New Crown Representatives to help government get value for money

Six experienced business leaders will join the Crown Representatives network to make sure government contracts offer good value for money, the Cabinet Office announced today (5th March 2014). The new recruits will join the existing group of 15 Crown Representatives to look at wasteful contracts and make sure that the government is getting the best possible value for taxpayers. The new representatives bring a wide range of business knowledge to government, including expertise in high-level consultancy, banking and telecommunications.

Crown Representative new members:

Nick Griffin

Nick has spent most of his career working for the big 4 consultancy firms, most recently holding the position of Managing Partner of Consulting at Deloitte, more recently, he has been working at the Greater London Authority as an advisor to the Mayor of London.

Lex Greensill

Lex is the Chief Executive of Greensill Capital and a Trustee of the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra, before that, he was a managing director of Citibank and Head of their Europe, Middle East & Africa Supply Chain Finance business.

Julie Scattergood

Julie has spent the majority of her career with Rolls Royce plc, most recently holding the position of Operations Director in the Defence Sector, before this she held Supply Chain Director and UK Purchasing Director roles as well as Director of Supply Chain Restructuring.

Meryl Bushell

Meryl worked for British Telecom for 34 years, most recently holding the position of Chief Procurement Officer, here she was responsible for all commercial arrangements with third party suppliers, with an annual spend of around £7 billion; since leaving BT, Meryl has taken up a number of non-executive director roles.

Keith Burgess

Keith is a former global managing partner of Andersen Consulting with more than 40 years’ experience in professional services, he is a recognised innovator and business leader with strong operational and project management experience.

Alan Coppin

Alan has held the position of CEO and a senior executive in several organisations including the Compass Group and Wembley PLC as well as the not-for-profit sector, he has served as chair or non-executive director for a number of PLCs, charities and organisations including Carillion, Berkeley Group Holdings and the Royal Air Force Board.

About Crown Representatives

The Crown Representatives network was set up in 2011. It has already helped deliver hundreds of millions of pounds in savings by engaging with potential and existing government suppliers on behalf of the taxpayer. Bill Crothers, Chief Procurement Officer, said, "our Crown Representatives are bringing in top business acumen into Whitehall - our procurement reforms saved £3.8 billion last year and we want to go even further."

The network sits within the newly created Crown Commercial Service. This provides business expertise and manages the buying of common goods and services across the public sector, allowing departments to focus on procurements that are unique to them, like tanks, roads or social care.