Catherine Cooper Mcips Email & Phone Number

Chester, England, United Kingdom

First hire to start up a new central global procurement function within GBG. Responsible for shaping the function including new procurement policy and processes, building the procurement team, and digitally transforming supply management activities across the Group (source to contract and SRM). Strategic sourcing and negotiations to onboard and/or maintain the most suitable, capable, compliant, innovative suppliers and to achieve savings and value for the Group. Trusted advisor to other GBG functions (incl. supplier relationships owners), leading or guiding as necessary to acheive the best strategic outcomes for the Group.

Daresbury, England, United Kingdom

Part of a small team retained by the appointed Administrators (Grant Thornton) to help wind down the company following Greensill going into administration.

Daresbury, England, United Kingdom

First hire to start up a new global procurement function within Greensill to centralise spend across Greensill, Earnd, Finacity and Greensill Latam, centralise and manage the global supplier base, acheive the best possible value from deals and supplier relationships, and minimise supplier risk to the organisation.

Liverpool, United Kingdom

Unique role within the Group as the Commercial Lead for the Shop Direct Financial Services entity. Sitting within a wider Commercial team that encompasses both the Retail (Home Shopping) and Financial Services non-merchandise third party spend predominantly in the IT/telecomms areas and FCA related areas. Leading and/or providing procurement guidance to the business on third party sourcing, selection, due diligence, commercial negotiations, contract negotiations, and contract management. A key central figure to ensure that the right stakeholders are being engaged to provide their specialist guidance within their specialist areas prior to third party commitments (e.g. data protection, business continuity, computer security, architects, compliance teams, etc). Ensuring that third party engagements are contractually protected, have minimum risk to Shop Direct, are compliant with relevant legislation, are governed by sufficient performance measures, and are economically affordable for the Shop Direct Shareholders over the life of the contract. Activities range from simple contract variations for renewal of services (SaaS, reporting/analytical tools, etc) to new multi-million pound contracts under larger strategic programmes of work using full-scale competitive market analysis with multiple potential vendors (PCI related activity, personalisation strategies, customer journey improvements, credit offering improvements, digitalisation, improved customer communication tools/strategies, debt management, etc).

Speke

Commercial procurement lead for IT and e-commerce spend supporting the overall company objective of becoming a World Class Digital Retailer. Leading commercial and contract negotiations with Software-as-a-service and digital services (mobile first) suppliers and consultancies to ensure that the brand websites give customers a positive customer experience so that they want to continue to shop with us and spend more money with us (increased sales). Identifying and putting in place the right supplier relationships for many very strategic and high-value initiatives to ensure that customers receive a regulatory compliant and personalised experience.

Speke

Initially joined Shop Direct to procure wider Group services contracts spanning across all Shop Direct legal entities (Home Shopping, Financial Services, Contact Centres, HDNL, CDMS - some entities have since changed or been removed from this list) such as the HR function, the Security function, and other generic central functions, including group travel company, direct relationships/deals with hotels and airlines, HR and recruitment agencies - preferred agency list (senior managers, Executive, warehouse operatives, contact centre staff), CCTV and access control systems, keyholding services, etc). After approx. 2 years, this procurement role changed to IT procurement and technical eCommerce procurement, including the sourcing, due diligence, commercial and contract negotiations within the technology function, e.g. hardware, software licences, SaaS, storage, printer managed services, cloud solutions, PCI related solutions, specialist professional services, off-shore professional services, web-solutions, etc.

Skelmersdale, West Lancs

Leading and managing tenders for non-merchandise goods and services, including supplier research, pre-qualification, evaluation, short-listing, recommendations and decision. Creating negotiation plans and leading supplier negotiations (price, service levels, additional value, etc).Strategic supplier/spend consolidation within purchasing categories.Proven reduction in spend to achieve significant savings against budgets and to achieve cost-avoidance benefits.Proactive involvement in complex contract negotiations to achieve favourable terms and minimise business risk.Managing relevant stakeholders to achieve the desired outcomes for the business and prioritise activity as necessary, typically through the chairing of weekly 'Virtual Teams'. Oracle Purchasing super-user - key involvement in set-up of new contract management system/functionality and facilitation of team training to roll out and go-live. Category management in the following areas:> Store Development and Estates (approx. 2 years), e.g. store refurbishments or refits, demolition, mechanical and electrical contracting, store fixtures and fittings, lifts and escalators, carpet fitting, car park management, lighting, electricity and gas (via e-auctions), property leases, store maintenance services, utility bill validation services, etc. > Loss Prevention/security (approx. 1 year), e.g. manned guarding, keyholding, CCTV and alarm systems, cash collection, stocktaking services, fraud services, etc). > Warehousing and Distribution (approx. 1 year), e.g. major automated conveyor systems (hanging garment systems and boxed sortation systems), agency labour, freight and import services, warehouse refurbishments and maintenance, distribution centre refurbishments and refits, etc. > IT (approx. 1 year), e.g. hardware, out-of-the-box and bespoke software, technical consultancy, software resellers, mobile phones, etc.