Nigel Owens MBE

Rugby Referee

Motivational Speaker

Nigel Owens MBE is widely regarded as one of the finest and fairest Rugby referees in the sport. Born and bred on a council estate in Mynyddcerrig, Wales, Nigel first picked up the referee whistle aged 16. He was one of the first three Welsh Rugby Union professional referees and has officiated some the most high-profile and high-pressure tournaments, including being acclaimed for his handling of New Zealand’s triumph over Australia at Twickenham in the 2018 World Cup final, Nigel is the only referee to officiate three consecutive Heineken Cup finals (2015, 2016 and 2017) as well as refereeing a record six Pro14 finals. In a courageous move, he came out as gay in 2007, one of the first sports professionals to do so. Nigel was named “Gay Sports Personality of the Year 2007” by the gay rights group Stonewall at their annual awards ceremony in London Nigel was awarded the MBE in the 2016 Birthday Honours List
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Rebecca Evans AM

Minister

Finance and Trefnydd

Rebecca Evans was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2011 to represent the Mid and West Wales region. In 2016 she became Assembly Member for Gower. Rebecca received a degree in History from the University of Leeds, and a Master of Philosophy degree in Historical Studies from Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. Before being elected, Rebecca worked in the third sector. Rebecca has served on the National Assembly for Wales' Environment and Sustainable Development Committee and its Common Agricultural Policy Task and Finish Group. She has also served on the Health and Social Care Committee, and the Children, Young People and Education Committee. In June 2014, Rebecca was appointed Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, and in May 2016 she became Minister for Social Services and Public Health. In November 2017, she was appointed Minister for Housing and Regeneration, and in December 2018 she joined the Cabinet as Minister for Finance and Trefnydd.
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Malcolm Harrison

Group CEO

Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS)

Malcolm joined Mars in 1982 as a management trainee after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He has a broad international experience in consumer facing companies in both general management and global functional roles, particularly Procurement. In his early career he worked in Production, Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, and HR with Mars Confectionery, Pedigree Petfoods and Bass. In 1993, he was appointed Purchasing Director of Bass Brewers where he established their first Purchasing function. From 1996 he was CEO of Bass Brewer’s UK Midlands free trade business before joining the Board of Britvic Soft Drinks in 1999 as Operations Director. From 2000 he created and led global Procurement for Interbrew, participating in the acquisition and integration of several brewers – in Europe, Asia and Latin America - including AmBev in 2004; he was subsequently Chief Procurement Officer of InBev. In 2006 Malcolm joined Nestlé SA in Switzerland as Chief Procurement Officer responsible for the largest FMCG procurement spend in the world (CHF 60 Bn across 80 countries), heavily focused on global agricultural commodities; he brought a real focus to building the capability of the function and led a step-change in involvement of the procurement function with the Nestlé businesses. He joined the Executive Committee of Rexam plc, the FTSE 100 consumer packaging company, in 2010 as CEO of the global Plastic Packaging division (turnover of £ 1.3 Bn with 45 factories located in 9 countries) serving customers in Healthcare, Cosmetics and FMCG businesses. After leading its successful disposal, he worked in beverage cans during 2013 and his responsibilities included global IT, Environment Health & Safety and Global Procurement where managing the exposure to volatile Plastics and Metal prices was a key responsibility. In 2015, Malcolm joined the Cabinet Office of Her Majesty’s Government where he held the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Crown Commercial Service, overseeing an annual spend of more than £13 Bn on common goods and services across the UK public sector. He also had responsibility for UK Public Sector Procurement Policy and for supporting the UK Government’s initiatives with SMEs. In July 2018 he joined The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) as Group CEO. Malcolm lives in the UK and has previously spent in total more than 12 years living in West Africa, France, Belgium and Switzerland as part of his professional career.
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Jonathan Irvine

Director of Procurement and Health Courier Services

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Jonathan Irvine is the Director of Procurement and Health Courier Services for NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP). He joined the organisation in October 2019 with the vision of further developing the ‘Once for Wales’ approach to procurement within the NHS and ensuring that the nation harnesses and leverages its collective buying power. Jonathan aims to leverage NHS Wales collective influence to provide value for money products, services and healthcare systems for the patient population of Wales. Jonathan has extensive senior procurement leadership experience at a national level from his time at the Business Services Organisation, Procurement and Logistics Service in Northern Ireland where he was involved in the implementation and development of a shared procurement and logistics service for Health and Social Care across the country. Most recently, he has led the Procurement Services function for one of the largest acute Trusts in England, the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, where he delivered significant cost reduction programmes and introduced innovative and value based approaches to procurement focusing on patient outcomes.
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Huw Thomas

Leader

Cardiff Council

Councillor Huw Thomas is the Leader of Cardiff Council, a position he has held since May 2017. As Leader of one of the fastest growing cities in the UK, Huw's administration is committed to promoting inclusive growth, with major projects including a £300m school building programme, the construction of 1000 Council houses by 2022, significant transport infrastructure developments, and the delivery of a new 15,000 capacity Indoor Arena. Huw has served as a Labour Councillor for the Splott ward in Cardiff since 2012 and held a number of Cabinet roles before becoming Leader. He is a member of the Cardiff Capital Region Cabinet and Economic Growth Partnership. In addition, he chairs the Cardiff Public Services Board and is a director of Millennium Stadium Plc. He is the Welsh Local Government Association Spokesperson for Culture, Tourism & Major Events. He is also the Core Cities UK Cabinet Member with responsibility for Culture and was a board member of the Cultural Cities Enquiry, which reported in February 2019. Huw is a fluent Welsh speaker who graduated in Music from Oxford University before completing a Masters degree in International Relations at Aberystwyth University. He has worked previously in IT, transport and, most recently, international development, as the Head of Christian Aid Wales. Away from politics, Huw is a supporter of sport, culture and the arts, as well as an outdoor enthusiast and keen cyclist. He has played previously with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and is a fan of Aberystwyth Town and Wales football teams.
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Scott Bell

Deputy Director of Procurement Development and Construction

Scottish Government

Scott is Deputy Director of Procurement Development and Construction at the Scottish government. The division is responsible for delivering the eCommerce Shared Service, Procurement and Supplier Journeys, Construction Procurement and Commercial Policy and coordinating development activity across the public procurement landscape in Scotland. Scott’s procurement career started with the outsourcing of manufacturing processes. He spent 12 years in various roles with two large multi-national electronics companies, ultimately as Global Sourcing Manager for semi-conductor products. Scott has been a Civil Servant in the Scottish Government for over ten years, during which time he has been focussed on the deployment of procurement and commercial practice to deliver wider policy outcomes. With a mix of engineering and commercial experience, Scott has an interest in how system wide thinking can be harnessed to deliver economic and social value..
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Lee Waters AM

Deputy Minister

Economy and Transport

Lee Waters is the Assembly Member for the Llanelli constituency. He was born and raised in Carmarthenshire. He was educated in Brynamman and Ammanford and gained a degree in politics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. His policy interests are wide-ranging, including the economy, climate change, provision for looked after children, digital policy and the media. Lee is the Welsh Labour and Co-operative Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Llanelli constituency. Before being elected in May 2016, Lee was Director of Wales's leading independent think-tank, the Institute of Welsh Affairs. He previously ran the sustainable transport charity Sustrans Cymru in where he led the campaign for the Active Travel Act. He is a former Chief Political Correspondent for ITV Wales. On 13 December 2018 he was appointed Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport.
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