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.

Crown Commercial Service plays an important role helping the UK public sector save money when buying common goods and services. Paul has been with CCS for more than 13 years, and leads the Crown Commercial Service Devolved Administrations and Crown Dependencies Team. Prior to that Paul held commercial roles in organisations such as the Ministry of Defence and Scottish Procurement & Property Directorate and has worked in the profession for more than 30 years.

Kobirul joined the Home Office as commercial lead via the Government Commercial Organisation in August 2020, working with key business functions to manage a large portfolio of spend and contracts. This includes managing strategic supplier and critical contracts to ensure business case outcomes are achieved, and developing innovative commercial strategies whilst ensuring procurement activity delivers tangible outcomes, value for money and more efficient and lean services, whilst considering social value and sustainability. Previously he worked as a senior commercial business partner at the Security Industry Authority, a non-departmental public body.

Roy has worked on a wide range of specialist and operational jobs over his career including: construction design & build, private finance projects, contract, programme, project, estate and operational management, procurement, transport, stores and logistics. In additional, he has held a number of senior strategic management posts with direct responsibility for: strategic and business planning, redesign and implementation of new of structures, systems, governance & risk management frameworks, policy development & implementation, finance, human resources, training & development. He also regularly presents both locally, nationally and international on procurement and supply change management.

Mark joined the National Health Service in 1978 and worked for the Mid Glamorgan Health Authority Supplies Department, later moving to WHTSO (which became the Welsh Health Common Services Authority). In 1980, he joined the North West Regional Health Authority as a purchaser at Trafford Park Hospital. Following a move back to Wales as Head of Purchasing in East Dyfed Health Authority, he returned to WHCSA as Director of Materials Management with the creation of the Procurement Group in Wales. In 1996, he served as Director of Welsh Health Supplies following the market testing of the Contracting and Supply Chain services. In 2011, Mark was appointed as the Director of the Procurement Division of the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership. The Division has over 500 staff across locations the length and breadth of Wales covering Sourcing, Supply Chain, Accounts Payable, Purchasing and Capital. Mark also has the responsibility for the Health Courier Service, following its transfer into NWSSP from Welsh Ambulance Service. Mark retired from this post in 2019 to take up the role of Programme Director focusing initially on Brexit and latterly the COVID Pandemic. In 2012, Mark was honoured for a lifetime of outstanding achievement at the National Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards. He was recognised for his part in driving forward public procurement and making a real difference within the profession over an extended period of time and in 2017 he was awarded with a MBE. Mark is Chair of Trustees for the HCSA and also a Trustee of the Wales Quality Centre.

Appointed to Head of Customer and Digital Service in 2018. Previously, Head of Procurement at Caerphilly Liz leads a team of 160 FTE’s who is responsible for the delivery of all services in relation Customer experience, Digital transformation, Procurement and Information Governance. Liz is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply with a keen interest in social and economic regeneration through the effective use of procurement.

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.

Julie O’Sullivan is the Head of Commercial Procurement Services (CPS) in the Education Authority (EA), a Centre of Procurement Expertise for Education in Northern Ireland. The EA is the largest educational body in the United Kingdom NI’s largest employer. Julie leads an award winning procurement team who support 1145 schools/ 101 youth centres, 800 school meal kitchens and numerous external education partners. Her remit includes the responsibility and management of a £1.7b contract portfolio and an annual procurement expenditure of circa £500m. The service is an important strategic enabler in assisting the EA in delivering its mission ‘To provide a high quality education for every child’. Julie brings to her position 25 years’ experience and a well-established background in Strategic Procurement and Contract Management. A key achievement has been achieving Centre of Procurement Expertise for the EA and she has led significant Transformational and Change Management Projects in the Public Sector. Prior to working in the EA, she worked in Local Government and Private Sector Procurement functions. Julie holds an MSC in Purchasing and Supply Management, a BA (Hons) in Business Services and MCIPS.

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.

John Coyne has recently been appointed Director of Commercial & Procurement at Birmingham City Council, having previously served for 3 years as Director for Commercial and Procurement at the Welsh Government. He 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.

Julie Welsh is the Director of Scotland Excel, the Centre of Procurement Expertise for local government. As the organisation's senior officer, she provides leadership and strategic direction to ensure its services are aligned to the needs of the sector. Since taking up her post in September 2014, Julie has implemented strategies to extend the range of services provided by Scotland Excel, extend the influence of the organisation in the wider public sector landscape, and secure its future as a leading shared service.

Nick spent eight years as Head of Commercial and Procurement at the Department for International Development. Following over 25 years within the private sector specialising in procurement, commercial and project management in roles across the UK, USA, Australia, and Spain, Nick joined the public sector as part of HMG’s Commercial Functional Leadership Group. Nick is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. Previously a CIPS Regional Chair and regular keynote speaker at conferences, Nick is also an active mentor for Procurement and Commercial professionals.

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

Responsible for the Strategic Procurement of the Translink Group`s Bus, Coach, Glider and Rail Fleets, and the supporting Engineering Maintenance requirements. Translink is the integrated public transport provider for Northern Ireland With a passion for procurement, Mark has over 41 years of Procurement and Supply Chain experience across both private and public sector organisations, having held senior positions at Wrightbus Ltd, PwC LLP, Transport for London (TfL), NI Civil Service and for the last 13 years with Translink. Mark is the Regional Chair of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) and is one of a handful of Chartered Fellows of the Institute currently working in Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and is currently studying for an MSc in Strategic Procurement Management at the University of South Wales. And was the recipient of the `Individual Achievement Award` for the transformation of public transport procurement at the 2022 Northern Ireland Go Awards.