Procurement reform: Head of procurement's insights

After five years of thorough preparation, the Procurement Act 2023 has finally launched. But are UK procurement professionals and the wider supply chain ready for this new era of reforms? In this Q&A, Michelle Walker, Head of Procurement Services at YPO, talks us through the transition, buyer and supplier perspectives, and procurement opportunities for the year ahead.

For the Cabinet Office, the much-anticipated Procurement Act 2023 represents a seismic shift in how public sector organisations purchase goods and services. The measures are intended to embed flexibility, transparency, and oversight in the procurement process while generating more opportunities for the UK supply chain and SMEs. Getting to this stage has been challenging, due to a number of arising factors.

Initially scheduled for an October 2024 launch, the Procurement Act was delayed until 24th February 2025 to allow for the creation of a new National Procurement Policy Statement. While this delay has given procurement teams much-needed time to prepare, it is evident that the transition is only just beginning.

“I feel much more confident now than I would have done had we gone live in October 2024, and I feel that there is very much a state of readiness now,” confirmed Michelle Walker, YPO’s Head of Procurement Services. “That said, given that this is, in some ways, a whole new way of working, with the ability to introduce flexibility the like of which we have never had available to us before, I can’t help but feel that buyers and suppliers alike will be on quite the journey for a while.”

With 31 years of public procurement experience, Michelle Walker is well placed to offer insightful advice on the Procurement Act. As the Senior Leadership representative for Procurement Services – responsible for YPO’s strategic direction, service, revenue, and efficiency – Michelle is tasked with developing and maintaining good relationships with key stakeholders. This puts her in a unique position to understand both the buyer and supplier side of the conversation, and she is acutely aware of the challenges that procurement teams now face.

“There are buyers and suppliers who are very used to the processes under PCR 2015, and it had been a long time since there had been any massive changes,” commented Michelle. “So, the biggest challenge could indeed be ‘cultural’, for want of a better word, with suppliers needing to engage in processes that they haven’t encountered before. These processes will differ between customer bases and Contracting Authorities until we truly get to grips with what ‘good looks like’ under the Procurement Act 2023.”

As with any significant change, the Procurement Act will challenge people and processes alike, and securing buy-in from all stakeholders will be critical to its ongoing success. Buyers, for instance, are now expected to navigate a comprehensive new ‘noticing regime’ that spans the entire procurement life cycle – from planning to contract expiry. Meanwhile, suppliers are set to benefit from a simplified bidding process and improved access to multi-year open frameworks, but the public sector marketplace will become much more competitive as a result.

So, in Michelle’s view, what should buyers and suppliers do to ensure a smooth transition – both in the short and long term?

“Prepare, prepare, prepare! There is a raft of training and literature out there, and I would expect that by now most organisations have their template documents ready to go. If not, that should be a priority, along with identifying the early procurement activity due to take place under the Act and reviewing and testing what benefits the flexibility will bring to bear.”

The buyer/supplier perspective

Anecdotal evidence suggests that buyer organisations are concerned about a potential increase in the administrative burden associated, particularly regarding the new notice regime. Here, Michelle advises organisations to take advantage of the available guidance to ensure they are as efficient and effective as possible.

“The Cabinet Office has been really proactive in their support and, while there are new notices that didn’t previously exist, the most important thing to do is to familiarise yourself with them – which are mandatory and which aren’t and, most importantly, when each of them needs to be published. Is there any standard information that is required for each of them, and what can organisations do to prevent this from having to be populated from scratch each time?”

Similarly, while the Procurement Act aims to democratise the public sector marketplace, this will inevitably lead to a more competitive environment in which suppliers must work harder to make an impression. According to Michelle, this means that suppliers will need to specifically tailor their bids to each Contracting Authority’s requirements.

“As with everything, a good bid will stand out if it is bespoke to the requirements of the Contracting Authority, is able to evidence the statements it makes and is really clear about the benefits that their solution will bring,” advised Michelle, adding: “Anything generic or standard won’t really cut the mustard here. Social value really is an opportunity to get under the skin of what matters to the buying organisation and a good bid will really make the most of that opportunity.”

Procurement opportunities for the year ahead

One thing that will not change under the Procurement Act is YPO’s commitment to supplying an extensive range of products and services to the public sector marketplace. Around 23,000 products and 100 frameworks are currently available, with many more due to come; As Michelle notes, not all of this activity will fall under the Procurement Act 2023.

“We have lots of procurement and tendering activity ongoing and on the horizon. YPO provides a service to our members and those using our framework agreements, and this will continue moving forward. Interestingly, as a framework authority, we will continue to work under the auspices of Public Contract Regulations 2015 until those agreements awarded under it expire, so that will be our business as usual alongside the Procurement Act 2023 for years to come.”

Furthermore, in the weeks and months following the Procurement Act’s commencement, an exciting range of tendering activities are planned, alongside training initiatives designed to empower buyers and suppliers and establish best practice under the new regulations.

“We are also looking to go live with tendering activity very early post go-live of the Act for an agreement within our Buildings, Highways and Construction Category which is very exciting. In addition, we are in the process of establishing a new Customer Engagement team and putting in place an offer around Training and Consultancy Services which will be available for the public sector, so there really is lots going on at YPO at the moment!”


For further information, visit our Procurement Frameworks & Services page where you can find an array of our framework agreements to suit your organisational needs.