in Local Government and Public Sector Service in customer- focused services and joined abc in 2003 from East Renfrewshire Council. As head of support services she has been responsible for providing a wide range of both internal and external support services and developing new ones. Within Scotland Excel she is responsible for leading the development of the ‘people, organisation and skills’ workstream to ensure that Scotland Excel provides skills, knowledge, systems, processes and practice that support local authorities and other bodies across Scotland in their procurement function.

Jennifer Smith
Scottish Procurement Directorate

Neil Stewart
eProcurement Scotl@nd

Neil is a career buyer, having worked in procurement for the UK Department for Transport and, since 1998, the Scottish Government. He has been involved with the eProcurement Scotl@nd programme since its inception in 2001 and has worked closely on the development of the programme's electronic tendering capability. Neil's particular focus is on supporting buying organisations to exploit the possibilities of electronic tendering and electronic auctions.

Steve Thorpe BA Hons MCIPD
Strategy Manager, London Borough of Havering

Steve has spent his career in London local government, holding positions in four different boroughs. He has worked in front line services and has spent the last seven years in HR and organisational development. Steve specialises in leadership and management development at all levels. His current role includes responsibility for the development of officers and councillors, with the aim of gaining Investors in People accreditation. One of his passions is mentoring – he has coordinated a mentoring partnership in East London for the past six years which has grown to include seven public sector organisations. He project-managed Havering’s Leadership Programme – which along with Three Dee Ltd – won a National Training Award in 2005 and was shortlisted for an HR Excellence award (alongside Group Four and the Royal Bank of Scotland). He also chairs the London Councils Heads of Learning and Development Network. Steve is also a licensed Navigator trainer.

Pauline Wilkie
Senior Project Development Officer,
The Supplier Development Programme, Glasgow City Council

Pauline ran her own successful retail business for six years, selling outdoor clothing and equipment specialising in the travel market. During this time, the business won several awards, including awards from Shell LiveWIRE and the Royal Bank of Scotland. She joined Glasgow City Council to develop the Women Into Enterprise programme - a pioneering joint initiative with several organisations delivering advice and support to women-owned businesses at all stages of their development. Her current role within the Supplier Development programme is to deliver a comprehensive programme of support, which aims to help all businesses improve their performance in winning contracts with Scottish public sector organisations through providing information and news and delivering events and workshops.

Yvonne Yule
Scotland Excel

Yvonne is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, and has wide experience of procurement in the public sector - both as part of a council and with the authorities buying consortium (abc). As a purchasing manager, Yvonne is responsible for a team of staff who establish and manage contracts covering a wide portfolio of products and services including vehicles, wheeled refuse containers, vending equipment, building materials and timber. Her team has been primarily responsible for developing a range of new contracts for commodities not previously dealt with by abc, and this expertise will be a major asset to the new Scotland Excel organisation as it investigates further collaborative opportunities on behalf of a wider customer base.