PROCUREMENT PRINCIPAL, BVT SURFACE FLEET, 28
Principle buyer at Princess Yachts was Lisa Veale’s first role in purchasing. At the luxury boat manufacturer she was responsible for about £6.5 million of spend with around 50 suppliers. She also helped introduce lean manufacturing techniques and consolidate suppliers.
After taking a career break to travel the world she returned to the profession at Siemens VAI Metals Technologies. With responsibility for project procurement she oversaw spend of £20 million. In the role she achieved cost savings of 32 per cent through low-cost country sourcing and improved negotiation.
A promotion to procurement officer gave her increased responsibility, including control of indirect spend across four sites. She also rolled out the group’s supplier relationship management tool for vendor evaluation and development.
Retendering a contract for chauffeured cars made a saving of 31 per cent against the previous year. Veale has recently returned to buying for boats as procurement principal at BVT Surface Fleet, a joint venture between VT Group and BAE Systems that provides shipbuilding and support services.
