The red carpet was out again last night in London's glamorous Park Lane for the annual CIPS Supply Management Awards evening. Diamonds sparkled, the tight silk dresses clung, whilst the odd flash of toned thigh or bronzed cleavage excited the waiting paparazzi, gathered in their hordes outside the Great Room entrance.
And the women looked quite nice too.
But who were the real stars of the night? (OK, we'll revert to normal now...) Well, John Culshaw was an excellent host - he is a brilliant impressionist, and I suspect most would have been happier with more of him. He didn't make much of an effort to relate to the procurement world, but he was amusing and even managed to keep the background noise to manageable levels during the actual awards.
The post-dinner band, The Bright Sparks, took on the frankly impossible task of succeeding the Front Covers, who made this gig their own over the last four years or so. They were fine, although they did not quite match the pure charisma of the Front Covers lead singer, whatever he was called...
OK, now for the winners. Well done to the following.
Best CSR - Skanska
Reputation of procurement - Scottish Government & City of Glasgow College
Cross functional - Novartis
SRM - Jaguar Land Rover
People development - Sheffield City Council
Public sector - Staffordshire council
Most improved (start up) - Hitachi
Most improved (step-change) - Gatwick airport
International - DfID
Consultancy project - Efficio and Tryg
Chief Executive of the Year - Nick Gerrard, NHS Supply Chain
Professional of the Year - Jim Carter, Network Rail
Young Purchaser of the Year - Gulam Choudhury, Manchester airports
Overall winner - Skanska
Staffordshire Council? Weren’t they the ones that claimed they had more contracts than the NHS and needed to appoint an external partner to help them make saving of 1%?
Nick Gerrard “Procurement’s CEO of the Year”, is not going to like this, lack of a name check
Thanks Sam, now added!