January Bulletin – The market for procurement professionals

 The final quarter of last year saw a noticeable improvement in the market conditions for procurement professionals after a period of uncertainty created by the credit crunch.  The early signs this year are that this should continue and we believe the following factors have contributed:

• Improvement in a number of key economic indicators leading to better confidence in the economy
• Procurement’s unique ability to make a case to overcome “hiring freezes” in major organisations
• Greater urgency from clients to make appointments, especially where previous restrictions have applied
• Use it or lose it – a desire to spend budget before the end of the financial year
• A willingness to “get on with it” after a period of uncertainty
• Greater demands from senior management on procurement to deliver results  

The interim market also improved after a quiet summer with less availability of candidates than the first half of the year, although there remains some pressure on both contractors pay and recruiters margins.  The recovery in the interim market is due to:

• The need for additional resource when permanent head count is restricted
• The flexibility interim managers offer in uncertain market conditions
• The success many organisations have had in “squeezing” interim costs

At EdburyDaley we have been particularly active in the recruitment of senior category roles, head’s of function, vendor management/SRM and several international leadership appointments on both an interim and permanent basis during this time. If you have a key role in your team that needs a high calibre candidate then please talk to Andrew Daley, Charlie Bolam or Hannah Jackson.  Contact details here: http://www.edburydaley.com/contact2/

News

The latest EdburyDaley research project into The Importance of Supplier Relationship Management will be published next week.  With analysis from the Director’s of 105 Consulting we are confident that it’s the best survey we’ve produced yet. There are some fascinating comments on the subject and significant evidence that the standard of SRM capability can be improved upon in several different ways.

To register to receive a copy of the survey results, please e mail info@edburydaley.com

“Supplier relationship management (SRM) is suffering an “identity crisis” as buyers struggle to agree a definition, a study has revealed.”

That was the view of Supply Management magazine when they exclusively reported on our research recently.

“Effective SRM requires installation of competencies, values and behaviours aligned to the delivery against these imperatives and objectives. These competencies and skills are rarely found in the “standard” procurement toolkit.”

David Pomfret – Co-author & Director, 105 Consulting

The data provided by over 300 relevant professionals and subsequent analysis by the Directors of 105 Consulting offers a fascinating view of the subject including:

· What SRM actually means in 2010
· What business leaders expect from SRM
· Who is taking responsibility for SRM in major organisations
· What levels of competence exist across the specialist SRM population

Please read the full report here: EdburyDaley SRM jan 2010

105 Consulting specialises in maximising the value delivered from key suppliers through application of strategic Supplier Relationship Management. It helps clients install and manage the right relationship with new suppliers, maximise the value delivered through existing relationships and, where required, install relationship recovery programmes to improve any poorly performing supplier relationships. Learn more here: http://105consulting.com/105/case-studies

Edbury Daley is a niche recruitment consultancy specialising in Procurement and Supplier Relationship Management appointments. If you would like to discuss SRM career opportunities or need to identify suitable talent for your business please call Andrew Daley (0161 776 4603) or Hannah Jackson (0161 776 4608) or contact us via info@edburydaley.com

We launched our latest survey into “The increasing importance of Supplier Management” earlier in the summer and received our best ever initial response so thankyou to all those who have taken part already.

With such a positive response already we are confident that we can produce some valuable research and aim to complete the report for publication this Autumn.

As ever the value of our research will be greatly enhanced by maximising the number of relevant contributors so if you haven’t had time to do so already, please can you take part by clicking here.

If you have any additional comments please feel free to contribute to the survey blog, or you can e mail us at info@edburydaley.com

In the research we completed earlier this year regarding the impact of the recession on the procurement profession, some key issues were raised around supply chain security and how to deal with it. We concluded that “Around 60% (of responses) advocate the use of more stable suppliers and/or investing in strategic suppliers.”

We also noted in our recent blog that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of specialist Vendor Management roles that we have been asked to recruit for in the recent past, particularly this year.

So in this survey we look at how SRM or VM has risen in importance as businesses increasingly seek value from their suppliers, and we examine how expertise and success in this area enhances procurement and supply chain professionals’ career prospects’

So please do find 5-10 mins to contribute, and we particularly value your input in the “other comments” section. The survey is available here.

Edbury Daley is an executive recruitment company specialising in both interim and permanent appointments. If you are having difficulty finding the procurement talent you need for your business, or are looking for a new role, please mail us at info@edburydaley.com Alternatively you can call Andrew Daley (0161 776 4603), Charlie Bolam (0161 776 4605) or Hannah Jackson (0161 776 4608)

We are delighted to publish the results of our recent research into The Impact of the Current Economic Climate on Procurement which raises some very interesting issues including:

Supplier strategies for dealing with increased risk

The impact on business confidence

The opportunities and challenges for procurement

The issues surrounding professional and career development

With over 100 CPO’s & Purchasing Director’s taking part and some excellent analysis we believe this is the best survey we have undertaken.

Please click here to download the Survey results.

We have created a blog page on our website www.edburydaley.com/blog which is open to everyone who wants to debate the findings and any associated issues. You can also find our previous surveys on Salaries and Career Development there.

We are delighted to publish the results of our recent research into The Impact of the Current Economic Climate on Procurement which raises some very interesting issues including:

Supplier strategies for dealing with increased risk

The impact on business confidence

The opportunities and challenges for procurement

The issues surrounding professional and career development

With over 100 CPO’s & Purchasing Director’s taking part and some excellent analysis we believe this is the best survey we have undertaken.

Please click here to download the Survey results.

We have created a blog page on our website www.edburydaley.com/blog which is open to everyone who wants to debate the findings and any associated issues. You can also find our previous surveys on Salaries and Career Development there.

Thank you for your contribution to the Survey and here is the report which we feel really is quite interesting and we hope you agree.

It raises some points that should help everyone from a recent graduate to a CPO and we welcome any feedback on our findings.

If you did not get a chance to contribute this time, please look out for our next survey which will be launched in the next few weeks.

Please click here to download the survey as an Adobe Acrobat file format.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the results you can call Andrew Daley on 0161 776 4603 or simply e mail me, andrew@edburydaley.com.

Last month we reported some mixed news from the housebuilding industry, this month it is difficult to be that positive. For the last few weeks hardly a day has gone by without the media reporting a bad news story about the construction and housing market.

Smaller to medium sized developers are undoubtedly feeling the pressure and some experts believe that many will face financial meltdown as sales decrease and overpriced land deals combine to force many out of business.

The major players are equally feeling the pain. Bovis, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Miller, all agree that current market conditions are the worst they’ve seen for the past decade. Persimmon has announced that they have put the start of new sites on hold until the market improves. The main cause doesn’t appear to be lack of interest from potential buyers, Persimmon described visitor levels in March as ‘encouraging’; the blame seems to lie with the difficulty in obtaining a mortgage.

That said, there maybe a silver lining for some. It was reported recently that Scottish housebuilder Stewart Milne is planning to take advantage of the downturn by aggressively pursing land opportunities in the hopes of acquiring sites at a decent price. No doubt Stewart Milne are hoping to emulate the 1990’s success of Tony Pidgley.

For people looking for a new role this all adds up to a difficult time. Let’s hope that Pidgley is right when he was quoted as saying, ‘This crisis has come so quickly. But then, I think it could go away just as quickly.’ Let’s wait and see what May brings.

We are delighted to announce that our first survey has been a success and we have now completed the report which is enclosed. We welcome your feedback and comments on the conclusions drawn and would like to you remind you that we will be launching our Q2 “Career Development survey” at the end of this month.

If you would like to contribute to it then please contact me andrew@edburydaley.com

Procurement Salary Survey Analysis Report