An Overview of the Department
We have a multi-disciplinary team of qualified procurement professionals with the skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of the current economic climate. Our Vision 'To deliver an informed integrated sustainable commercial procurement and supply chain management function to the Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust, commercial and collaborative partner organisations, encompassing the development of safe, innovative healthcare solutions, modern supply chain technologies and lean commercial strategies. To drive down cost in a transparent and compliant manner' "Smarter procurement will help your Trust save money that can be reinvested in patient care" Andy O’Connor, Director of COCH Commercial Procurement Services
Andy O’Connor MCIPS - Director of Commercial Procurement Services
Andy has been a practitioner across all areas of Procurement and Supply Chain which allows him to understand how procurement and Supplies functions and teams work and more importantly how they should be able to perform in the future. In addition to his own knowledge skills and experience, Andy has built a team of true professionals within their own specialist areas of Procurement and Supply Chain as part of the Countess of Chester Commercial Procurement Services.
It is with the assistance of this wider team of professionals that COCH Commercial Procurement Services can offer you a service not only built on their experiences to date but also and uniquely based on their on-going practical knowledge and learning as a practising procurement team within a busy acute hospital environment.
Commercial Procurement Manager
Ruth Jones MCIPS
Ruth is a qualified procurement professional with over 10 years experience working in public sector procurement within the healthcare sector. Ruth worked on national procurement framework agreements for NHS Supply Chain before joining the team at the Countess of Chester.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Ian Bailiff MCIPS
Ian is a qualified procurement professional with extensive experience in undertaking large complex projects. Ian worked on national procurement frameworks for Royal Mail, NHS Supply Chain and NHS PASA before joining the team at the Countess of Chester. His special interests are contract law and the Public Procurement Directives.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Jim Flood MCIPS
Jim has over 30 years of public sector procurement experience both within the NHS and the local government sector. Prior to joining the Countess of Chester, Jim was Deputy Head of procurement at the North East London Foundation Trust and has previously held senior procurement positions at a number of London councils.
Jim has extensive experience in setting up framework agreements, tendering for highly complex EU procurement projects and has also led on several large collaborative projects. He aims to provide creative and innovative solutions to meet business requirements.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Marion Haddley MCIPS
Marion is a qualified procurement professional with experience working within a variety of procurement, commercial and project management roles within the defence and healthcare sectors. Marion has worked at all stages of the procurement lifecycle on both simple transactional purchases as well as complex major long term contracts, all within the strict rules, regulations and processes of nuclear defence and EU public procurement.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Abigail Ballard MCIPS
Abigail is a procurement professional with several years of experience working in public procurement in the healthcare sector. Prior to joining the team at the Countess of Chester, Abigail worked for NHS Supply Chain on high value national framework agreements in a number of product areas.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Sarah Morris MSc MCIPS
Sarah is a qualified procurement professional with over five years’ experience of public sector procurement in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining Commercial Procurement Services Sarah held positions at both the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership; leading on high value and complex projects across multiple product and service categories. Sarah is a member of #GreenerNHS and has a special interest in sustainability within public procurement. She has a Masters Degree in Strategic Procurement Management from the University of South Wales and centered her dissertation on sustainable, value based procurement within the NHS.
Commercial Procurement Specialist
Paul Jones
Paul is a procurement professional with over 8 years of experience working in public procurement in the healthcare sector. Paul has worked at all stages of the procurement lifecycle on both simple transactional purchases as well as complex major long term contracts. Prior to joining the team at the Countess of Chester, Paul worked for NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership on high value National framework agreements in a number of product areas specialising within Trauma and Orthopaedics.
Senior Commercial Procurement Specialist
Laura Walsh MCIPS
Laura has over 9 years’ experience in procurement roles. She studied Business Studies specialising in supply chain management and thereafter achieving MCIPS status in 2017. Her career began in the chemical manufacturing industry before moving into the civil engineering. She has always worked in highly regulated environments which is why there are great synergies with healthcare. Also gaining experience on major UK public sector projects such as the Northern Line Extension and The Manchester Metrolink has enhanced her commercial awareness. She led the CIPS Procurement Excellence Programme Award for a previous employer as she is passionate about continuous improvement and always strives to improve ways of working.
