Vanguard provides retained, fractional procurement leadership built on senior experience across NHS, central government, housing and large-scale international project environments.
Vanguard Procurement Limited has been my consulting vehicle since 2009. The decision to pivot the business to a retained fractional model came after more than two decades of senior procurement experience watching the same challenge repeat itself across the public and private sectors. Organisations often need serious procurement expertise — the kind that improves cost, supplier performance, commercial governance and delivery confidence — but cannot always justify a full-time senior hire, recruit quickly enough, or secure the specialist support they need at the point of need.
The fractional model changes that. Vanguard works with a small number of clients on a retained basis, providing each with senior procurement expertise at director level through a structured monthly engagement. Every client receives dedicated time, senior judgement and active delivery — not simply advisory recommendations, but procurement work that produces measurable outcomes.
My background spans NHS procurement, central government, housing, infrastructure and large-scale international project environments. I have led complex category strategies, taken on turnaround and transformation mandates as Interim Director of Procurement, recovered stalled procurements, built and transformed procurement functions, and delivered commercial savings at scale. Across those environments, I have been accountable for procurement portfolios exceeding £3bn. That experience is what every Vanguard client has access to, proportioned to their need and their budget.
Senior procurement leadership across NHS trusts, procurement partnerships and healthcare environments, with responsibility for high-value clinical and non-clinical spend portfolios. Experience includes leading large procurement and supply chain functions, implementing category management models, strengthening supplier governance, delivering cost improvement plans and mobilising critical healthcare services. Assignments have included responsibility for portfolios of up to £700m non-pay expenditure, leadership of teams of up to 96 FTE, and delivery of savings materially ahead of target.
Commercial and procurement leadership across central government, arm's-length bodies and nationally significant public sector programmes. Experience includes recovering stalled, high-value procurements, restoring assurance-gateway compliance, rebuilding stakeholder confidence and developing defensible procurement strategies within regulated environments. This includes recovery of three strategically critical procurements with a combined value exceeding £100m, alongside commercial leadership on national health infrastructure and communications programmes.
Procurement leadership across housing, development and asset management environments, with experience spanning construction supply chains, planned maintenance, repairs and maintenance, professional services, development procurement and social value. Work in the sector has included leadership across a combined £1.7bn portfolio, support for a £400m asset divestment, delivery of more than 60 complex tenders, and procurement support for major regeneration activity including an £800m programme.
Commercial and procurement leadership in international giga-project, infrastructure and healthcare environments across the Middle East. Experience includes leading multi-billion SAR consultancy portfolios, designing next-generation commercial frameworks, strengthening governance and controls, diversifying supply chains and delivering cost avoidance in the hundreds of millions. International assignments have also included mobilisation of critical outsourced services and high-value contracts in support of major hospital launch and operational readiness programmes.
Vanguard Procurement Limited is registered as an accredited supplier on the following public sector frameworks, providing compliant routes to engagement for NHS and public sector organisations:
Public sector buyers can engage Vanguard via the Bloom NEPRO³ framework, available to all UK public sector bodies. The framework provides a fully compliant route to direct award or further competition without a standalone tender process.
Vanguard works with a deliberately small number of clients. That constraint is intentional. It means every client receives senior attention, consistent delivery and a practitioner who understands their organisation, suppliers and commercial context.
Vanguard's retainer model is built around active delivery, not advisory output alone. Category strategies are implemented, contracts are renegotiated, supplier relationships are improved, and procurement functions are strengthened in practice.
The fractional model works best where relationships are built over time. Each engagement is treated as the start of a long-term partnership, with delivery, trust and measurable value compounding month by month.
Vanguard combines deep public sector procurement experience with the commercial focus private sector clients expect. That means regulatory compliance, governance and auditability are matched with cost discipline, supplier performance and measurable outcomes.