People and Skills Zone
As highlighted in NHS Commercial’s Strategic Framework, the NHS need to continue to attract the best and most diverse commercial talent to the NHS, and accredit, develop and connect the workforce. This means better training and development, greater scope for collaboration with peers and less duplicated and wasted effort; and ultimately more rewarding work and careers in a best-in-class commercial function.
The People and Skills Zone provide attendees with the opportunity to hear from key figures through a range of topical educational and interactive sessions designed specifically to enhance your knowledge and ability to contribute to deliver on these ambitions.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
Simon Baker
Enterprise Solutions Director
The team at LDN Apprenticeships is on a mission to create opportunities for diverse talent to realise their potential. We care deeply about our apprentices and the companies that support them. Everything we do revolves around improving the experience that they have with us.
Ian Schollar
Head of CIPS Business Study Centre
Ian Schollar is the Head of CIPS Business Study Centre at CIPS and has had a progressive career in procurement and commercial roles spanning over 30 years in both public and private sectors. He started his career with Mallory Batteries (Duracell) in 1983, before spending 15 years working within both central and local public sector organisations. He was responsible for procuring a diverse range of categories from breathing apparatus for fire fighters to high tech radar systems for air traffic controllers. In 1998, Ian became a Senior Advisor for Crown Agents, an International Development Agency. He was project lead on numerous capacity building projects working in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe and headed up the procurement and supply chain training at their Training Centre. Ian has worked at CIPS since 2005 and has a particular passion for professional development. Ian is a Fellow of CIPS and holds a Master’s Degree in Management, Learning and Leadership from Lancaster University Management School.
Janet Smith
Head of Sustainability
Prior to joining the NHS in 2003, Janet spent fifteen years managing United Nations funded health and other development projects in both urban and rural communities in the Philippines. Her expertise in community and sustainable development led to consultancies with international organisations including the World Bank’s Economic Development Institute and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Throughout the twelve years with the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, she worked closely with clinicians, service users, a variety of other health professionals and external advisors in successfully implementing a range of Trust-wide schemes including capital schemes, Sustainable Travel Initiatives; furniture reuse and recycling scheme; and was one of the key persons who implemented the 2010 Carbon Management Plan (CMP) which resulted in the Trust achieving 14% reduction in its carbon footprint by April 2015. Janet wrote the Trust Green and Climate Change Impact Adaptation Plan and is responsible for managing and facilitating its implementation. Under her leadership, the Trust has realised a 9% reduction of its carbon footprint from 2020‐21 baseline.
Neil Hind
Anchors Programme Lead
Neil Hind has worked across various private and public sector organisations advising and delivering on various procurement, programme and sustainability programmes. He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool. He has previously held the roles of the Head of Procurement for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, was Head of Procurement at NHS England whilst implementing a new Commercial and Procurement team, and was the GM NHS Procurement Programme Director, setting up one of the first ICS procurement teams within the NHS. More recently he has been supporting Net Zero for Carbon & Social Value Projects for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and is now their Anchors Programme Lead looking at system approach in embedding the Anchor principals that includes social value.
Riley Gibson
Graduate Trainee
Riley is the current Graduate Trainee at NOE CPC, having recently graduated from a Masters in Modern History, and will be rotating between various teams over his two year graduate scheme. As part of the Graduate Scheme, Riley is also currently studying CIPS level 4.
Olivia Humphrey
Procurement Support Officer
After completing a marketing degree at Lancaster University, Olivia joined NOE CPC in 2021 under the two-year Pathways to Procurement graduate scheme. This involved completing the CIPS level 4 apprenticeship and a series of rotations across the organisation. Olivia now works in Procurement Operations for the HR & People category and is completing the CIPS Advanced Practitioner course.
Caroline Brash
Head of Training, Events & New Business Development
Caroline has worked in procurement since 1998, moving in the year 2000 from a manufacturing environment to the NHS, initially at the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust. It was during this time that Caroline became CIPS qualified. In 2006 she joined the predecessor of the North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) as Project Manager for the pilot project “Growing the Region’s Businesses with NHS Investment”, NOE CPC’s unique partnership with the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward. The project was shortlisted for two prestigious awards; the HSJ Awards and Government Opportunities (GO) Awards Since the successful completion of the Yorkshire Forward project, Caroline has worked in a number of roles at NOE CPC, including Procurement Training Specialist, delivering training to both businesses and NHS staff on public sector procurement, and as a Category Manager. Caroline's current role as Head of Training, Events and New Business Development involves developing NOE CPC's relationships with both existing and new members, and delivering a programme of procurement training and other events for NOE CPC members and other NHS procurement professionals.
Will Laing
Operations Director
Will Laing is the Operations Director for the NHS Workforce Alliance, jointly reporting to the senior management of all five partner organisations, and responsible for the overall success of the Alliance in driving positive outcomes across all areas of workforce management for the NHS. Previously, Will was the Account Director – Department of Health and Social Care for Crown Commercial Service, during a period where the engagement between the health sector grew significantly. Will has an extensive background in NHS procurement since taking his first role with NHS Supplies North West division in 1995. From 2000 to 2010, Will worked in various commercial and managerial roles in the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA), which has given him insight into the challenges and opportunities in the NHS. Will led several categories in the 2004 NHS Supply Chain Excellence programme, introduced the first national agreement for Agency Nurses in 2007, and in 2008-10 represented the NHS in leadership roles in the OGC’s collaborative category management in energy and fleet.
Tracey Cramond
Chair
The HCSA promotes the work of procurement and supply chain staff at all levels in healthcare. The Association provides training events and educational seminars, sponsors awards and hosts two high-profile annual conferences. The governance of the Association rests with the board of Trustees. The Executive runs the day to day business of the Association supported by a National Council of Regional Coordinators, Specialist Area Coordinators and National representatives from across the U.K. HCSA is a registered charity in the UK, is entirely self-financed through a combination of income from conferences, seminars, other training events and advertising.