Procurement Act 2023: Negotiation Soft Skills

Join colleagues from our Complex Transactions team in Cabinet Office, Simon Lyttelton, Stephen Whitbread and Liz Short for a session on Soft Skills for Negotiation. This topic has been highlighted in our recent surveys following the July session on the Subtle Art of Negotiation.

What we’ll cover:

The different soft skill styles and models you can engage with during negotiations

How to approach the different phases of the negotiations using soft skills

Practical tips for achieving better outcomes using soft skills

How to build confidence with your own negotiation soft skills approach

This session is a must-attend for anyone looking to enhance practical negotiation skills in real-world procurement scenarios.

Our Speakers:

Simon Lyttelton

Simon is a Commercial Specialist within the Complex Transactions Team who he has been a part of since 2024 (having previously worked in DSIT). He has 12 years of experience in commercial and commercial finance roles across the public sector (telecoms, infrastructure, technology transformation) and the private sector (financial services and technology managed services).

His background is in leading commercial workstreams in complex change programmes, often involving technologies with expansive and embedded supply chains. He has strong experience in delivery models, exits, change, negotiation and resets.

Stephen Whitbread

Stephen has worked as part of the GCF since 2016 and joined Complex Transactions in December 2023 from the MoD, where he spent over 7 years in commercial roles across Defence.

Stephen has won multiple government awards as a member of teams delivering major projects including Ministerial awards for outstanding delivery, and the GCF Social Value Award 2023 for his work which secured over £100M of investment into Northern Ireland, in particular ship build facilities in Belfast.

Stephen has delivered competition-resets, strategy work including interfacing with senior leaders and Ministers, and tendering and complex evaluation criteria. Stephen is also an experienced contract negotiator; during his time in CTT he has successfully delivered 3 major contract negotiations/disputes across government.

Liz Short

Liz has been a Commercial Specialist within the Complex Transactions Team since 2021, having been part of the GCO since 2018 (previously at Dstl).

An influential & experienced Senior Commercial leader, across public and private sectors, with a demonstrated history of delivering value through strategic commercial initiatives. Leads in the delivery of the most complex and challenging commercial programmes across Government, with a speciality in Defence & Security.

Skilled in Public Sector Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Contract Negotiation, with a highly sought after soft skill set, including stakeholder engagement, Liz supports and guides organisations to develop critical operating models and sourcing strategies, to manage commercial, programmatic and technical work streams in delivery programmes and negotiate contracts and mechanisms that deliver lasting value and on-going effectiveness.