Strategic Advisory
Senior procurement oversight and strategic direction for organisations with an existing team that need experienced procurement judgement, challenge and guidance at director level.
£25,000 — £30,000 / annum Find out more
Bloom · NEPRO³ Accredited Supplier
Senior Procurement Expertise. Delivered Fractionally.
We provide retained procurement consultancy to NHS trusts, housing associations, public sector organisations, and commercial businesses — delivering senior procurement leadership without the headcount cost.
The Vanguard Model
Most organisations that need senior procurement expertise face the same dilemma. The work is there — supplier relationships to manage, contracts to renegotiate, category strategies to build and compliance obligations to meet — but a full-time senior hire is often difficult to justify, slow to recruit and expensive to carry.
Vanguard Procurement Limited was founded to solve that problem. We work with a small number of clients on a retained basis, providing each with senior procurement capability that would otherwise require a permanent appointment. Clients receive dedicated expertise at a fraction of the cost, with none of the recruitment risk or management overhead.
Whether supporting an NHS trust, a housing association, a central government body or a commercial organisation, the model is the same: senior procurement expertise, structured around your need, delivering measurable outcomes every month.
What We Offer
Procurement Expertise Structured Around Your Need
Operational Retainer
Active, hands-on procurement delivery across category management, sourcing, contract management and supplier relationships.
£50,000 — £60,000 / annum Find out more
Embedded Fractional
Deeper senior procurement support for organisations undergoing transformation, function build or significant commercial change.
Fee structured by scope and engagement length Find out more
Project Engagements
Discrete procurement support for a specific tender, category review, strategy document or supplier renegotiation.
Day rate · Min. 3 days Find out more
The Commercial Arithmetic
Three Routes — One Decision
The financial case for the fractional model is straightforward. Organisations with a senior procurement gap typically consider four routes: recruiting permanently, engaging an interim through an agency, commissioning a traditional consultancy, or retaining fractional senior expertise. Traditional consultancy can be effective for large transformation programmes, but it tends to produce recommendations rather than sustained delivery, and is often the most expensive route. The comparison below focuses on the three routes most commonly used to fill an ongoing senior procurement gap.
| Option 1Substantive Senior Procurement Hire | Option 2Day-Rate Interim Cover | Option 3 — VanguardEmbedded Fractional |
|---|---|---|
| Salary £66,582 — £91,609 Senior procurement, NHS Band 8b — 8c equivalent |
Day Rate £500 — £700 / day Senior procurement interim |
Annual Retainer From £75,000 / annum Scoped by engagement |
| Employer NI (15%) £9,237 — £12,991 |
Agency Margin 15% — 25% added on top |
Employer NI None (off payroll) |
| Pension Employer Contribution¹ £9,574 — £13,173 |
Employer NI None (off payroll) |
Agency Margin² None (direct) / minimal framework fee via Bloom |
| Recruitment Fee £10,000 — £15,000 |
Recruitment Built into agency margin |
Recruitment Cost None |
| Equipment & Workspace £3,500 — £5,000 |
Equipment & Workspace None (contractor provides) |
Equipment & Workspace None |
| Onboarding 2 — 3 months to full productivity |
Onboarding 2 — 4 weeks to productive delivery |
Time to Productive Delivery Immediate |
| TOTAL Year One £99,000 — £138,000 |
TOTAL Year One £126,500 — £192,500 (inc. agency margin) |
TOTAL Year One From £75,000 |
| Experience Profile Variable — dependent on candidate |
Experience Profile Variable — at this rate range, deeply experienced director-level resource is not reliably available |
Experience Profile 20+ years senior procurement leadership at director level — NHS, central government, housing and international giga-projects |
¹ Pension employer contribution shown at NHS Pension Scheme Trust portion of 14.38%. Equivalent on-costs apply across other sectors at varying rates.
² Public sector engagements via the Bloom Procurement Framework include a small framework access fee that is materially below typical agency margin levels. Direct engagement is fee-free.
Where We Work
Sectors We Serve
NHS & Healthcare
Clinical and non-clinical category management, framework utilisation and health sector procurement governance.
Housing Associations
Repairs, planned maintenance, development procurement and supply chain performance.
Central Government
Commercial strategy, framework compliance, procurement recovery and Procurement Act 2023 readiness.
Local Authorities
Corporate services, professional services spend, contract governance and savings delivery.
Infrastructure & Regeneration
Capital programmes, consultant and contractor procurement, and commercial governance at scale.
Commercial Organisations
Indirect spend management, supplier renegotiation, procurement function build and cost reduction.
Outcomes
Delivering Measurable Outcomes
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Delivered £6m in procurement savings against a £2.4m target while leading a 96-person NHS procurement and supply chain function with responsibility for circa £600m non-pay expenditure.
NHS & Healthcare
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Led procurement across a £1.7bn housing, development and asset services portfolio, delivering more than 60 complex tenders including a major £800m regeneration programme.
Housing Associations
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Designed and led the strategy for a multi-billion SAR consultancy framework across all business verticals, delivering cost avoidance in the hundreds of millions and implementing a next-generation framework model.
International Giga-Projects