Karen Bowman has been our Director of Procurement at the University of Edinburgh since November 1998. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at September's Conference on University Procurement, so we have sat down with her to find out what it takes to make it in Procurement. Tell us a bit about your work history: My original career was actually in nursing and research. My Procurement career began working for NHS Scotland in major national medical-related then ICT contracts, and in estates and development, going on to become one of the youngest Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply. What was your first experience at the University like? Lots of paperwork! My first team was 34 people, mainly due to paper-based purchase order processing for stationery, IT and consumables, travel or managing all the photocopiers in printing. Almost all staff were on temporary contracts with uncertain funding streams. Only one other person was professionally qualified - so major research equipment or call-off agreement tenders tended to be done by the Director. Tenders were paper submissions and only covered about £25m p.a. And what is it like today? The University has grown, as has our team, with 30 professional staff across campus, which now influences over £250 million p.a. For several years now, contracts let (or framework agreements joined into) by University Procurement cover about 80%+ of the University's spending on externals, and all tenders are digital. Procurement specialists are involved in all major contracts including IS and Estates. eCommerce and social responsibility and sustainability now routinely feature in our Procurement decision-making at Edinburgh. We are invited to speak at UK and international procurement events and get visitors from other institutions as well as students researching us. The team has won a number of awards for innovation, sustainability and as Procurement Team of the Year (Scotland and UK). I convened for 10 years a staff/student fair trade group. In 2011, I was thrilled to gain a Principal’s Medal for Outstanding Service to the University. However, changes are never easy, but with support from senior management and in building sensible business cases, this University has taken forward Procurement as a strategic imperative, as well as using an operational process that is increasingly digitised. What next? I am part-retired (with George Sked as Joint Director) and am very excited about the Finance Transformation programme's opportunities for change, and for more collaboration; it can be challenging but I believe we can take it on as ‘One Team’ and as ‘One University’. When not at work, I grow organic vegetables, embroider, and assist the University's initiatives in Wikipedia editing, working with students to add more notable women. Did you know… Karen’s son, Blair Bowman, founded World Whisky Day and is a whisky consultant and author? This article was published on 2024-07-01
