The VIP experience is now fully booked. However, all attendees are welcome to join each session via Listen Live at the event.
Panel Sessions
Local Government Reform is accelerating, but structural change alone doesn't guarantee success. Behind every merger lies a complex web of contracts, suppliers, legacy systems, and organisational cultures. This session brings together leaders who've lived through LGR — sharing candid lessons on what worked, what failed, and what others must do differently.
Gain practical insight on contract rationalisation across merging authorities, managing supplier risk during consolidation, maintaining SME diversity, and building data-led visibility over contract exposure and renewal timelines.
Zara Barraclough — Head of Procurement, Derbyshire County Council
Keith Coleman — Deputy Director of Procurement, Surrey County Council
Darren Knowd — Formerly Durham County Council
Andy Wilson — Manager Consulting Team, Efficio
Dr Rebecca Rees — Partner & Head of Public Procurement, Trowers and Hamlins
Government has set a clear direction: procurement must work harder, driving delivery of national missions alongside local priorities. But translating policy intent into practice is where the real challenge begins. This session cuts through the complexity to ask — what does genuinely good Social Value look like today?
Covering: the policy foundations Social Value is built on; what buyers are doing in practice and lessons they're learning; and how cross-system collaboration in education is driving mission delivery across sectors.
Ed Lang — Head of Partnerships, Social Value Portal
Erica Chamberlain — Head of Strategic Business Partnerships, Careers & Enterprise Company
Nina Howells — Strategic Lead, Social Value & Impact, Salford City Council
Under PA23, early market engagement isn't a 'nice to have' — it's a commercial necessity. Yet many buyers still hesitate to engage suppliers before procurement begins. Using live data from Delta Market Insights, this session reveals which sectors lead on preliminary market engagement, where critical gaps remain, and how listening early transforms specification quality, competition, and outcomes.
Hear directly from buyers and suppliers — including SMEs — on what good engagement looks like in practice, how it prevents procurement failure, and how data can identify the right moment and method to engage your market.
Zara Barraclough — Head of Procurement, Derbyshire County Council
John Simons — Group Procurement Director, SCAPE Group
Alan Heron — Managing Director, Procurement Hub
Grahame Steed — Director, Public Policy and Research, BiP Solutions
Book a personalised demo or arrange a private 1-to-1 with one of our panel experts at the event.
delta-esourcing.comBook a personalised Delta Market Insights demo, or arrange a private 1-to-1 with one of our panel experts here.
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