Blogs

​The Biggest Procurement Challenges in 2025 — And How Smart Leaders Are Tackling Them​During Q1 1st Executive explored the issues that have been identified as key challenges for our network of CPO’s and Supply Chain Directors globally. The last 12 months have been a masterclass in resilience for global supply chains. From geopolitical tensions to economic volatility and t...

Procurement Tools & Technology – Trends for 2023 In February 1st Executive explored, with our clients, their intentions in regard to their Procurement Technology infrastructure; identifying key tools that are on the radar for implementation in 2023 and the driving forces behind these decisions. We discussed the obstacles and challenges associated with deployment and user ...

What’s the Market Telling Us? In the past 3 months; hybrid/agile working opportunities are the most prevalent in the market In the UK market: 81% of roles currently offer hybrid/agile working – typically 2 - 3 days p/w in the office 14% of roles are fully remote 5% of roles are mandated as 5 days p/w on site Across our International Markets:...

​What’s the Market Telling Us?In the past 3 months; hybrid/agile working opportunities are the most prevalent in the marketIn the UK market:81% of roles currently offer hybrid/agile working – typically 2 - 3 days p/w in the office14% of roles are fully remote5% of roles are mandated as 5 days p/w on siteAcross our International Markets:83% of roles currently offer hybrid/agi...

It has never been more important to address the global talent shortage in procurement as many companies are increasingly faced with doing more with less. A recent survey revealed 52% of procurement leaders have seen their headcount decrease significantly over the last two years, yet 70% face considerably higher expectations to deliver results on sustainability, diversity or ...

Many businesses are looking to speed up the digitalisation of procurement to help improve business operations and satisfy customer expectations. CPOs must ensure their teams have the right skills to use new technologies effectively, though identifying and acquiring the digital skills their organisation needs is no easy task. For many, talent deficits threaten to slow prog...

Going into 2020, it’s undeniable that the role of the modern CPO is changing. As a company deeply embedded in the procurement and supply chain sector, we’ve gone to great lengths in our blogs to reflect the views of our peers, in considering what skills CPOs will need to continue to be successful and relevant in the next decade. In a recent write-up of a company roundtabl...

The debate on whether procurement should have a seat at board level has been an active topic of discussion for a while now, as more and more professionals make the transition to senior positions. However, compared to other departments the number is still negligible, and for many in the industry the procurement function is still severely undervalued. While this argument rages...

Telecommunication procurement can be a lengthy process at the best of times, but with the current pressures facing the industry, it’s proving more difficult than ever. At a time when successful procurement functions are needed for the roll-out of 5G and other large-scale projects, uncertainty over Brexit and tensions with China could cause havoc in the industry. So, what are...

Procurement, despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, is still often viewed as simply a purchasing function. However, a successful procurement function isn’t just about saving money, and progressive CPOs are always on the lookout for new ways to deliver value. In fact, we would argue that this specialism is actually uniquely positioned to identify and pursue opportuniti...

Handling Counter Offers in Procurement So, you’ve been through the arduous process of applications, interviews, salary negotiations, and finally been offered a job at another company. However, once you decide to hand in your notice, your current employer, in an effort to make you stay, makes a counter offer, with a higher salary and perhaps even an attractive benefits pac...

As a system which enables the transfer of a huge variety of goods and services around the world, modern supply chains are vast ecosystems, with products often moving through multiple parties and regions. Naturally, this can lead to a number of inefficiencies. However, there are plenty of emerging technologies with the potential to disrupt this. Blockchain, the Internet of Th...

We’re delighted to share the news that 1st Executive has received a KellyOCG award for Supplier Excellence. KellyOCG, the outsourcing and consulting group of Kelly Services, presented the award last week at the Spring Supplier Forum in Amsterdam, recognising their top performers. Suppliers were evaluated on three criteria: Scorecard results of performance Complian...

With the extensive, interconnected supply chains that businesses are using today, the likelihood of disruption is higher than ever. In fact, according to a 2018 study, disruption within the supply chain continue to grow at an alarming rate, and is at its highest since records began in 2010. This could be down to a number of factors, and picking them apart - to find out what-...

Recently, we hosted an insightful roundtable event on the future of procurement and the skills that future CPO’s will need, with procurement leaders from a range of organisations. Discussions were thought-provoking, and covered a variety of topics. Most of the panel concluded that while traditional procurement skills are still relevant, modern CPO’s need to be able to do ...

So, at last we have some clarity on the introduction of the off-payroll working rules – otherwise known as IR35 - into the private sector. Or do we?  The Chancellor announced in the Budget that, to bring the private sector in line with the public sector, businesses will become responsible for assessing an individual’s employment status. However, he also announced that the re...

Back in 2012, Deloitte produced a report outlining what procurement needed to do to transform itself by 2020.  Deloitte’s report at the time suggested that procurement was a service provider, an integrator and was building sustainable transformation through category leadership, advanced sourcing and performance tracking.  The vision for 2020 was a radical rethink which posit...

According to a recent Raconteur report in The Times on the future of procurement, the job of a CPO does not feature widely in children’s lists of the top ten things they want to do when they grow up.  Hardly surprising I hear you say, but a CPO is arguably one of the most varied and challenging jobs in business – especially given the evolving nature of the discipline and the...

As a specialist procurement and supply chain recruiter, we are acutely aware of trends in the recruitment of procurement professionals. We recently conducted an analysis of over 300 job specifications to find out which are the skills most sought by employers; negotiation, networking, influencing, specialist category knowledge and internal promotion came out on top. While ...

Few firms outside of major employers like Airbus and Nestlé put enough effort into developing their own internal talent and instead rely on professionals ‘falling’ into the industry from other fields. That was the result of an analysis which looked at almost 150 of our FTSE 250 client list and which found that only just under a third (32%) had formal training programmes for ...