Public Procurement Conference 

With a career spanning local government, the UK Civil Service, and the technology sector, Sam is focussed on creating positive change through collaboration and innovation-enabled renewal in the UK and further afield. Before founding Recurve in April 2025, Sam led a £4.5 million Place Leadership programme at Connected Places Catapult, overseeing strategic investments, partnerships and programmes with places which promote innovation-led local growth.

Through initiatives like the Innovation Places Leadership Academy and Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), he has fostered strategic collaboration within and between UK regions to create shared strategies for economic renewal, empowered local service managers to adopt smarter spending practices which leverage public contracts to spark innovation, and advocated for a renaissance in community-based investment models to finance inclusive, thriving hubs of innovation.

Before joining the Catapult in 2016, Sam was a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit (Cabinet Office), focused on public service reform, policy innovation, and the application of emerging technologies to tackle policy challenges. Sam started his career in the London Borough of Barnet where he was responsible for creating the original and infamous ‘Barnet Graph of Doom’.

Ed Green OBE is the Deputy Director for Commercial Policy: International and Reform in the Cabinet Office. His team Leads on reform of the UK’s public procurement rules through the Procurement Act 2023, and on international procurement including the procurement elements of free trade agreements. Ed is a career civil servant, and has held a number of policy positions in the procurement and sustainability arenas.

George Last is currently CCS’s Director of Strategy, Policy and Governance and the SRO of CCS’s project to prepare for and implement the Procurement Act 2023. He has worked previously in the Cabinet Office and the National Audit Office and in academia.

Sarah Croll is the Deputy Director for Commercial Strategy & Communications within the Standards & Oversight framework of the Cabinet Office’s Government Commercial Function (GCF). With over 20 years of experience across the UK public sector, Sarah has been an instrumental leader in driving transformational change, compliance, and value-driven commercial strategies impacting more than £176 billion of public sector spending and 180 organisations. In her current role, Sarah has spearheaded the integration of a new strategy for Commercial and Grants functions, aligning with the Government’s missions and vision for 2030. Her initiatives have improved policy adherence, risk mitigation, and supplier governance, unlocking significant efficiencies and financial benefits. Sarah’s leadership has strengthened public procurement oversight, establishing a Procurement Review Unit poised to influence £390 billion of public sector spend. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah effectively balanced value for money, risk, and quality, managing spend controls over £90 billion in urgent procurement activity. Previously, as Senior Commercial Lead with the Metropolitan Police Service, Sarah improved risk management by embedding risk-based commercial decision-making processes, which streamlined procurement lifecycles and enhanced overall compliance and efficiency. As Acting Procurement Director for NHS Trusts, Sarah transformed procurement lifecycles and enhanced financial performance. Her efforts in Environmental, Social and Governance, strategy, stakeholder influence, and commercial governance have earned her recognition as a GCF award winner for collaboration, demonstrating her ability to inspire a culture of continuous improvement and commercial excellence. Sarah’s professional qualifications include an MSc in Public Services Commissioning, MCIPS, MsP, MoR and GCF ADC (A) Accreditation at the Commercial Specialist level. Her commitment to high standards and collaborative improvement reflects her strategic impact across government functions.

Heading up Tussell’s Research team, Lorna’s goal is to accelerate Tussell’s market-leading insight on UK public contracts and spending. Lorna studied Economics at university, and has experience in research and marketing roles across large organisations. She is passionate about data-driven decision making.

Gavin joined Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) in August 2023 with a proven track record of delivering tangible value for organizations across indirect and direct supply chains. A strong communicator and able to influence at all levels. Experience spans a 25-year Procurement career within both public sectors, included time within the Joint Procurement Service at Sussex & Surrey Police Constabulary and within the private sector, across in-directs and directs, both in category management and procurement. Currently also studying for a Legal master’s in public Procurement and Policy, he leads KFRS’s change to and compliance with the new Public Procurement Regulations 2024 and Procurement Act 2023.

Dr Jane Lynch is a Professor of Procurement for the Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. Jane leads the Centre of Public Value Procurement – a research centre which aims to grow and support the talent pool of procurement professionals in public, private and third sectors.

Jane’s research is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, offering expertise in public procurement, social value, innovation in procurement and supply chain collaboration. Jane won GO (Government Opportunities) Awards ‘Individual of the Year’ Award (2023) for her contributions to public procurement. Jane is experienced in providing a range of procurement and collaboration support to governments and the private sector from research to executive teaching. She is Course Director for Help to Grow: Management (business support for Micros and SMEs), a collaboration expert and social impact lead for LINC Multimorbidity, a healthcare project.

Prior to becoming National Chair in 2022, Martin served as Policy & Advocacy Chair since 2016, and has been a volunteer with FSB for more than 20 years. As National Chair, Martin is the elected leader of the organisation, chairs the Board of Directors and is focusing his term of office on creating major new FSB partnerships.

He was awarded an OBE for services to small businesses in the King’s New Year Honours List for 2024.

Martin served on the Government’s Low Pay Commission s2018-2023. In August 2023, he was appointed to the ACAS Council by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. He has been running his own business for 35 years and currently owns and manages three businesses, offering public policy, engineering and IT consultancy services.

Ian Schollar is the Head of Teaching and Learning at CIPS and has had a progressive career in procurement, commercial and development roles spanning over 40 years in both public and private sectors.

Ian has a passion for improving contract management skills and helping procurement professionals embed sustainability into their decision making by design.  Ian has led on public sector capacity building programmes in the UK, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Ian is a Fellow of CIPS and has a Masters Degree in Management Learning and Leadership from Lancaster University Management School.

With a career spanning local government, the UK Civil Service, and the technology sector, Sam is focussed on creating positive change through collaboration and innovation-enabled renewal in the UK and further afield. Before founding Recurve in April 2025, Sam led a £4.5 million Place Leadership programme at Connected Places Catapult, overseeing strategic investments, partnerships and programmes with places which promote innovation-led local growth.

Through initiatives like the Innovation Places Leadership Academy and Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), he has fostered strategic collaboration within and between UK regions to create shared strategies for economic renewal, empowered local service managers to adopt smarter spending practices which leverage public contracts to spark innovation, and advocated for a renaissance in community-based investment models to finance inclusive, thriving hubs of innovation.

Before joining the Catapult in 2016, Sam was a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit (Cabinet Office), focused on public service reform, policy innovation, and the application of emerging technologies to tackle policy challenges. Sam started his career in the London Borough of Barnet where he was responsible for creating the original and infamous ‘Barnet Graph of Doom’.

Phil joined Family Fund Business Services (FFBS) in 2022 as Director, where he successfully led the team in driving growth and generating vital income to support Family Fund’s mission. With over 20 years of senior experience in the retail sector, Phil brings extensive leadership and strategic expertise to his role. In 2024, he became Group Director of Income and Engagement, broadening his remit to focus on driving growth and unlocking new opportunities across the Family Fund Group to maximise impact.

With a career spanning local government, the UK Civil Service, and the technology sector, Sam is focussed on creating positive change through collaboration and innovation-enabled renewal in the UK and further afield. Before founding Recurve in April 2025, Sam led a £4.5 million Place Leadership programme at Connected Places Catapult, overseeing strategic investments, partnerships and programmes with places which promote innovation-led local growth.

Through initiatives like the Innovation Places Leadership Academy and Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), he has fostered strategic collaboration within and between UK regions to create shared strategies for economic renewal, empowered local service managers to adopt smarter spending practices which leverage public contracts to spark innovation, and advocated for a renaissance in community-based investment models to finance inclusive, thriving hubs of innovation.

Before joining the Catapult in 2016, Sam was a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit (Cabinet Office), focused on public service reform, policy innovation, and the application of emerging technologies to tackle policy challenges. Sam started his career in the London Borough of Barnet where he was responsible for creating the original and infamous ‘Barnet Graph of Doom’.