Our Speakers

Clare Maynard

Clare Maynard is the Head of the Commercial and Procurement Division, and the Chief Procurement Officer at Kent County Council. She chose to focus her career within the Public Sector and has held commercial roles within the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Department of Health before moving into Local Government and KCC in 2014.

With over 25 years’ experience in procurement, commissioning and contract management, Clare has effectively headed several first generation outsource programmes, as well as securing multimillion savings through implementing robust contract management principles and contract modifications. Clare is a member of the Central Buying Collaboration, chair of the Kent CIPS Branch and is a regular speaker for contract management training events.

Michael Bridger

Michael Bridger is the Procurement Standards and Improvement Manager at Kent County Council. In this role, Michael has led on the delivery of the functional strategy and is responsible for the Council’s procurement policy and uplifting capability. Michael is experienced in working across the Local Government Sector, and with Central Government and the Wider Public Sector, to share best practice and collaborative ways of working.

Alice Annis

Alice is the Deputy Director for Strategy and Enablement in the Parliamentary Commercial Directorate, which is responsible for all commercial activity in UK Parliament. Prior to this, Alice worked in the Central Commercial Teams in the Cabinet Office on a wide range of issues across the Government Commercial Function Strategy, the COVID-19 response and cross-government Brexit preparations, in addition to leading the GCF Communications Team. In her current role, she is responsible for commercial policy, systems and governance, and their application across Parliament’s commercial portfolio.

Contract Management under the PA2023: Diverse Approaches in Action