Pinsent Masons wins 'Most Improved Procurement Operation - Start Up' at CIPS Supply Management Awards

The firm has been recognised for successfully integrating a combined procurement and contracts team into its existing business operations structure, which has driven efficiencies, cost savings and risk reduction, and introduced transparent and consistent processes, across its supply chain.

Legal Director responsible for the Central Procurement and Contracts Team at Pinsent Masons, Myles Blewett, said: "Combining the knowledge and expertise of procurement specialists with contract experts has been transformational for Pinsent Masons in streamlining our processes, reducing risk and delivering significant cost savings.

"Successfully combining these two skill sets has broken the mould in the legal services industry which has so far seen relatively little penetration by procurement as a function in its own right and often reserved its expertise in this area for its client base. The firm recognises that it needs to practice what it preaches and has implemented a robust, consistent procurement and contracting solution for its own supply chain."

The initiative involved the introduction of a category management approach, dashboards designed to monitor supplier performance, a combined spend analytics and contract database tool and the use of Cerico, the firm’s cloud based compliance venture, to assess suppliers against key responsible business criteria.

Between September 2014 and April 2016 the scheme delivered cost savings of £6.5 million on approximately £60 million of spend.