Aaron Briant is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in procurement, supply chain management, and the telecommunications industry. With over 25 years of experience as a senior leader, Aaron brings a wealth of knowledge on how strategic supplier partnerships drive innovation, mitigate risks, and enhance operational efficiency.

In this conversation, Aaron shares insights from his career, highlighting the evolution of SRM practices and their impact on organizational success.

We’ll explore how effective SRM contributes to achieving business objectives, the challenges faced in supplier collaboration, and the strategies to overcome them.

Whether you’re a procurement professional, supply chain enthusiast, or business leader, this episode offers valuable perspectives on building and maintaining robust supplier relationships in today’s dynamic market.

Chris is a seasoned professional in supplier and sourcing management. He currently serves as a Senior Supplier Manager at Lloyds Banking Group. He assumed this role in 2022, building upon a significant tenure of over eight years. During his time at Lloyds, he has also held key positions such as Information Technology Sourcing Manager and Sourcing Manager BPO, showcasing his diverse experience across various aspects of procurement and supplier relations within a major financial institution.

Before his impactful career at Lloyds Banking Group, Chris contributed his expertise to The Walt Disney Company for more than four years, where he was a Sourcing Manager in the UK and a Senior Sourcing Specialist in London. His early career also includes experience as a Procurement Specialist at Proxima Group and a Supplier Manager at KnowledgePool Group Ltd, highlighting a broad foundation in procurement and supply chain.

 Eero is an accomplished leader and reformer with over 20 years at Valmet, driving success across sales, development, and execution in the paper, board, tissue, pulp, and energy industries. With a background in mechanical engineering, he blends technical expertise with strategic thinking and a customer-centric, data-driven approach. Eero is known for his strategic acumen, problem-solving, and negotiation skills, with a strong track record in sales, project execution, organizational development, and product launches. His deep knowledge of the circular economy and service business development further enhances his impact. Multilingual and an excellent communicator, Eero fosters collaboration, leads high-performing teams, and drives sustainable, profitable growth through adaptability, commercial insight, and a commitment to continuous improvement. 

Fay is a transformative leader with over a decade of experience in commercial law and strategy. At 27, she became Head of Legal, Europe, for a $25B U.S. corporation, and by 29, held the same role at a Fortune 500 company. Recognised by Baroness Sharmishta Chakrabarti for her business impact, she was recruited by the UK Government to lead Brexit Assurance, establish its first pan-government disputes practice, and manage multi-billion-pound portfolios for the Cabinet Office. Fay has worked with governments, multinationals, startups, and the military, earning a reputation as a calm authority with innovative thinking. She brings empathy, tenacity, and balance to every challenge. Now CEO of Resolutiion, a global tech company, she is reshaping how organisations manage conflict and build trust. Her work has been featured in The Times and Forbes, and she is a four-time UN Women Delegate and one of Management Today’s top five women in business.

Tim Cummins is President of World Commerce & Contracting and a Professor in the School of Law at the University of Leeds. For 25 years, Tim has led research and the development of standards for the Commercial and Contract Management discipline, an achievement that was recognised by the Financial Times ‘Market Shaper of the Year’ award in 2019.

Over that time, he was instrumental in developing the world’s only non-profit association dedicated to Commercial and Contract Management and continues to work with its 80,000 members in both public and private sector to improve the quality and integrity of trading relationships. Tim’s inspiration came from a career in Finance and Commercial Management, spanning multiple industries and countries and providing insight to the critical role that commercial innovation plays in delivering business and social value.