We’ll use this Holiday week to take another opportunity to share some recent Chief Procurement Officer News and introduce a few other CPOs who have recently been “on the rise.” Arguably, we could have fit today’s and Monday’s news into one big bang of an article, but then we would have run the risk of shooting all of our CPO fireworks at once (like San Diego’s big fireworks fail). Instead, we prefer to take our time and celebrate CPO achievements with an extended bang (like the clip below).
UK CPO to Resign at End of July
CPO Rising was surely the first US site to report the news that John Collington, the UK’s Chief Procurement Officer had resigned (hat tip: Peter Smith); the fact is that we have been the only US site to have covered or even mentioned him so no kudos for us. I just mention it to highlight the fact that if you are a CPO or aspire to be one, this is the site with you in mind.
For the record, John Collington announced his resignation on Tuesday. Collington will leave the role effective July 31. Collington plans to join Alexander Mann Solutions as its COO. Commenting on the announcement, Francis Maude, minister for the Cabinet Office, said in a statement: “Under John’s leadership, Government has transformed the way it buys common goods and services, generating substantial savings for the taxpayer with around £1.7 billion saved in 2010/11 alone. Thanks to John’s work, Government now has a much sharper approach to procurement and a much tighter grip on this spending.”
Normally, a CPO moving into a new COO role would be an indication of a CPO on the Rise. That does not hold true in this instance. It would be hard to argue that leaving a high profile role (Collington was, after all, the first CPO in UK government’s history) within the highest levels of a global powerhouse for a private sector executive position at a 1,500 consultancy was a big advancement. Nonetheless, we hear that this was Collington’s decision and we wish him the best of luck in the future.
No word yet on who the new UK CPO will be.
Nestle CPO Leads Charge for EU Sugar Deregulation
Tim Innocent, Head of Purchasing, Direct Materials at Nestlé has been leading the charge in calling for the elimination of sugar quotas in the EU, appearing at various hearings on the matter. Later this year, the EU is expected to begin discussing a reform of its Common Agricultural Policy, including the structure of the sugar market. The current reforms were established in 2006 under the ‘trade for aid” policies that were designed to help developing countries establish a market presence in the EU. According to several sources, the reforms have not been successful and have EU consumers paying almost double the price for sugar compared to other regions. Innocent believes that reform is needed saying “I’m not confident about the future of reform. it is time to say enough is enough
H1, 2012: More CPOs, Rising
Stijn van Els, the EVP of Contracting & Procurement at Shell is the CEO-designate at a new Shell joint-venture
Brightpoint, Inc., a global leader in providing device lifecycle services to the wireless industry, appointed Sriram “Srisu” Subrahmanyam to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of its Americas division. Srisu is a “friend of the site” and former Chief Procurement Officer at Career Education Corporation.
Nick Madden, Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer for Novelis had his role expanded to include all Supply Chain operations. Madden’s additional responsibilities include “strengthening the cohesiveness and efficiency of the supply chain serving the company’s expanding global network of manufacturing operations.” Novelis is the leading producer of rolled aluminum products in Europe and South America, the number two producer in both North America and Asia, and the global leader in aluminum beverage can recycling.
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Congrats to all the new CPOs on the Rise – enjoy the fireworks, we expect to see some from you in your new roles…..