Despite some challenging economic conditions, we at EdburyDaley continue to see evidence that the procurement job market is still in much better shape than most other professions.

We have recently been the recruiting partner for several transformation projects where large PLCs have driven procurement to the forefront of their business.  Such opportunities are always attractive to strong candidates so this has enabled us to identify some outstanding talent in the following areas:

Graduates with 3-6 years procurement experience

At Edbury Daley we appreciate the importance of  identifying the Procurement Leaders of the future. We specifically target ambitious candidates coming through graduate schemes from the leading developers of procurement talent.  The competition for such people is strong in the current climate, particularly as the salaries represent excellent value for the broad range of skills they offer.

Category Management – Indirect Spend

In the aforementioned transformation projects, several of the organisations in question have looked for accomplished Category Managers with experience in classic areas of indirect spend.  We have identified some outstanding candidates as a result of these searches, particularly in Marketing, HR, FM and Professional Services.

IT category expertise in particular is in much greater demand than 12 months ago.  This article is quite interesting: Global IT spending to rise

Senior Sourcing Managers / Global Category Leads

With so many businesses still seeking to effect real change in how their procurement function operates, the need for “heavyweight” Category Leaders with the gravitas and credibility to influence senior stakeholders remains strong.  The ability to develop and implement a sourcing strategy at senior management level is not as easily available as many perceive but we have had great success in this area recently.

Supplier Relationship Manager

As previous readers of our research know Supplier Relationship Management has become increasingly high profile in recent years.  In fact, relationships with suppliers are more important than ever.  There are currently several outstanding candidates looking to move, ideally to an organisation seeking to develop its SRM capability.

If your business needs to identify the best available talent in Procurement or SRM, then it’s time to talk to us about how we can have a positive impact on your recruitment.

Procurement and Supply Chain Specialists for RPO’s

Edbury Daley is an independent specialist recruitment consultancy focusing on the Procurement and Supply Chain sectors. The experience and professionalism of our directors has enabled us to develop some innovative solutions based on traditional recruitment services, and we have a particularly strong track record of working with RPO’s.

Our achievements include:

Part of the Elan Global PSL, as procurement specialists

Valued supplier to numerous blue chip AMS accounts

100% success rate in 2011 with LOCOG (London 2012) through Adecco

We are the leading procurement specialist on a key account for Penna

We work well on particularly difficult to fill roles, often where PSLs have failed, due to our expert market knowledge and extensive network. Whilst our experience allows us to understand which specific skills are transferable, our work ethic ensures that we will work tenaciously and creatively through the recruitment process to source the very best candidates.

As a small but well established business we are well received by RPOs to work on their key accounts, for the following reasons:

We understand and respect the account structures used by leading RPOs and the protocol to be followed

We welcome the chance to work with blue chip accounts

We enjoy working collaboratively with RPO account managers forging good relationships due to our integrity

As a relatively small business, we pose no threat to client relationships held by major RPO organisations

By working with a finite number of key accounts we are able to take time to comprehend their needs, understand company culture, and ultimately provide a more effective service. We like to forge close working relationships with all our clients and this encourages us to go the extra mile to make sure we complete the assignment.

We work with a range of clients across a number of different industry sectors. This has enabled us to establish an outstanding candidate network allowing us to identify professionals in a wider range of industries. We are often able to focus on transferable skills from different sectors and this can provide excellent candidates from less obvious sources.

In addition Edbury Daley differentiates itself from the competition through our topical online research projects, these enable us to keep to the forefront of changes in the market and maintain a high profile. This combined with our tenacity and desire to succeed drives us to adapt to the changes within recruitment marketplace.

Our Services

Edbury Daley is an executive recruitment consultancy specialising in both interim and permanent appointments in the following professions:

∙ Procurement / Purchasing

∙ Supplier / Vendor Management

∙ Supply Chain Management

We focus on appointments in the following salary brackets:

∙ Permanent appointments – £25,000 – £200,000

∙ Interim Appointments – Day rates of £300 – £1000

We offer the following core recruitment services:

∙Database / Contingency Search – Permanent & interim

∙Executive Search

∙Advertised Selection

∙ Rapid Result

There is more information on each individual service available at htto://www.edburydaley.com/recruitment2

For more information please contact Chris McGowan on 0161 776 4605 or via chris@edburydaley.com

The early signs for this year’s procurement recruitment market are very encouraging as we are currently experiencing our busiest January for several years, with this coming on the back of a very strong Q4 last year.

In fact we were very surprised by the figures announced earlier this week indicating that Q4 saw a 0.5% contraction in the economy.  During this period, the demand for procurement staff was as strong as at any time since mid 2008 levels.

Here’s a summary of our observations on the current market trends:

Recruitment activity for procurement staff across almost all areas of private sector is up significantly on the same period last year, particularly in the Electronics, IT, FMCG, Business services and Consultancy markets.

Using our own data, we have observed the resurgence of the permanent recruitment market with a 127% increase in activity between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010.   This is in part due to an increase in business confidence and less pressure on head count.

Demand for accomplished category specialists in key areas of indirect spend like Marketing, Professional Services, IT, Telco, Facilities and Travel is strong, particularly for those who offer the vital combination of stakeholder engagement and change management expertise.

Many Procurement & Supply Chain Consultancies are actively recruiting into their consulting force.  In recruitment terms this is generally viewed as a good sign of an increase in activity and spending within target client organisations, also stimulating demand for the very best candidates.

Fortunately the market is characterised by a large number of excellent people looking for new roles, particularly those who have stayed in the same role during the recession but are now looking for their next career move.

This is also boosted by the availability of many people in the public sector who are concerned about their futures. However there is very little evidence of private sector companies recruiting public sector Buyers in any significant numbers so far.

After a lengthy period of relative stagnation, moves at the senior end of the market are starting to become more regular now. It will be very interesting to see when the CPO market really takes off but we anticipate it being at some stage later this year.  We’ll keep you updated on this next quarter.

The availability of interim candidates is markedly down since the middle of 2009.   In our opinion that particular niche market has now genuinely recovered, and we have already seen evidence of day rates starting to creep back up this year.

There is a noticeable increase in competition for “up & coming” procurement professionals. Such people are often graduates with 3-6 years professional experience and are perceived as being relatively inexpensive by CPO’s given the range of modern procurement skills they can offer.

At Edbury Daley we are specifically working to identify the best emerging talent in the profession. If you are a looking for that next step in your career please talk to Chris McGowan (chris@edburydaley.com 0161 776 4605) about the roles we are working on at present.

Good news for all involved in the FMCG market, Hannah Jackson will be returning from maternity leave on 1^st March. If you are seeking a new role in the sector or need to add new talent to your team, particularly in core categories like Packaging, Ingredients or Raw Materials then you can contact Hannah now via hannah@edburydaley.com

Procurement Systems & Skills Survey – are we in balance? Our latest research topic is still available online.  We’ve already had some very interesting contributions and would really welcome your input before we start our analysis. You contribute to our research here http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/category/surveys/ and also access our research archive which is increasingly popular.

Having difficultly finding the talent you need for your procurement team? Are you facing some of the challenges we have touched on in this market report? If so please call Andrew Daley on 0161 776 4603 to discuss how we can help, or contact him via andrew@edburydaley.com

We are seeing an increasing reliance on standardised tools, technology and systems in the sourcing and negotiation process. Any benefits these can bring in the areas of cost effectiveness, consistency, speed, and the creation of audit trails, are obviously good news.

Our question is whether the widespread use of such technology and systems is creating a generation of procurement professionals who lack some of the critical skills that are required for full commercial competency and agility.

This survey explores the link between systems and core skills.

In our most recent report into the market conditions for procurement professionals published in March we observed the following trends:

A much improved market for permanent roles

A more stable interim market than 2009

The return of the “battle for procurement talent”

Restraint on salary increases

The apparent recovery in certain key sectors e.g. banking & FMCG

The growing demand for leading edge SRM experience

 Now three months later with the election behind us and fresh concerns expressed in the media about the economic recovery, we look at how the market conditions are affecting procurement professionals and their careers:

The improved market conditions for permanent procurement roles that we observed in March have continued and strengthened to a degree during this period.  Demand remains strongest in the middle market (£40-£80k) although there is little evidence of much movement at the most senior end of the scale. It remains to be seen when there will be real movement in the Director of Procurement / CPO market, but with so little activity at that level over the last two years we expect the big roles to be fiercely contested when they do become available, possibly later this year.

 The overall picture across all professions is stronger, with a leading research organisation reporting in May that demand for staff increased for the eighth month in succession, whilst the availability of candidates for permanent roles is down for the first time in two years.

Last quarter we observed some restraint on remuneration increases including bonuses, pay reviews and the increases in salary people seek to negotiate when moving companies.  This remains the case and in the current economic climate we would expect that to continue but there are organisations that are already having difficulty attracting the talent they need because of an inability to pay “market rate” and it will be interesting to see how this situation develops later this year.   

The interim market is currently in a relatively stable condition compared to 2009, but as we publish this report the real effects of the public sector cuts proposed by the new government are yet to be truly felt. There is a very strong suspicion with some early evidence to support it that spending on interim staff will be reduced, and this will be terrible news for the interim market as so many experienced procurement professionals have enjoyed some very lucrative contracts in the recent past on a variety of public sector projects.

Our fear is that the market will be flooded with contractors from the public sector over the next quarter, many of whom will be coming into a private sector interim market that has seen a substantial correction in day rates and margins over the last 18 months. This will lead to excess supply, causing further pressure on day rates and may prompt many career interim managers to consider going back into permanent roles. The early signs are there, and we have had many enquiries already from people concerned about whether their contracts will be extended or even terminated early so we will be watching this part of the market closely.

Most public sector senior managers that we asked for their thoughts on the subject were understandably reluctant to make any comment on the impact of the cuts at this stage, but one said “all recruitment, including approved vacancies, is frozen, and now has to be approved at a level which will inhibit us from even making the request!” We will be monitoring this situation closely and will comment on the impact this is having on procurement in our Q3 update.

In some of the key private sector industries the story is more positive with evidence that banking, retail, FMCG and leisure have continued the encouraging trends we observed last quarter. Furthermore both the technology and consulting sectors which we expressed concern about in our last report are now recruiting more in procurement and we believe this is a very encouraging sign.

Our focus on the SRM world as a result of our research and the growing evidence of a clear trend towards greater emphasis in vendor relations is proving to be very interesting.  As our reputation grows as a specialist recruiter for the discipline, we are engaging with more organisations and leading professionals than ever before and we expect to see more evidence of greater emphasis in this area in the second half of the year.  We remain particularly keen to speak to as many professionals with involvement in the area as possible. For more information please visit: http://www.edburydaley.com/supplier-relationship-management/ or join our network at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/edburydaleyandrew

There has been some further analysis of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) trends undertaken by our research partners 105 Consulting which is available below.  The findings highlight that whilst SRM is now considered critical to many businesses, it seems value is being ‘left on the table’ through insufficient focus, installation and application of SRM capabilities and practice. To access the report click here: http://www.105consulting.com/main/images/stories/pdfs/srm-practitioner-survey.pdf

Future research projects:

We intend to announce the subject for our next online survey and research report at the end of July and will be inviting you all to contribute later in the summer and autumn.  Our previous reports are available here:

The growing importance of SRM: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/EdburyDaley-SRM-jan-2010.pdf

The impact of the recession on procurement: http://edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/edbury-daley-the-impact-of-the-current-economic-climate.pdf

Welcome to our latest update on the employment market conditions for Procurement and SRM professionals. Since our last update in January we have observed the following:

The permanent market is much improved for Senior Buyers, Category Managers, Procurement Managers and SRM specialists since Q3 2009. There is certainly more confidence amongst employers and the number of vacancies is up on earlier this year and late 2009.

It appears that the battle for talent that was a key feature of the pre recession market is starting again although there appears to be more restraint on salary increases at present. The busiest area is the £50-£70k bracket.

The interim market has stabilised after a difficult period last year. There remains pressure on both day rates and recruiter’s margins but the number of interim procurement specialists looking for a contract is certainly down from Q3 2009.

In both markets there are encouraging signs that some industries which suffered the most last year are beginning to look forward again and make key appointments. The sectors include banking, retail, leisure and FMCG.

 Back in Q1 2009 and through our research into the impact of the recession on procurement (see link below) we predicted that there would be a significant rise in demand for experienced staff from procurement consultancies. They anticipated a busy year as potential clients looked for quick wins and specialist advice on cost base reduction.  This demand hasn’t materialised as much as we anticipated as some potential clients decided against engaging consultants to the extent that had been hoped. 

The technology sector remains quite cautious with a number of hiring freezes still in place and the demand for IT and Telco category specialists from end users has not recovered to the extent seen in other areas.

As we expected in our recent research into SRM (link below) there appears to be a growing demand for specialists with experience of developing and implementing leading edge supplier management strategies. We anticipate demand outgrowing supply in the next 12 months as numerous organisations have realised the value and potential competitive advantage that lies in more productive relationships with key suppliers, particularly as a result of the impact of the recession,  a trend observed last year in the research mentioned above.

We have been contacted by a lot of jobseekers with SRM experience and are in the process of developing a specialist recruitment practice to focus on this area.  You can join the SRM networking group we  have set up here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2837993&trk=fulpro_grplogo

Would you like to comment on any of the issues addressed here? Join the discussion here: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/2010/03/19/procurement-market-update-–-march-2010/

Links to research reports

The growing importance of SRM: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/EdburyDaley-SRM-jan-2010.pdf

The impact of the recession on procurement: http://edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/edbury-daley-the-impact-of-the-current-economic-climate.pdf

We welcome your comments on how useful you find our research here: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/2010/02/24/the-growing-importance-of-supplier-relationship-management/

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

 A high profile consultancy business with a genuinely global client base approached us recently for assistance with making a number of appointments, ideally on a temporary basis, with a view to taking the best candidates on as permanent members of staff. They asked us about market conditions and this is what we told them:

The contract market has been slow for much of the year with downward pressure on day rates. There are still a number of good contractors without work at the moment so employing good procurement people on an interim basis shouldn’t present any problems, but these people typically are not looking to go permanent at £50k.

The permanent market has been ok but slow this year but we are seeing signs that things are picking up a little and companies are more willing to make decisions about hiring. I think this could be down to improved confidence, and the desire to spend budgets before they are lost at year end.

There remains a great deal of competition for the best procurement people in the £40-£60k bracket for the simple reason that there just aren’t enough good ones at that level.  Pre recession there was such competition for these people that in my opinion salaries got a little out of hand and there were examples of relatively junior (i.e. less than 5 yrs experience) but talented people already earning £50k+ in London.

The “temp to perm” market in procurement is limited because the pure interim market has grown significantly in the last 5 years. Current economic conditions dictate that some very good people are being made redundant through no real fault of their own.  Many of these want another “permanent” role so will consider a temp to perm arrangement and these are our obvious target people.

 The Procurement profession is fortunate enough to have one of the strongest job markets in the UK, principally because the profession has become even more important in recent months as demonstrated in our research earlier this year.

Demand remains strong although the market has been characterised by delays caused by issues such as seeking approval to go outside of a company recruitment freeze, corporate politics, budget restrictions and the understandable desire to ensure that the right decision is being made before committing to an appointment.

Whilst there are many procurement professionals who are currently looking for new roles, both as interim and permanent members of staff, the strongest candidates remain in short supply, particularly in key areas of indirect spend.  

Due to the work we have recently undertaken with blue chip clients in consulting, banking, FMCG and retail sectors, we have engaged with a number of procurement professionals who belong firmly in the upper quartile of the profession. 

In particular we have several outstanding candidates with the following expertise:

• Procurement Consulting with emphasis on transferable skills, change & programme management etc

• Vendor Management specialists

• Category specialists in Professional Services, Telecom’s & IT, Facilities/Property, HR, Marketing, Travel

If you would like to discuss any of the skills mentioned or candidate availability, please contact Andrew Daley (0161 776 4603) Charlie Bolam (0161 776 4605) or Hannah Jackson (0161 776 4608) or e mail us info@edburydaley.com

Our research continues to attract significant interest and we are well placed to publish the results later this year with a record sample size.  The data and comments already make interesting reading including this one posted earlier this week:

“Real SRM is the one of the most important factors for success in a procurement role. However most SRM being discussed today is in relation to IT systems and not the real soft skills that will bring innovation and improved business performance to bear.”

Do you agree? 

Our experience tells us that there is certainly a lot of investment in Vendor Management in the technology sectors at the moment, and we have been encouraged by the number of SRM specialists who have got in touch with us about their careers since the survey was published.  Again the evidence is that a technology focus accounts for a lot of the biggest SRM roles.

Are you in an SRM or Vendor Management role with a different category focus?  We are keen to hear from you about your experience and your career aspirations.