Roads Academy (RA) is National Highways’ sector wide leadership initiative. It was co-created with the supply chain across the end-to-end procurement lifecycle to develop the current and future leaders needed to deliver safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. RA offers a blend of e-learning, in person development and cross industry collaboration to build leaders who can accelerate change, strengthen performance and drive innovation across the Strategic Road Network. Grounded in three core themes – operational excellence, emotional intelligence and future capabilities – RA equips leaders to overcome current challenges while proactively shaping the roads sector’s future. Through shared learning, collaboration and real-time problem solving, it is redefining leadership across the sector

Judges comments: “This programme goes beyond traditional procurement development to improve performance across an entire supply chain ecosystem. Procurement is about people, and even as AI transforms the profession, relationships remain its most valuable asset – this initiative is creating the right development opportunities.”

Enerjisa Üretim implemented an integrated Supply Chain Risk and Resilience Management System to safeguard procurement continuity in a highly volatile environment. The initiative delivers end-to-end visibility across more than 3,000 suppliers, extending beyond Tier 1 to Tier 2/3 and raw material exposure. By combining AI-enabled early warning signals, structured risk segmentation and deep-dive supplier assessments, procurement teams proactively identify and mitigate financial, operational, ESG, cyber and geopolitical risks. The system has enabled faster decision-making, strengthened supplier resilience, prevented disruption through early intervention and embedded preventive risk management into everyday sourcing and contract management.

Judges comments: “An impressive case study of how to increase the speed of decision-making and find innovative solutions to managing supply chain risk. A great example of procurement excellence, with fantastic CEO endorsement.”

The Inventory Management Transformation Programme showcases exceptional collaborative teamwork across the NHS and its partners. Uniting NHS Supply Chain, NHS England, GS1 UK, Scan4Safety, suppliers, IT providers and frontline clinical teams, this pioneering initiative is modernising inventory management at scale. Through a dual team structure that blends national expertise with local insight, the programme delivers safer, more efficient and data-driven care. Its co-produced, standardised approach is reducing longstanding process inefficiencies, strengthening patient safety and building digital capability within NHS trusts. This scalable, multi-stakeholder model sets a new benchmark for collaborative transformation across the healthcare system.

Judges comments: “This programme focuses on what matters most in the NHS: improving patient care and safety. A truly well-thought-through approach has driven consistent transformation across the NHS, demonstrating best practice in delivering a significant and complex programme, with collaboration at the heart of its success.”

Established in May 2024, the Nuclear Sector Skills Team (NSST) is a collaboration of MOD, DESNZ and Industry representatives whose purpose is to deliver the Nuclear Skills Plan (NSP) on behalf of all 16 Skills Plan organisations. This is unprecedented, mobilising the nuclear sector across civil, defence, government and industry to deliver growth, national and energy security and fill 40,000 new jobs by 2030. This collaboration has required first-of-kind strategic engagement to ensure that a bespoke commercial approach could be developed and realised, establishing delivery partners across multiple projects, delivering for the sector, for the next five years.

Through exemplary cross-sector collaboration, Babcock Naval Nuclear Procurement Team led a pioneering feasibility project to convert Devonport Royal Dockyard’s wastewater into at point of use green hydrogen using the HydroStar® system, a membrane-less hydrolysis technology – the first application of its kind in a naval base environment. The initiative established a resilient, closed loop fuel source that mitigates energy security risk. A full techno economic assessment confirmed commercial viability, forecasting hydrogen at £1.31/kg – below prevailing diesel/HVO rates – unlocking significant cost and carbon benefits. The project delivers a scalable, circular economy blueprint capable of materially reducing emissions across dockside and marine operations.

Judges comments: “A great showcase of procurement working collaboratively across industry and academia to deliver a fantastic result from a very complex project – material carbon reduction as well as cost savings."

JLR's Procurement Team has commissioned a landmark 18.2 MWp ground-mounted solar installation – the equivalent of 36 football pitches – delivered at zero upfront capital cost through a pioneering Energy Services Agreement. This flagship Scope 2 carbon reduction asset is the proof point for an ambitious 80 MW renewable energy portfolio spanning UK and international manufacturing sites, materially advancing JLR's commitment to Net Zero by 2039. By pairing commercial innovation with strategic supplier partnership, procurement has converted climate ambition into delivered, measurable impact at industrial scale, establishing JLR as a pioneer among global automotive OEMs in supply chain decarbonisation.

Digital Divide is an innovative supplier diversity initiative designed to tackle digital exclusion while reshaping how the WMCA delivers community-based adult education. By embedding supplier diversity into commissioning from the outset, the programme created a place-based, inclusive delivery model that positioned Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprises (VCFSE) organisations as core partners. This approach improved reach into communities most affected by exclusion, strengthened local capability and increased system resilience. The programme demonstrates how intentional commercial design, proportionate governance and hyperlocal delivery can unlock social value, drive inclusion and deliver sustainable system change, while building a diverse and future-ready supply base.

Judges comments: “A really strong submission highlighting both the importance of a diverse supply chain and the positive impact it can have on the community. Great mission, with strong data and compelling evidence demonstrating how it helped hyperlocal organisations become digitally enabled.”

The UK Ministry of Defence aspires to increase spending with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 50% by May 2028, recognising their ability to innovate quickly and their vital role in building an agile, diverse, and resilient supply chain. In readiness, Boeing Defence UK (BDUK) launched the BDUK Cluster Training Programme, in partnership with ADS Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) and The Excellence Partnership (TEP). The programme is designed to build cohort innovation, widen access to Boeing’s supply base by engaging suppliers diverse in size, maturity, geography, market knowledge and ownership, including first time entrants to the defence sector.

The Procurement Team have led a vast improvement to Sainsbury’s national Food Donation Programme through a transformational redesign that directly resulted in over 26 million additional meals donated to those in need and a 49.3% increase in food redistributed. By using an innovative sourcing method, leading cross-functionally and integrating rigorous governance, Sainsbury’s Procurement Team delivered a partnership with significantly higher waste collection success rates, a simplified colleague process, full data transparency, an expanded charity reach and a reduction in operating costs. This new operating model demonstrated that responsible sourcing can deliver both social good and commercial value.

Judges comments: "A great example of procurement with purpose. The team worked cross-functionally to challenge the status quo, taking a test-and-learn approach that eschewed perfection for iteration, and delivered a step change in results with social impact.”

MTN Group’s "Nerve Center" is pioneering an Integrated Digital Supply Chain Platform that synchronizes 16 multinational operations into a unified, cloud-based ecosystem. Built on Oracle Cloud, this strategic initiative integrates 15 modules and connects directly with key OEM systems like Huawei and Ericsson to enable real-time visibility. By replacing fragmented and manual processes with AI-driven analytics, MTN has transformed its supply chain from a reactive function into a proactive strategic enabler. The project has delivered $312 million in savings and reduced sourcing throughput time by 48%, significantly enhancing network rollout speed and customer experience.

Judges comments: "This enterprise-wide transformation programme demonstrates both exceptional ambition and impact. The scale of what has been achieved and its success – $312 million in savings – showcase the expertise of MTN’s procurement team."

M Group transformed fragmented transactional procurement into a unified, strategic function to unlock value across third party spend and meet a challenging EBITDA savings target. A new operating model, rapid mobilisation, 21 strategic hires, new processes and governance changed the way the function was viewed and increased stakeholder confidence. Within 18 months, procurement delivered multi-million pound EBITDA benefits and had a sustainable delivery model ready to support M Group's continued growth.

Judges comments: “A holistic transformation aligned to business needs, which has delivered measurable commercial value. This project was delivered on a challenging timescale and in complex conditions, but the success shows the journey has all been worth it."

In 2025, Costa Coffee's Procurement Team launched a best-in-class tender for its 70m-unit savoury category against a backdrop of major inflationary pressure. Rather than defaulting to conventional negotiation, the team developed Partner for Growth (P4G) – a proprietary commercial framework built on six value-creation mechanisms: ingredient efficiency, vertical integration, data sharing, new revenue streams, commodity modelling and executive alignment. Embedded within Costa's SRM programme and governed across six structured pillars, P4G delivered complete inflation mitigation, a significant P&L contribution and the transformation of a transactional supplier relationship into a strategic partnership, establishing a repeatable model across the wider business.

Judges comments:  “A strong example of how a supplier partnership can create value and deliver sustained commercial outcomes. The wider benefits of this programme are clear, with learnings being embedded in other strategic relationships across the business.”

Waypoint is Bellrock’s structured Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and accreditation platform, created to answer the question: “What would happen if Bellrock manages suppliers in the same way it manages its own people?” Inspired by high performance coaching, Waypoint creates a pathway for supplier capability improvement, the idea being that improving capability to perform comes before improving performance. Through initial self-assessment to evidence auditing, accreditation and then supplier development plan, Waypoint has strengthened supplier capability, improved service delivery and enabled more consistent outcomes for clients.

UK Border Force, in partnership with Biffa, has transformed the disposal of seized goods from a fragmented compliance activity into a resilient, sustainable and value-driven national service. Using an outcome-based circular procurement model, the partnership embedded innovation, environmental performance and social value directly into operational delivery. This enabled new recycling and recovery solutions for complex waste streams, reduced long term costs and strengthened supply chain resilience. Measurable results include 100% landfill diversion, significant carbon reduction, public savings exceeding £1m strong SME participation and national recognition for innovation.

Judges comments: "An impressive collaboration driving real sustainable impact. This genuinely innovative thinking is supported by the scheme’s excellent measurable outcomes – achieving 100% diversion from landfill.”

CBRE developed Guided Supplier Search, an AI-driven supplier intelligence platform, to address the scale, complexity and fragmentation of its global supplier ecosystem. Managing over 150,000 suppliers across 70+ countries, CBRE lacked a centralised, data-led view of supplier capabilities, spend, performance and sustainability. The platform consolidates data from more than 50 systems into a single, trusted supplier master record, leveraging machine learning and large language models to automate data matching, spend classification and advanced search. The solution has transformed procurement decision-making, reduced manual effort, improved governance and delivered rapid global adoption, positioning CBRE at the forefront of AI-enabled procurement transformation.

Judges comments: "A relevant and innovative application of AI at enterprise scale, addressing a core procurement challenge: managing fragmented supplier ecosystems. Integrating AI to automate data matching, spend classification and advanced supplier search is genuinely forward-looking.”

CBRE operates a devolved procurement model, where 13,000 colleagues make buying decisions independently. While this empowers teams, it often made consistent use of supplier rate cards, benchmarks and guidance difficult to apply in practice. SmartRates was developed to solve this challenge, creating a single, structured system that brings together supplier data, automation, dashboards and AI tools. It helps teams answer three core questions at the point of decision: how do I buy, what rates apply, and are we being charged correctly? In 2025, SmartRates improved compliance, reduced rework, accelerated decisions and delivered measurable commercial benefits, while strengthening supplier collaboration.

Judges comments: "SmartRates addresses a key challenge in managing devolved procurement environments. CBRE’s innovative solution demonstrates clear operational and commercial benefits, particularly in improving compliance and enabling informed decision-making at scale."

For years, technical evaluation in procurement was one of those processes everyone knew was broken but nobody had fixed. It was slow and heavily dependent on whoever happened to be in the room. This project changed that. By introducing an AI-driven evaluation tool into Dubai Digital Authority’s sourcing cycle, evaluation time was cut by 93% and delivered scoring outputs more consistent and more defensible than anything produced manually. What this project really achieved was a shift in how procurement is perceived: from an administrative function to a genuine driver of digital innovation.

Roads Academy (RA) is National Highways’ (NH) sector wide leadership initiative, co created with the supply chain across the end-to-end procurement lifecycle to develop the current and future leaders needed to deliver safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. It offers a blend of e-learning, in-person development and cross-industry collaboration, building leaders who can accelerate change, strengthen performance and drive innovation across the Strategic Road Network (SRN). Grounded in core themes – Operational Excellence, Emotional Intelligence and Future Capabilities – RA equips leaders to overcome current challenges and proactively shape the roads sector’s future. It is redefining leadership through shared learning, collaboration and real-time problem-solving.

Judges comments: "This programme goes beyond traditional procurement development to improve performance across an entire supply chain ecosystem. Procurement is about people, and even as AI transforms the profession, relationships remain its most valuable asset. This initiative is creating the right opportunities to develop those relationships."

Procure4 partnered with Butlin’s to strengthen and elevate its procurement function within a complex, multi-site leisure environment facing significant external cost pressures. Through a collaborative, ‘one team’ approach, the programme enhanced governance, improved supplier relationships and embedded structured, data-led procurement practices across more than 40 categories. The initiative delivered measurable financial benefits while maintaining guest experience and operational continuity. It also increased procurement’s influence across the organisation, positioning it as a trusted strategic partner. The result is a more mature, insight-driven procurement function, equipped to deliver sustainable value and support long-term business performance.

Judges comments: "Excellent stakeholder engagement, clear business alignment and tangible outcomes make this a standout consultancy project. The initiative delivered measurable benefits and increased procurement’s influence across the organisation, positioning it as a trusted strategic partner."

The Sainsbury’s Procurement Team has become a strategic, high-performing transformation engine with real influence at the heart of the Sainsbury’s Group. Managing £4bn of spend, the team now drives financial performance, operational resilience and strategic value across all of Sainsbury’s brands, delivering benefit far beyond savings through clear strategy, commercial leadership, innovation and robust supplier partnerships.

Judges comments: “This is a strong example of what going from ‘good’ to ‘great’ looks like by continually raising the bar to deliver for both the business and the team. There is a clear people-first approach to delivery."

Peabody’s Group Procurement & SRM Team has delivered a step-change in how procurement supports residents, colleagues and long-term value. The team has transformed a decentralised, reactive function into a strategic, data-led operating model, bringing over 90% of spend under contract and embedding consistent governance, risk management and supplier performance controls. Through strengthened category management, an enhanced SRM framework and digital dashboards, the team achieved £3.3m in cashable savings, over £8m in social value and improved compliance, transparency and service outcomes. This transformation has been recognised through creation of a Director of Procurement & SRM role to represent at leadership level.

Over the past four years, the British Red Cross Corporate Procurement Team has transformed from a process-focused control function into a confident, values-led strategic partner operating at the heart of a humanitarian organisation. Working within the unique pressures of the charity sector, where colleagues respond to crises and every pound has a human consequence, the team strengthened governance, improved data, simplified processes and built procurement capability across the organisation. The result is higher compliance, reduced risk and stronger value delivery, ensuring more resources are directed to helping people in crisis.

Judges comments: "A true transformation from a back-office team to a strategic category-led function. A highly compelling initiative demonstrating exceptional value and professionalisation within the non-profit sector."

In just a few years, the Travers Smith Procurement Team have redefined what a lean function can achieve within a City law firm. From a greenfield start, Travers Smith built a high-impact, business-partnering function that delivers measurable value, innovation and strategic influence. The team have accelerated major initiatives from sourcing state-of-the-art technology platforms to supporting a transformative headquarters relocation, while increasing contract coverage and compliance from 42% to 95% and generating seven-figure annualised savings. Travers Smith champion commerciality, responsible sourcing, digital integration and genuine collaboration.

HMRC’s Competition to Identify Deliberate Evasion and Help Close the Tax Gap (or Tax Gap Competition) is a multi-stage Competitive Flexible Procedure launched under the Procurement Act 2023 in July 2025. It is the first procurement of its kind across the public sector, bringing together multiple features which succeeded in making central government departments more accessible to new and small suppliers, driving innovation and delivering value for the taxpayer. This competition is a best practice case study for how public sector bodies can make full use of new public sector procurement regulations.

Judges comments: "A truly innovative project that demonstrates what is possible when organisations embrace new regulations. This project shows a proactive approach to challenge and innovation, demonstrating how commercial expertise can be applied to identify, address and resolve complex business issues."