What made you want to work in publishing?

I always wanted to work in media, particularly magazines, and attended the London College of Communication. When I started out there were lots of opportunities in publishing, at both large and small publishers. I really enjoyed working in production, and I loved magazines. Publishing and media has changed considerably, but it’s never been a decision I have regretted.

Chart your career from the start to where you are now.

I started work at a small publishing company that produced a number of magazines and live events. They had a vacancy for a production controller, and I stayed for a few years and managed the department. I then joined Haymarket, as I wanted to work for a larger media company, and went on to manage various production departments prior to becoming Head of Production. As part of that remit I was lucky enough to project manage the production element of the programmes for the London Olympic Games that Haymarket were contracted to produce by Locog. A large part of my role as Head of Production was managing suppliers, including running tenders. As Haymarket’s business changed so did my role, and I began to manage other procurement processes. I subsequently joined the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and followed the educational route to achieve MCIPS.

Can you explain what your role entails as Head of Procurement at Haymarket Media?

We work with departments to support their procurement and supplier management processes – this can include competitive processes to choose new suppliers, managing existing suppliers, or renewing contracts. It’s a varied role with lots of different elements, and it means I still get to spend some time with our traditional suppliers, as well as learning about and supporting our changing requirements for all the different parts of the business. I also get to work with our supply chain and different departments on Haymarket’s sustainability agenda, Haymarket Sustain.

What are the key pillars of Haymarket Sustain?

Sustainability is something that is central to how Haymarket operates. It’s been a priority for a long time – our facilities team helped us to become the first UK publisher to gain ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation, and we also have now added the ISO 50001 energy management accreditation. We view sustainability under the three-pillar concept of social equity, economic sustainability and environmental responsibility. This wider understanding of sustainability provides a greater opportunity for collaboration and involvement from other departments, such as the innovations around diversity and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing and also work with local communities and our charity partnerships.

Explain the evolution of Haymarket Sustain, from launch to where you are now.

The initial focus for us was on the environment, and as well as the ISO accreditations, our production team worked hard to make sure all the paper we use is from a sustainable source, and that our supply chain had environmental management processes in place. We subsequently came to view our work in terms of social equity and economic sustainability as central to our sustainability focus. This includes the work with our local community, such as working with a local charity and educational partner. The work done is a team effort with lots of different departments contributing to its success.

In our PPA Live! webinar you spoke about developing Haymarket Sustain into a global initiative – what would this look like?

This is really about collaborating with our global offices to share the work they are doing and the ideas they have to see if there is something we can learn from and develop our own approach to sustainability. Longer term we’d like to see where we can develop a global outlook and framework, so that we can utilise the best ideas, and aim for bigger, broader targets.

What does it mean to win the inaugural PPA Sustainability Initiative Award?

We are all absolutely delighted to be the inaugural winners. The best part is that it is recognition of all the amazing work and ideas that the different teams provide. The facilities team have done an amazing job of maintaining and improving our sites and have lowered energy use and improved recycling year on year; the production team has worked really hard with our suppliers on removing single-use plastics wherever they can, and the HR and L&D teams have worked on improvements and initiatives to make Haymarket a great place to work that all its employees can be proud of. Everyone has played a part and they hugely deserve this success.

What’s on your radar?

The main focus for procurement at the moment is the changes to our supply chains due to Covid-19. We have audiences in different areas such as print, live events and digital and we are focused on making sure that we can provide the same level of service and that we have the best suppliers to do so.

What magazine would you stockpile?

Empire! It was the reason I wanted to work in magazines. I collected every issue from issue 2 onwards (1989 – Original Batman film on the cover). Then I realised that this was completely pointless as I had hundreds of boxes that I had to move around with me and I didn’t really know why, as I never looked in them. It still broke my heart to throw them away, but probably saved me from some back pain in the future.