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19 December 2012 | Adam Leach

Former Royal Mint supply chain director Gail Roberts has joined procurement outsourcing business Proxima as director of shared services.

Roberts, who was in charge of supply chain operations at the UK coin maker from September 2009 until earlier this month, will be responsible for leading the expansion of the organisation’s shared services function, and helping to develop the firms’customer relationship management, analytics and market research services.

Announcing the appointment, Gareth Evans, COO at Proxima, said: “Gail’s appointment is a reflection of our growth to date and our ambition to continue to evolve and differentiate procurement service delivery in the future. A highly experienced procurement and operational leader, Gail is well-known in our industry and her achievements have been recognised by leading professional bodies.”

Roberts has more than 20 years of supply chain experience in sectors such as retail, construction and life sciences. In her role at the Royal Mint, she was in charge of 16 people in procurement and a further 65 in supply chain and logistics. During her time there she led a transformation of the function. A key part of her change plan was to broaden the skill sets of the people under her, she assessed people from one to five on technical, commercial, behavioural skills and attributes, expecting them to achieve level three in at least three separate categories.

In an interview with SM in 2011 she explained: “I had to restructure the whole team, take away titles and explain why the new structure was put in place. It was a challenge, but I was fortunate because 85 per cent of the team could see the method in my madness."

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