Peter Smith

Peter gained an MA in Mathematics and Management Sciences at St. John's College, Cambridge University, then joined the Mars Group before becoming Procurement Director (CPO) for Dun & Bradstreet Europe, the Department of Social Security, and the NatWest Group. He is a Fellow and was 2003 President of CIPS (the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply), has advised several governments on procurement issues, acted as an expert witness in court cases, and served as a non-executive director of two large public sector organizations and a growing private firm. He works with public and private sector clients through his consulting firm, Procurement Excellence Ltd, From 2010 -18 Peter was Managing Editor of the Spend Matters UK/Europe website, read daily by thousands of procurement professionals. His first co-authored book, “Buying Professional Services”, was published by the Economist Books in June 2010; his second book "A Procurement Compendium" was published in September 2019, and Penguin Business published "Bad Buying - how organizations wasste billions through failures, frauds and f*ck-ups" in October 2020. His latest book, "Procurement with Purpose - How organisations can change the way they spend money NOW to protect the planet and its people" was launched in November 2021. As well as writing, Peter enjoys skiing, cycling, sport generally, cooking, eating, interesting beer and pretty much any wine ...