HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT, SAINSBURY’S, 29

In a summary of his success with Sainsbury’s, Simon Upton’s boss David Brooks highlights a £26 million saving across capital and revenue spend over two years, establishing the marketing procurement function; and creating revenue-generating deals across publishing, data sales and media.

And that’s just three from a long list in which Brooks describes him as “future CPO”. As head of technology procurement Upton manages an annual spend of £150 million, oversees six buyers and has a direct reporting line to a board director. Previous roles with the supermarket include head of marketing procurement, where he managed £215 million spend across the UK, EU and Asia Pacific and achieved cost savings of £13 million in 11 months. He started as a graduate buyer on a one-year training scheme with the company.