2 September 2010 | Alisdair MacQuarrie

Alisdair MacQuarrie discusses his role as head of procurement at South Lanarkshire Council

An agenda for change

I joined South Lanarkshire Council from the private sector in September 2009 to create a new centralised procurement team. I now have four direct reports and 35 staff. I find the difference between the two sectors is in the checks and balances. Decisions in the public sector must be made in consultation, whereas decisions in the private sector can be made in isolation. The major skills needed in public sector procurement are change management and communication. In five years procurement will be embedded across all businesses and sectors.

Better procurement helps everyone

I work closely with our internal customers to understand what they want from procurement so that we can deliver the right service. By doing it this way you gain internal support while transitioning to best practice for your team and, in the process, the whole organisation. The real difference this makes is that it is better to control procurement spend as a way of saving money on our £500 million annual budget than to make staff cuts in the organisation.

New training programme

At the moment we are developing a training programme that helps the frontline requisitioners and approvers understand the value of collaboration and commitment contracts compared with spot buying with local suppliers. They need to understand the cost and risks of off-contract spend. Watching the team develop makes this job worth all the effort.

Back to the beginning

I became interested in procurement during my apprenticeship at Govan Ship Yard. I spent four to five months in a number of different departments, one of which was procurement, and I caught the bug then. I enjoy the variety of the role and the fact that procurement is so integrated into everything an organisation does. The only advice I would give is to make sure you enjoy what you do.

CV: Alisdair Macquarrie

Job history:

2009 to present: Head of procurement, South Lanarkshire Council

2006-2009: Management consultant, Capgemini

2005-2006: Management consultant, QP Group

2004-2005: Procurement consultant for various firms                                                                                                                

Favourite film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Favourite word: Huge

Favourite TV show: The Banana Splits

A song that sums up procurement: Born of Frustration by James

Greatest fear: Losing my family and friends

Hero: My father