Sam Sheppard

Medal-winning Oxford Brookes and GB Team Coach

Sam Sheppard has been part of the amazing success of Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, which saw the club win no less than 13 Henley Royal Regatta (HRR) titles over 2023 and 24. Over the last decade the university has vied with Leander for Head of the River titles, whilst dominating at university level, including numerous wins over the top US institutions, as well as beating Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Last year, Brookes beat the Dutch men’s Olympic eight (in the Dutch national regatta) just weeks before that crew won silver at the Paris Olympics, whilst the top Brookes women’s eight cut a swath through multiple international crews in winning the Remenham, the top women’s event at HRR. 

Sam rowed successfully at Brookes, winning a HRR Temple medal, before becoming assistant coach during the club’s most successful years of 2023 and 24. This year, in unexpected circumstances, he became Head Coach – a situation that we will discuss on the 16th.  He has also coached at GB level, taking crews to the World under-23 championships and this year coaching the GB men’s eight to victory at the World Student Games in Germany.

Peter Smith

Thought-leader and Author

Peter has worked in procurement for ... lets just say, "many years". Buyer, Manager, Procurement Director / CPO, CIPS President, consultant, advisor, educator and most recently, writer, analyst and commentator on the wonderful world of procurement. Ran the Spend Matters Europe website for 8 years and have now written 4 published books, including the first ever procurement book published by Penguin ("Bad Buying"). Now focusing mainly on the "Procurement with Purpose" agenda (and my latest book of that title),

Lianne Deeming

Chief Executive Officer
BlueLight Commercial

With 30 Years’ business leadership experience, in senior roles and board positions such as Chief Procurement Officer, Managing Director and Director Business Excellence, Lianne brings a combination of unique skills: leading with passion; the ability to understand detail yet not lose sight of the big picture, able to influence multi-talented individuals and teams at all levels, translating complex issues into the language of the team of business. Lianne leads with high energy and pace and can work in multiple specialities; Business Strategy development and improvement, Operational and Procurement Excellence, Advising and sitting on Boards, Leading Change and Transformation programmes.

Mark Webb

Managing Director
Future Purchasing

Mark is the managing director of Future Purchasing – a specialist procurement consultancy and educational provider. Since establishing the firm in 2003, he has supported over 100 global organisations to successfully implement category and supplier management.

With a career covering multiple sectors - including technology, industrials, energy, pharmaceutical, telecoms, transport, hospitality, media, FMCG, financial services sectors, and the public sector – Mark brings deep cross sector expertise to every client.  

 Before founding Future Purchasing, Mark spent 11 years in consultancy and operational roles at Price Waterhouse, Mobil Oil and QP Group, where he developed a strong foundation in procurement and business transformation.

He is also the co-author of six influential global reports on category management in collaboration with Henley Business School. The most recent, “Influence the Future”, was published in April 2024 and continues to shape thinking in the procurement profession.