Phase 7 · Services for Buyers · Find the Right Supplier. Every Time.
Buyer Advisory & Benchmarking
You cannot improve a procurement function you cannot see — and most businesses cannot see theirs clearly enough.
Buyer Advisory & Benchmarking is the strategic advisory layer for senior buyers, procurement leaders, and CFOs who need an objective, expert perspective on how their procurement function is performing, how it compares to the market, and where the highest-leverage opportunities for improvement actually lie. This is not operational procurement support — it is the boardroom-level counsel that shapes procurement strategy, informs investment decisions, and provides the external reference point that internal teams cannot provide for themselves. Spend analysis, capability benchmarking, market intelligence, strategic prioritisation, and executive coaching for procurement leadership: this is what transforms a cost centre into a strategic function.
The Pain We Solve
You may recognise yourself in one of these.
Three audience scenarios · because the same service produces a different transformation depending on where you are in the business journey.
Scenario 1
The CFO who suspects procurement is underperforming but cannot quantify it
Intuition says the procurement function is not delivering the commercial value the business should expect from its level of spend. But without an external benchmark, it is impossible to prove the hypothesis or identify the specific gaps. The CPO presents competent performance data, the board accepts it, and the improvement opportunity is never captured. What is needed is an independent assessment that provides the CFO with the commercial truth — not the internally curated version.
Scenario 2
The procurement director building a business case for investment in the function
The procurement team needs more resource, better technology, or a capability uplift — and the case needs to be made to a board that views procurement as overhead rather than value driver. Without external benchmarking data to demonstrate what best-in-class procurement functions look like, and without a credible analysis of the value gap the investment would close, the business case fails the first scrutiny test. The right evidence changes the conversation.
Scenario 3
The CPO navigating a procurement transformation in a complex organisation
The transformation programme is underway, but the pace is slow, the stakeholder resistance is real, and the results are not yet visible enough to sustain board confidence. External advisory support — from someone who has navigated the same transition in comparable organisations — would sharpen the strategy, accelerate the critical path, and provide the external credibility that makes internal recommendations land differently.
The Impact It Creates
The Moment You Will Feel the Difference.
The procurement function is assessed against external benchmarks — capability, spend, process maturity, and commercial outcomes are all measured against what comparable organisations achieve
The highest-leverage improvement opportunities are identified and prioritised — not a generic improvement plan, but a specific, sequenced set of interventions sized against their commercial impact
Senior procurement leaders gain access to an experienced, objective sounding board — one who has navigated the same challenges in comparable organisations and brings pattern recognition the internal team cannot develop alone
The board gains confidence that procurement strategy is externally validated and commercially credible — changing the conversation from cost management to value creation
What You Receive
The Specific Deliverables.
Tangible outputs · documented, dated, and yours to keep.
- Procurement maturity assessment — a structured evaluation of the function's current state across strategy, process, people, technology, and commercial outcomes
- Benchmarking report — a comparison of the business's procurement performance against relevant peer organisations, sector norms, and best-practice standards
- Strategic prioritisation framework — a ranked set of improvement initiatives, each with a commercial impact estimate, an implementation complexity rating, and a recommended sequencing
- Executive briefing pack — a board-ready summary of findings, recommendations, and the investment case for procurement improvement
- Advisory retainer or session programme — ongoing strategic counsel for the procurement leadership team, structured around quarterly reviews and on-demand access
The Outcome
Where You Will Be on the Other Side.
After Buyer Advisory & Benchmarking, the organisation has a clear, externally validated picture of its procurement performance — and a strategic roadmap for improvement that is commercially grounded, board-ready, and practically executable. The procurement function moves from being perceived as administrative overhead to being positioned as a genuine source of competitive advantage. The CFO has the data. The CPO has the strategy. The board has the confidence.
Investment & ROI
Pricing Engineered Around the Value You Create.
Every engagement is sized against the value we believe we can create with you · the fee is always a fraction of the outcome. Four tiers · so the investment matches your stage of business.
Tier 1
Foundations
£5,000 – £15,000
Right for
Pre-startup, startup, and micro-business founders ready to build on evidence rather than instinct.
Typical Value Created
£250K+ in scale-readiness, governance maturity, and expansion clarity
Engagement
4 – 8 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 2
Acceleration
£15,000 – £50,000
Right for
Growing SMEs and established small businesses ready to scale a working model into the next revenue band.
Typical Value Created
£1M – £10M in expansion velocity, new-market revenue, and capital readiness
Engagement
8 – 16 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 3
Transformation
£50,000 – £250,000
Right for
Medium enterprises and scale-stage businesses ready to commit to a multi-quarter, organisation-wide shift.
Typical Value Created
£5M – £50M in scale outcomes, M&A optionality, and leadership-capability uplift
Engagement
3 – 9 months
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 4
Enterprise
£250,000 – £2M+
Right for
Large enterprises, global operators, and complex organisations ready for a multi-year strategic partnership.
Typical Value Created
£25M+ in enterprise value created, capital events optimised, and legacy structures built
Engagement
12 months and onward
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Why We Price This Way
Every engagement is sized around the value we believe we can create with you. The fee is always a fraction of the outcome · typically 10 – 20% of the expected first-year return.
This is how we make sure pricing aligns with results. The conversation is never “what does this cost?” · it is always “what is this worth to your business?” We answer that together in the first call, transparently, and decide the right tier from there.
If we cannot articulate a credible 5–10× return for your specific situation, we will tell you in the first call. That honesty is part of why our clients trust us with the work that matters most.
Why This Conversation Matters
“The gap between a procurement function that manages spend and one that creates strategic advantage is not a matter of budget or headcount — it is a matter of visibility, strategy, and external reference. Buyer Advisory & Benchmarking provides all three: the clarity to see where you are, the benchmark to understand what is possible, and the strategic counsel to bridge the distance between the two. This is the work that transforms procurement from a cost line into a boardroom asset.”
A 90-minute structured strategy session · produces a usable roadmap whether you engage further or not.
More in Phase 7