The former chief procurement officer for Tata Steel has been appointed CEO of BlueLight Commercial  - the new procurement company tasked with pooling the commercial bidding power of the 43 forces in England and Wales.

Lianne Deeming said the new company will develop the core success that procurement teams have already delivered on behalf of the 43 forces. She said the ambition is for BlueLight Commercial to become the police forces’ trusted partner and the “Go To” organisation for commercial categories and services.

When the £150K post was advertised in February the job description said the successful candidate will lead the start-up of the organisation over an initial 12 -18 month period working with the Police ICT Company to provide a joined up commercial service to policing.  

The Home Office has made clear that policing must strive for greater efficiency in return for increased Government investment. BlueLight Commercial aims to drive this by addressing issues of duplication across forces’ procurement departments, and by driving down prices with suppliers.

Mrs Deeming said: ‘We want to create an integrated vision which drives the commercial focus going forward, aligned to the 2025 Policing Vision, with strong category strategies. Achieving that is about providing best practice approaches for end-to-end commercial processes; giving clarity to local, regional and national procurement and contract management practices.’

Mrs Deeming has more than 30 years’ experience in the steel industry including as Chief Procurement Officer at Tata Steel Europe where she made more than £1 billion in savings.

She will be based at BlueLight Commercial’s offices in Birmingham..

She said: “We want to identify and share the best practices that already exist across forces, while continuing to deliver on the agreed savings commitments, and prioritising the development and implementation of strategies in key areas such as fleet and aviation, people and professional services, and operations.’

Matthew Scott, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent and also chair of the BlueLight Commercial Board, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to appoint Lianne to the position of Chief Executive Officer. She was an exemplary candidate who will help policing achieve even greater value for money.”