10.15am
First stop is a mere two minutes from the office: corner shop Costcutter. Six buyers from team one pile in and John Crawley confidently asks if they stock wine from Uruguay or Luxembourg. “Er, no,” came the response.
Gavin tells judge Andy: “I’m sure there won’t be any contentious decisions. I’ll be able to manage by consensus.” We shall see…
Back at base, team two are spending a lot of time sourcing the experience. Following a brainstorming session, Robin Potton and Tina Fegent are on their mobiles tapping up contacts. Ideas are thrown around as the team determines this is where they will get the required ‘wow’ factor. Ideas include a T-shirt from tennis star Andy Murray, a World Cup stadium tour, free flights on BA, tickets to the filming of Britain’s Got Talent, the Trooping of the Colour and Royal Variety Show, cooking with Jamie Oliver and a cruise.
As with team one, the point about the charity in question is raised.
“It’s difficult without knowing the target audience,” says Tina. “Do we know any celebrities? Something money can’t buy would have more wow.”
However, project manager Patrick Wolff warns: “Don’t get hung up on the ‘wow’ factor, that’s just one part of the judging criteria.”
10.30am
Once at Portobello market, team one divides into two. Gavin, Sarah and Wojciech Karnas go one way, and John, James and Stuart Alford the other. Fifteen minutes later Sarah tries to reunite them and abandon this trip for somewhere else, the others argue for more time.
A trip to Oddbins is redundant for John, James and Stuart, the retailer even claims Luxembourg wine doesn’t exist. But they do get a tip from the shop assistant – “try calling the Uruguayan consulate for some leads”. John puts a call in. Five minutes later the embassy promises to email a list of vendors.
Into an Oxfam Books, which has a small selection of videos, including a copy of Jerry Maguire for 99p. The cashier informs John he can have two for the same price, the team hesitates for only a second before snapping up a copy of… Jerry Maguire. They’ve heard team two is in the same area. “Demand management” is the euphemism employed for this bending of the spirit of the game. Despite this, there is satisfaction at what they believe is the team’s first purchase. John tries contacting Sarah, who immediately calls back: “Great news!” she says. “We’ve found the video.”
Let’s hope whoever wins the hamper likes Tom Cruise movies…
10.45am
Tina says: “We haven’t had any bust ups for SM to write about.”
But judge Jenny Radcliffe is not so sure. “Who is working on what? They need to coordinate quickly or they will lose!”
The team later admit their start could be accurately described as ‘organised chaos’ with some duplication of work and little formal division of labour, but after an hour or so, roles naturally begin to form. Stuart Stephen begins planning logistics, his role evolving naturally into him becoming the map (and later the numbers) person.
A short while later Andy feeds back to Dick, reporting that it took an hour for the team to get to Portobello Road and they should have used that time to try to source some items instead. He also reports that they are working as individuals instead of a team.
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Watch: John Crawley (left), Stuart Alford (centre) and James Williams (right) explain their decision to remain at Portobello Market - contrary to the wishes of the rest of the team - and if it turned out to be the right decision.
10.50am
Other members of team two are researching the unusual items. Sam Mercer’s on the internet looking for Christmas shops and Amanda Doyle’s been calling toy stores, Sainsbury’s and charity shops. She follows a number of leads generated by internet searches, then tries a different approach: she begins dialling 118 118 for help. She doesn’t get much. The internet searches and phone calls continue, ringing wine merchants, Cash Converters and a shop called Eric Snook’s where they discover they can purchase a kazoo.
The team is unfazed that their opponents left the building some time ago.
“It’s all about the research,” says Tina. “We’ve decided not to waste time going places but to use the internet,” adds Amanda.
11.00am
Team two is becoming anxious to get out there. Robin says he’s conscious of the time. Patrick suggests they give it another half an hour. “Preparation is the most important thing,” he says. Later he tells SM his instinct used to be to get going straight away but army training taught him the importance of working on a strategy first.
11.20am
Back at Portobello Road, Sarah approaches a stallholder for a plastic toy not made in China. They don’t have any but she presses them, what can she get for free for a charity hamper? Amazingly, he said she could take one of the smaller bears, but it didn’t get them any closer to what they needed.
They are evidently getting frustrated. As they turn to go back to the station, Wojciech says of the plan to go straight to Portobello Market: “What a horrible mistake.”
Sarah does, however, have the promise of four tickets for Sea Life Centre, courtesy of a consultant friend. She’s been trying to pull in a lot of favours, many of them from people she’s trained. Have they been asking for anything in return? “They should be. If they don’t, they’ve forgotten everything I told them.”
From 11.25am things were looking up. The group passes a Middle Eastern deli, the three dashed in. “Do you have any saffron?” asks Gavin. The man reaches under the counter to fish out some boxes. After a fair amount of haggling, the shopkeeper reluctantly handed over two of the boxes for £7. Earlier internet research had given a guide price of £12.
There is then a Challenge Anneka-style dash to Holland Park in west London to collect the aquarium tickets.
11.30am
Back at base, team two has discovered Sainsbury’s sell saffron. Someone says: “I’m not sure you can negotiate with Sainsbury’s but you can always try.”
Sam is checking out where Lego is manufactured. And then... success! Using
his contacts Robin has sourced an experience – a light aircraft flight with champagne for two over London, with a value of £300, from Red Letter Days. He just needs to collect it from the company’s sales director Heather Rogers in Muswell Hill, north London.
Jenny comments to SM on the team’s performance in general: “They’re making progress through luck more than judgement, but they’re now getting into it.”
Dick, chairman of the judges, agrees: “From a slow start this team has got into their stride. From a quick start team one has slowed down."
Watch: Judge Jenny Radcliffe, independent training consultant at Radcliffe Training Associates, gives her thoughts on Team two's initial sourcing strategy.
11.45am - 1.00pm
John, James and Stuart on team one head to Hamley’s on Regent Street to find the plastic toy not made in the Far East. Lego is suggested here too. The team picks out three packs and plumps for the most expensive.
An email of distributors of Uruguayan wine arrives from the consulate, one of which is Waitrose. The team heads to the John Lewis food hall on Oxford Street to see what they can pick up but discover it stopped stocking the wine nine months ago. There is, however, a bottle from Luxembourg, which they purchase for £9.99.
12.10pm
With more locations added to the list, Stuart is putting the finishing touches to the planned route around London. It is decided Sam, who knows the capital a little, should accompany Robin. While in north London they’re told to pick up the experience gift, haggle for some saffron from a deli, pick up some wine, buy a Christmas fairy and do their best to find a Tom Cruise VHS…
Tina has a contact, Kevin Duncan, who will meet her in Westminster to hand over a collection of his business books – their extra gift – and sources have been discovered for a plastic toy not made in the Far East (again, Lego) and the kazoo.
The team plans to wing it along the way to find an Easter egg. There’s talk of collecting a Kelly Holmes T-shirt from Crystal Palace, but the view is it would eat up far too much time to justify the trip.
Robin suggests they meet back at base by 4pm to plan their sales pitch presentation to the judges.
12.35pm
On the journey to collect the flight over London experience, Sam and Robin talk strategy… Robin: “How are we going to pitch in the boardroom?”
Sam: “We should centre it around the wow factor.”
They also agree to ask for a free meal at the South American restaurant where they’re later heading to buy the wine.
Robin: “Even the small things should be negotiated – we should try to get the wine and Christmas fairy for free if we can.”
Sam: “We should try to get anything that makes the hamper stand out.”
1.00pm
Accompanying team one, judge Andy is starting to flag. “I might drop dead of exhaustion or hunger,” he says. At this point he believes Gavin should offer the team extra guidance and observes Sarah taking on more of the lead role.
As we enter the throng in Oxford Street, Sarah puts in a call to another contact. “They told me they would give us more but the goodie cupboard is bare because procurement departments are squeezing them.”
Then a call from the other half of the team: they had found a plastic toy in Hamleys in Regent Street. Celebration soon turns to incredulity, though, when Wojciech learnt how much they had paid. “£25!?”
As they trudge along Oxford Street to reunite with the rest of the team at John Lewis, Andy admits this was exactly the sort of shopping expedition he’d been dreading. “It’s turning into a hopeful shopping exercise. It’s not targeted procurement.”
The two halves of the team meet for lunch and a catch up. They plan to focus on the remaining items: the kazoo, Easter egg and Christmas fairy, instead of the “extra” item for the hamper. Somebody suggests a “signed” football used in a World Cup match between England and Portugal in 1966. Stuart questions the provenance of this – especially as it was on sale for £48.
Meanwhile Sarah nips out to collect a free bottle of champagne from another contact.
1.15pm
After the teams pass each other in Regent Street, team two go straight to the Lego floor of Hamleys. They buy a box that transforms into three things. After asking two staff and enquiring at the help desk they are told to call a number to speak to a manager about a discount. At £12 and against the clock they decide it’s not worth it the extra effort. They dash into a shop to buy sandwiches, then push on to Westminster.
Meanwhile at the office of Red Letter Days in Muswell Hill, Heather hands over the free experience gift together with her business card. Robin asks for any other merchandise or anything else that could go in the hamper – or even a hamper, and Heather handed over a small basket she had under her desk.
Robin described his tactics to me as “very non-committal” – it definitely worked.
“I didn’t say which charity because I didn’t know. It was easier than I thought. She’ll probably be ringing me on Monday morning.”
They ring Tina (the team co-ordinator) to let her and the rest of the team know they hold the ‘wow’ factor in their hands.
Patrick, Tina, Stuart and Amanda are delighted. They are in the middle of collecting the business books and CDs from author Kevin Duncan outside the Houses of Parliament. They thank him for his generosity and head back to the Tube. Again they make contact with Sam and Robin, who also report more success: a VHS of Mission Impossible II for 75p and two grams of saffron for just £3.
1.30pm
Gavin decides to split the teams again, with James, John and Stuart heading out to collect the remaining list items and Sarah, Gavin and Wojciech heading back to the office to put calls in for more “experience items”.
2.00pm
At the Christmas Shop near London Bridge, Sam is delivering a preamble to the shopkeeper ahead of buying the fairy, saying it’s for a good cause, a magazine is involved before Robin (as bad cop) butts in with: “Look, can we have a discount?”
Robin: “They’re not going to sell any other Christmas fairies today!” Not strictly true – since they bump into part of team one virtually outside the store.
They purchase the decoration with a 10 per cent discount.
“I reckon that any shop in the UK will give you a 10 per cent discount if you ask for it, but no one asks for it,” says Robin.
Meanwhile the roving buyers in team one have found and bought a kazoo for half price, and next secure a Christmas fairy themselves. Finding an Easter egg, however, proves more difficult.
2.35pm
Next stop is Covent Garden for the larger part of team two, stopping in at shops on the way to check for Easter eggs. The team locate Eric Snook’s where Amanda and Tina secure the kazoo for £1.50, a 25 per cent discount.
They then pass a sweet stall and the team spot it’s selling mini eggs. There is a brief debate as to whether these constitute ‘Easter eggs’ with Jenny coaching the team to consider the ‘reasonableness’ test. There is some debate about this, they buy a pack of them and wander down the road where they come across another sweet shop. Tina and Amanda go in and discover they have an Easter egg in the back. The cost? It’s £20. And they buy it for? Just £5.
The team is excited at this and celebrate by tucking into the mini eggs. They decide to return to base.
A slight wrong turn is made on the way home which only delays the team by a minute and prompts Patrick to say: “I told Stuart no-one even notices you’re doing that job until you make a mistake. He’s done a great job.”
Meanwhile Robin and Sam are at Latin American restaurant Las Iguanas at Spitalfields Market.
Freebies again using their now well-oiled good cop/bad cop routine. They go in strong and ask for a free meal for charity as well as the wine. The manager considers this but says they can have the wine for free instead. They collect three bottles, one white, one red and a bottle of Las Iguanas’ sugar cane rum.
The pair has only spent £8.24 and managed to obtain a Red Letter Days experience, three bottles of alcohol, a Christmas fairy, Tom Cruise video and two grams of saffron. “We got the Red Letter Day early on and it boosted our confidence,” says Sam.
“We got it through good contacts – six degrees of separation, you can probably get anything.”
3.00pm
Back at the office, Gavin asks Sarah: “Do marketers have access to freebies?” “No,” she replies, “because procurement has got rid of all that.” As Wojciech and Sarah start to bring in some experiences – a promise of two tickets to England v Samoa at Twickenham, a bungee jump, a caricature by an illustrator, VIP tickets to the Royal Academy exhibition – Gavin tries calling some chocolatiers to see if he can get an egg made – with about an hour left before the cut off time. “I should have thought of this at 10am,” he mourns.
Ultimately his search proves fruitless. “You only sell easter eggs at Easter,” Gavin repeats to a rather unhelpful sales assistant on the phone. “Makes sense.”
3.45pm
Abandoning the egg hunt (the roving buyers eventually purchase a box of small chocolate eggs), Gavin switches attention to the experience, and manages to secure a photography session at a London studio worth £250. He quickly calls the other half of the team – whose energy levels are low and concerned about getting back for the 4.30pm deadline – to head to Knightsbridge to collect the voucher.
4.15pm
Back at base, team two discuss their pitch – the key selling points are the Red Letter Days experience and being well under budget.
The pitch didn’t get much more organised than: Patrick will open, Stuart will do the numbers and Robin will go through the process.
The team looks pleased with themselves but Jenny appears unimpressed.
Patrick confronts Jenny: “Do you not think the figures are good?” Jenny: “It’s not your figures; it’s your sourcing and teamwork.”
Jenny walks out to discuss matters with Dick. But the team are not put off, they’re confident they’ve won and start to relax.
Meanwhile team one is busy prepping their presentation and rehearsing who will say what.
4.45 - 5.15pm
Team one’s presentation is slick. Gavin announces they spent just £54.36 from their £150 budget.
Chairman Dick Russill gives them a hard time nonetheless: “It seems you left here with no direction. Tell me about the changes of plan.”
Judge Andy also challenges the decision to buy two copies of the same Tom Cruise video. Stuart finally confesses it’s because they saw the other team approaching so snapped it up.
Team two present. They’ve done some sums and tell the judges they spent just £26.74 of their £150 budget and returned with a hamper worth £501.69, which they calculate as a 1,875 per cent return on investment.
Dick challenges Patrick about his team’s slow start, “sedation morphed into unconsciousness at one point,” says Dick. And when Patrick tries to explain the approach Dick becomes bored: “I was beginning to think about what I was doing this weekend while you were talking, Patrick…”.
The judges sum up with Dick using the hare and tortoise analogy for the teams: “By lunchtime the hare had tripped and the tortoise had speeded up.” Concluding, he says: “We have two teams who have demonstrated terrific skill, with some excellent examples of buying, sourcing and negotiating. The maximum points were five – team one scored 3.5 points and team two got 4.5. So, Patrick’s team, you have won Battle of the Buyers.”
The judges - introducing our panel
CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDGES Dick Russill
As a speaker, mentor and writer on business and procurement, Dr Dick Russill of R C Russill & Company is an international authority on supply chain management. He is vastly experienced in company leadership roles and consulting. His books include Purchasing Power and most recently, A Short Guide to Procurement Risk. He has received CIPS’ Swinbank Award for his outstanding contribution to the profession.
JUDGE Andy Davies
After 10 years with London Underground, Andy Davies established a UK procurement function for a major building materials group before founding and leading a procurement service for a local authority. He has led negotiations for a major transport PFI and an innovative PPP in education services. Andy now specialises in collaborative procurement and is director of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium. He is a CIPS Fellow and represents education on CIPS Council.
JUDGE Jenny Radcliffe
Jenny Radcliffe began her career in telecoms before taking management roles with firms such as GE and Rockwell Automation. After five years with PMMS Consulting Group she set up her own business, Radcliffe Training Associates. Jenny is in demand as a trainer and conference speaker, with particular expertise in Chinese supply chains.
The teams
Team one
Gavin Hodgson, NHS re:source procurement hub
Sarah Billson, Tickling the Trout
Stuart Alford, National Grid
John Crawley, Martindale Pharma
Wojciech Karnas, Agusta Westland
James Williams, IBP Conex
Team two
Patrick Wolff, Fujitsu
Tina Fegent, Tina Fegent Ltd
Amanda Doyle, Agusta Westland
Sam Mercer, National Grid
Robin Potton, Computacenter
Stuart Stephen, AXA Insurance
WHAT THEY BOUGHT - The hampers
Team one
Jerry Maguire video (x2) – 99p, Interview with the Vampire – 10p, bottle of Clos des Rochers Luxembourg wine - £9.99, set of Technic Lego - £25, kazoo - £1.50, Christmas fairy - £4.99, box of chocolate eggs - £4.79, two grams of saffron - £7, cuddly toy – free, bottle of Louis Chaurey champagne, four tickets to any Sea Life Centre in the UK – free, donated by LMC Design, session at Venture Photography studio in London (worth £215) – free, caricature by an illustrator at marketing agency Ignis – free, donated by Ignis, promise of a bungee jump for one – free, promise of two tickets for England v Samoa rugby match – free, donated by the Haygarth Group, promise of 10 corporate tickets to Royal Academy exhibition and two VIP passes – free, donated by JTI Ltd, two tickets to tour Chelsea stadium – free, donated by Chelsea Football Club
Total spend = £54.36
Team two
Rotor Rescue Lego - £12, Christmas fairy - £4.49, Mission Impossible II on VHS - 75p,
two grams of saffron - £3, Kazoo - £1.50, Easter Egg - £5, two bottles of Uruguayan wine – free and a bottle of cachaça, the national spirit of Brazil – both donated by a branch of Las Iguanas, Red Letter Days champagne flight over London (worth £300), promise of signed T-shirt from Dame Kelly Holmes, selection of music and business books by Kevin Duncan – free
Total spend = £26.74
The rules
1. Teams must appoint a project manager
2. Teams must appoint a contact person for the day
3. Teams can split into no more than two groups within their team
4. Teams cannot enlist help from elsewhere (ie, they cannot use anyone from outside their team to source, buy or supply any of the items. However, they may phone a friend or colleague for guidance)
5. Teams must not make promises they cannot keep during negotiations (ie, teams must not make false promises to try to secure a better deal)
6. The behaviour of all team members must be in accordance with the CIPS Code of Professional Ethics
7. Teams must adhere to the spirit of fair play
8. Teams will receive £150 to spend on purchases (receipts must be presented at the end of the day). They must not exceed the budget and are encouraged to complete the task under budget.
9. Any surplus cash is to be returned to SM at the end of the day
10.Teams have a maximum of £20 to spend on taxi journeys (receipts must be presented at the end of the day)
11.Teams must not contribute any money (whether their own or their company’s) to purchases or transport costs
12. All items in the hamper must be obtained from third parties on the day (team members cannot include something they already have on their person or can pop back home or to the office to collect)
13. All team members must be back on the fourth floor of 17 Britton Street by 4.30pm. (Any delay will have a negative impact on your score)
14. All the contents of the hamper must be present by 4.30pm on the day
Criteria and scoring
The teams knew their performance would be judged according to the five headings below:
1. Attractiveness, wow factor and overall appeal of the hamper
2. Operational outcome (including budget, completeness and timekeeping)
3. Teamwork
4. Buying skills
5. Negotiating skills
They did not know the precise weightings of the criteria but each of the five was broken done into marks of one to five, according to performance. For example, under ‘attractiveness’ a team would only score one point if the contents were mundane, if they had only managed to secure two of the unusual items and failed to obtain an experience/premium gift. They would, however, get top marks for getting at least four of the unusual items, an imaginative experience/premium gift, as well as an imaginative additional item which gave the overall hamper lots of appeal.
Final scores:
Team 1 scored 3.5 out of 5
Team 2 scored 4.5 out of 5
The verdict
What the judges said...
Dick Russill, CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDGES
“Seeing both teams in action was immensely impressive, each demonstrating upscale functional procurement expertise and energy, albeit at different paces. Deciding the winner was tough but the verdict went to the team who spent all morning planning, contacting sources, even working out supply logistics. Their afternoon of action delivered a hamper with real ‘wow’ although the team would have impressed more had they not decided to relax with 45 minutes left, spent having a fag and organising holiday travel!
“Their opponents deployed the riskier strategy of working things out as they went along, albeit pulling excellent rabbits out of the sourcing hat by staying on the case until the last minute.
“That the winning team came in furthest under budget was a marginal bonus as they were mainly judged on the overall quality of their performance and the result achieved. Bravo to all.”
Andy Davies, JUDGE
“There were champagne moments and some horror stories to tell. Team one’s eagerness to get on with it meant their planning was cursory. My worst fear – that the exercise might degenerate into a shopping trudge along Oxford Street – was sadly realised by noon.
“But over lunch, the team re-grouped and re-focused their task under Gavin’s leadership, setting up a much more effective afternoon, with lots of examples of skilful sourcing and determined negotiation.
“The judges found it tough to evaluate the end product - deciding between team two’s single experience that undeniably delivered on the ‘wow!’ factor and team one’s individually lesser but together highly impressive array of attractions.
“I felt team one’s presentation was superior, demonstrating some strong sales ability, but team two’s hamper did benefit from a more polished appearance.
“My favourite moment? Stuart confessing to buying up the stock of Tom Cruise videos in a Notting Hill charity shop after he saw team two come around the corner. Ruthless.”
Jenny Radcliffe, JUDGE
“Shadowing team two I realised early on that despite their extensive research at the SM offices, my day was still going to involve tearing around the capital until my tube pass was a tatty shadow of its former self. However, it was exactly that research and preparation that minimised the travel, negotiation and panics once we got on the road. It proved once again that preparation, and organising the team properly always pays off in the end.
“Highlights included asking The Christmas Shop ‘do you sell Christmas decorations?’
“By far the most memorable thing was watching a team of buyers working so well together, using their strengths and producing a fantastic result of which they should be proud.”
Click here to watch all the Battle of the Buyers action on Supply Management's YouTube channel
