Interim procurement staff can be essential to businesses undergoing a restructure or during periods of excess and challenging work. They are expected to deliver results immediately, and are not typically offered a honeymoon or “settling in” period, as they will only be at a business for a short amount of time. Companies look for experienced interim managers with niche skills who can step into the procurement department and quickly make a real difference. Interim staff are often required to take the lead or instigate new initiatives, so recruiters need to look for certain types of candidates wh ..read more

Only a quarter of councils in England have succeeded in finding procurement savings following the introduction of the National Procurement Strategy (NPS) for local government two years ago. Of the 248 councils who took part in the research, 186 of them reported no identified savings or no records of savings achieved. The National Procurement Strategy was launched to encourage councils in England to improve the way they commission public services and manage suppliers. Its aim was to help local government get better value from the £38 billion spent every year with suppliers. The NPS encouraged a ..read more

There are certain skills all procurement professionals are required to have, no matter what industry they are in. Buyers need to find the right products at the right price, supply chain staff have to be well organised and all procurement staff need to be innovative when looking at cost cutting measures. When hiring procurement staff for your public sector company, you also need to make sure that they have the right to deal with government distributed funds, targets and management differences. Here are the things you should look out for to ensure you hire the right staff for a public sector pro ..read more

In today’s rapidly changing world, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity – and within the recruitment space is no exception.  The choices businesses make in their procurement processes have far-reaching consequences for the environment, society; and the bottom line.  We have noticed that it’s becoming more frequent for candidates to seek roles within companies that are environmentally friendly. Therefore, it’s becoming even more important to consider sustainability within your procurement practises.  This demand is only going to increase so it’s good to get ahea ..read more

Top Tips for Remote Working As more of us work remotely at home, it is important to ensure that we consider the space where we are working, how we work and how to maintain a work/life balance.  We have created our own Top Tips for Remote Working and believe that by getting all of these elements right will improve your mental health and make the experience of working remotely more managable, effective – and even enjoyable! Our recommended three areas to consider are: Environment Experiment with your set up Do you have a spare room or room separate from the day-to-day buzz?  We would ..read more

Portfolio Payroll Ltd have achieved 82nd in the prestigious Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work for. For the Second time, Portfolio have ranked in the top 100 and improved their overall Best Companies Accreditation standard, which follows the elite Michelin style star rating system, increasing from 2 stars to 3. The highest possible award given. In addition to the 3-star accreditation, Best Companies described Portfolio as an ‘extraordinary’ small company employer. Best Companies received entries from over 400 small companies across the UK to gain scores across their leadership, enga ..read more

Portfolio, leading specialist recruiter’s in payroll, credit control, HR & reward and procurement, are delighted to announce the promotion of Charlotte Turner to the position of Director of Portfolio. Charlotte will be joining fellow directors Danny Done, Peter Done and Anthony Macey. Charlotte has come through the ranks at Portfolio, having started with the business in 2004 initially joining the company as a Resourcer in our Payroll division, soon becoming a Senior Consultant in a matter of months-which was unprecedented at the time. Soon afterwards she became the youngest Manager in the ..read more

NHS Trusts have been told to follow new standardised specifications when procuring key items to help cut costs. The executive director of NHS Improvements (NHSI), Jeremy Marlow, contacted all NHS trust chief executives to advise that NHS Supply Chain and the NHS Business Services Authority will now source the products on behalf of providers. The list of 12 products include nitrile exam gloves, medical pulp urinals and blunt filter needles, making up around £100 million of annual NHS expenditure. NHSI now hope the new measures will cut costs by 25%, which will depend on “market circumstances ..read more

The second quarter of 2016 saw global supply chain risk climb 80.8 points, according to the CIPS Risk Index. This is amongst the highest levels recorded since records began in 1995, and continues a worsening trend in global risk which has been on a downward trajectory since the last quarter of 2014. The UK’s vote to leave the EU at the end of June had a reverberating effect on supply chains throughout the continent, as well as across the rest of the world. The CIPS Risk index, which is produced for the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) by Dun & Bradstreet economists, h ..read more

Interim managers are highly skilled, experienced professionals who join a company on a temporary basis to provide additional support or expertise during challenging or changing times. In the procurement industry, interim managers usually help with the delivery of key projects, work on restructuring areas of the department and advise on key issues. They are also expected to help with building relationships with clients and provide additional support when recruitment gaps put strains on a business. An interim role can be crucial to a business, and an interim procurement job can be a well paid an ..read more