Bahar is a transformational procurement leader, and the Go Awards 2025 winner in both the Team and Individual categories—recognising his outstanding contributions to public procurement. As Director of Procurement at Queen Mary University of London, Bahar has defined the role of procurement as a strategic enabler of value, innovation, and impact.

With early career experience in finance, Bahar entered the procurement field in 2007. Since joining Queen Mary in 2012, he has delivered significant savings and recognised multi million in social value, while embedding ethical, sustainable, and social priorities into procurement practices. Bahar also contributes as an Executive Committee member of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium and a leader in several sector-wide working groups.

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.

With a career spanning the retail, hospitality, FMCG and Higher Education sectors, Catherine is not your typical procurement professional - she began her career in sales, before moving into training, product marketing, category management and then, as many do, ‘fell’ into procurement, and more specifically indirect procurement.
With a passion for adding value and making a difference be it commercially or through developing procurement talent, Catherine’s mix of private and now public (HE) sector experience enables her to bring change and a different lens to procurement at USW, balancing commerciality with the legislative requirements of the sector.

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.

David is a globally recognised procurement leader specialising in using his experience of Digital-era methods to modernise public procurement. He’s respected for his notable work applying agile ways of working to public procurement, AI procurement, moving from ‘spending’ to ‘investing' public money through public procurement and contracting, helping organisations improve their market engagement approaches, and ensuring contract exit is thought through from the start.
He advised and led some of the most innovative digital and technology procurement activities of recent times in the UK Public Sector and overseas governments, centred around the needs of all users, being an expert on all Digital, Data and Technology commercial-procurement and links to the well-being of future generations.

Hannah is a Business Director for Procurement Recruitment at Michael Page, playing a pivotal role in helping shape the public sector's procurement talent landscape nationally. Michael Page is a global leader in recruitment with localized, specialist consultants who are experts in the Procurement & Supply Chain market.

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

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.

John began his career as a laboratory assistant before becoming a qualified Master Brewer. Having spent 10 years in brewing production, John moved onto various procurement roles in the industry prior to spending 2 years in the food industry working for one of the country’s leading chilled food producers. In 2006, he joined the NHS being involved in the growth and development of two regional procurement organisations before joining Anchor 2 years ago in the role of Head of Procurement and Purchasing.

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.

Matthew was appointed as Head of Commercial at the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology in January 2025, having previously been the Head of Commercial Services at Digital Health & Care Wales, where he was part of the UK GO Excellence winning team in 2024.

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.

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.

As a senior healthcare leader with extensive expertise in NHS procurement, sustainability, and commercial transformation, Preeya brings extensive senior leadership experience having held a variety of roles across the NHS, alongside a deep knowledge of the wider healthcare sector.
Prior to joining KFM, Preeya served as Director of NHS Central Commercial Function at NHS England, where she was instrumental in establishing the first National Energy Agreement, overseeing the rollout of a single Commercial System across the NHS, delivery of the Net-Zero Supplier Roadmap, and establishing a Learning and Development Centre of Excellence.

Rebecca is a partner and Head of Public Procurement. She also leads the cross-firm Building a Safer Future team at Trowers & Hamlins. Rebecca is a leading national expert in public procurement law, consistently ranked as among the world's leading government contracts lawyers (Who's Who Legal and Chambers and Partners). Rebecca has significant experience in advising clients in the public, private and third sectors on public procurement, subsidy control and building safety strategy issues. She advises clients on procurement strategy and structures, how to conduct flexible and compliant procurement procedures and compile objective and transparent evaluation models and guidance. With particular interests in value-led procurement, social value and building safety, Rebecca is a member of the Working Group 11 for Procurement Competency, part of the Competency Steering Group (CSG), set up by the Industry Response Group (IRG) to tackle competency failings identified in the Hackitt Review, Building a Safer Future and sits on DLUHC's Procurement Advisory Group. Rebecca also represents Trowers & Hamlins on the Social Value in Housing Taskforce, led by HACT, which focuses on the further development of robust measurement and management of social value outcomes. Rebecca also sits on the Advisory Council of Radioactive Waste Management, the public sector organisation established by government responsible for planning and delivering geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste in the UK. Rebecca is ranked in Band 1 and named as a 'Top Ranked and Leader in the Field for Public Procurement (UK-wide)' by the Chambers and Partners' Guide to the Legal Profession 2022. She is also recognised as a Global Leader in the "Who's Who Legal Guide to Government Contracts 2021".

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.