What was your highlight of 2024?
A highlight has been having the opportunity to lead a driven group of professionals who strive on a daily basis to gain the most out of government procurement.
It has been an incredible opportunity and privilege to jointly lead the GCF through an exciting and challenging time for government and the wider public sector. Of course, we couldn’t do this without the support of thousands of members of the GCF and the senior leadership team we have across government – all working so hard to deliver savings, innovate and play a significant role in responding to the missions of the new UK government.
My personal highlight was representing the UK in March at an international summit, where we signed the first ever UK four nations collaboration agreement with the US National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). This really did demonstrate to me that the GCF is seen as a global leader of procurement innovation and commercial best practice.
What was the hardest part of being a leader in 2024?
The most challenging part of being a leader has been the pace of change, recruiting other new commercial leaders across government, the change in government itself, and preparations for a new set of procurement rules and processes, with the Procurement Act going live early in 2025. We have to manage all of that whilst keeping the focus on our core role of delivering great commercial outcomes through the highest levels of standards, continuous improvement, capability and supplier relationships. However, change can bring huge opportunities and we are very much looking forward to 2025 and the go-live of the Procurement Act, the new National Procurement Policy Statement, the arrival of a new government chief commercial officer and a new GCF Functional Strategy!
"We are not new to this level of challenge; the GCF has demonstrated our ability to respond to challenges before, in preparations for EU exit, the Covid-19 pandemic and, most recently, the war in Ukraine"
What are the main challenges facing your organisation in the coming year – and how are you planning to meet them?
2025 will be a significant year for the GCF, with new rules thanks to the Act and a new National Procurement Policy Statement alongside it. The drive to deliver at pace to support the government’s missions will be critical. However, we are not new to this level of challenge; the GCF has demonstrated our ability to respond to challenges before, in preparations for EU exit, the Covid-19 pandemic and, most recently, the war in Ukraine.
As ever, we meet challenges as a collective function, engaging our community and drawing on all the talents across the GCF as a phenomenal body of highly skilled professionals, but with a deep camaraderie all underpinned by our established communications channels and staff networks. We will celebrate our achievements at our annual awards.
What was the best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
Salzedo: The best was an unexpected trip to Edinburgh, arranged during the Fringe Festival and [Royal Edinburgh Military] Tattoo. It was a lovely thought and meant I opened it on Christmas Day but could look forward to it all the way through the year. My worst…when I bought my partner a pair of long handed shears for the garden. I thought I was being helpful!
Gibbs: The best was a gift from my husband, a new bike, but it was great to see he had planned ahead and purchased it during Black Friday – in good commercial style! The worst… I bought some concert tickets for my husband, who then had Covid and was unable to go!
Marco Salzedo and Clare Gibbs are currently joint interim government chief commercial officers, following the departure of Gareth Rhys Williams. They also continue in their "day jobs", as director of commercial and contract management capability (Salzedo) and director of GCF markets, sourcing, and suppliers (Gibbs)