When this ‘Big Four’ bank rebuilt their Procurement team, their focus shifted to savings.
Landscape
This major high street bank has over 4,750 branches in 55 countries, of which about 1,600 are in the UK. Their Procurement function is over 600 people globally.
Challenge
As part of a wider restructuring program, the bank relocated its Procurement function. Very few staff relocated with it, creating a knowledge vacuum as well as a capacity and capability challenge in the face of an immediate and demanding cost challenge.
The bank was looking for a partner to quickly extract knowledge from the departing team, and to bring external insights to identify new opportunities to drive savings. Supplier savings and expenditure was complex and extended into £billions. Savings needed to be evidenced and prioritized, allowing incoming staff to immediately settle and accelerate delivery.
Our Approach
Over ten weeks, our team of FS and category procurement specialists immersed themselves in
the operation. Working at pace, this team delivered a deep dive Opportunity Assessment, providing a detailed analysis of the bank’s supplier spending and potential supplier savings initiatives. The team assessed data, reviewed contracts, discussed needs, and used Proxima insights and benchmarks to identify opportunities. Each opportunity was then evidenced in a reporting pack and incoming team members were coached on delivery.
Supplier Savings Outcomes and Deliverables
The assessment delivered a qualified pipeline of opportunities across a broad range of expenditure categories including IT, Facilities, HR, Professional Services and Marketing. These were translated into short playbooks that identified the projects, evidence, approach, likely resources, and quantum of return.
Heads of Sourcing then received detailed feedback on the playbooks and coaching (where a need was identified) on presenting their work to senior stakeholders. This would help Procurement build credible relationships and elevate working relationships.
Further, we ran collaborative workshops to validate the initiatives and we looked at prioritization according to available benefits and resources. The incoming team was then able to use the sourcing plans and playbooks to immediately accelerate delivery.
Overall, the business gained a new Procurement function, staffed with the right number of people, and with the right skills. Once in place, they could hit the ground running with projects and a playbook to help them realize rapid results, including the benefits of:
- 300 contracts assessed, representing > £3bn of spend
- 180 agreed projects documented identifying > £200m in savings
- A stakeholder approved wave plan for the Procurement function
- Gap closed and accelerated delivery of annual savings target
For more information about how our procurement consultants can help you with supplier savings, get in touch here.
