Post-event report: the final Big Breakfast of 2023

This week saw the final Big Breakfast of 2023 take place in Sydney, closing a tremendous series of seven Big Breakfast events that saw over 450 delegates in attendance across Australia and New Zealand.

Sydney’s sold out Big Breakfast kicked off bright and early at 7am on Wednesday 13th September for a “one-day” program, squeezed into a snappy four-hour window.

74 delegates attended the five-star Hilton Hotel for a morning of procurement networking and knowledge over a tasty breakfast…and they were back in the office by 11:30am, replete with best practice examples of how others face the same challenges too.

Aside from networking with colleagues and peers from around the region to share and learn together, attendees focused on issues facing procurement now and in the future – and what to do about them in practice, tapped into new procurement thinking from specially recruited procurement thought-leaders and experts, and heard real-world case studies from leading procurement practitioners and organisations.

This included several high-profile speakers from across the region covering a wide range of topics that were very well received.

Michelle Richard, Director of Procurement at Thales, spoke about value over cost and posed the question: why would you want to work in defence procurement? She discussed how Thales is bringing rigorous ESG standards to bear as an essential part of their procurement strategy, and how these needs sit alongside high security of supply requirements set into fixed price contracts with the Australian Government during this period of higher inflation.

Meanwhile, Rachel Wu, Managing Director of Global Procurement & Supply at Axis Group spoke about international trends, challenges, strategies and tactics for success in global procurement and supply, plus managing international supply chains and logistics during times of uncertainty, including right-shoring, balancing new supply risks against the cost advantages of sourcing from low-cost countries and supply chain sustainability.

Gwen Inglis, CPO at Veolia, talked about value including cost and how Veolia are managing sustained savings and enhanced cash-flow in the context of working to deliver supply-side ESG commitments in a sustainable organisation.

One of the highlights of the morning was Phillip McDonald, CPO at Woolworths, being interviewed live on stage by PASA CEO and Big Breakfast MC, Jonathan Dutton.

In this revealing discussion, Phillip spoke about how Woolworths is now working to deliver broader ‘value’ to their stakeholders, including customers, in a new era of higher-inflation, supply instability and all-encompassing ESG requirements. He also covered how they prioritise, work in an agile way and how exactly they add critical value by using an internal floating ‘strategy team’.

Closing the morning, Jonathan Dutton talked briefly about crafting your procurement L&D plan for the post-Covid era, plus the four unavoidable questions facing procurement throughout 2023.

Did you miss out on a Big Breakfast event in your city this year? Fear not, 2024 will see new events in seven cities across Australia and New Zealand.

Watch this space for dates!