Leigh joined SUMS Group as Head of SUPC in February 2023, having spent the previous 2.5 years in Central Government working on National Security related projects overseas. He started his procurement career working on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games working on construction of some of the venues, through to buses for athletes and also all of the sports equipment required (everything from bats and balls to horses and boats!). Leigh then spent most of his career in the charity sector developing Greenfield Procurement functions at Cancer Research, Marie Curie and the Royal British Legion. He sat on the Board of the Charity Sector Procurement Group where he first saw the power of true collaborative procurement. Whilst this is Leigh’s first role working in procurement in the HE Sector, he did briefly lecture in Marketing at the University of Northampton and was also a student in no less than five other UK Universities.
Leigh is passionate about the value professional procurement and contract management brings to an organisation through its relationship with suppliers to deliver financial and non-financial benefit. Developing people and teams is something he has enjoyed the most in his career and so the opportunity to develop SUPC and support development of our member’s procurement functions is something Leigh looks forward to the most.
Outside of work Leigh has a family, including two children and four dogs, and he loves sport. He says he’s now too old to play rugby but enjoys coaching and watching and can regularly be found on the golf course trying to send his handicap, and the ball, in the right direction. He loves food and is a keen amateur cook, having dabbled as a chef very early in his career.
Leigh is a Fellow of CIPS (FCIPS) awarded to those who have demonstrably contributed to the profession. He has won a Procurement Leaders Award for transformation (whilst at Cancer Research) and has been shortlisted and commended at the CIPS Awards on a number of occasions.