United Utilities wins prestigious procurement award

United Utilities has won a top procurement award for a new market-testing method described by judges as ‘outstanding’.

The water company won the award for Best Process Improvement Initiative at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Supply Management Awards held on 12 September 2018 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

More than 1000 procurement professionals attended the awards which are acknowledged as the most prestigious recognition an organisation or individual in the procurement and supply chain profession can receive.

United Utilities’ Market Engagement Methodology (MEM) has saved the company £359 million and was praised by judges as “a truly leading tool for route-to-market and guiding procurement to select the right strategy”. MEM is a process that uses systematic challenge gates to challenge how a company can achieve best value from markets against every element of business cost. At the heart of the process are six steps: testing priorities, business needs, test selection, testing, review and implementation.

The six step process is repeatable and includes many innovations from challenging the strategic pressures on a business, to automated tools that point procurement professionals to value creating market opportunities which are then independently verified by the market.

Chris Lane, United Utilities’ Head of Strategic Category Management, said:

“Delivering value for customers is at the heart of everything we do at United Utilities. In the commercial team we are no different. I am absolutely delighted that our hard work in building this innovative approach, which makes sure that we are getting best value with every penny we spend on behalf of customers, has been recognised with such a prestigious award.”