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About Marc1 Ltd
Marc1 Ltd is recognised internationally for its thought leadership in procurement, shared services, outsourcing and efficiency generally. A regular adviser to government committees and other bodies, Colin Cram, its managing director, is well known in many parts of the world as a conference speaker and chair and for his journalism, broadcasting and workshops.
Marc1 Ltd has established itself as a first choice consultancy for many private and public sector organisations. It has access to an exceptional range of consultants, dedicated to delivering outstanding and on-going results for its clients.
Colin M Cram FCIPS
Managing Director, Marc1 Ltd
Colin Cram has held senior procurement positions in the public sector for over 30 years, including central government, higher education, scientific research and local government. He was responsible throughout for initiating and implementing innovative strategies for procurement, shared services, outsourcings and organisational re-engineering. In creating several leading edge procurement organisations and collaborations, he was directly responsible for third party spends of £0.5bn p.a. and influencing up to £7bn a year. Cash savings from his initiatives exceed £1bn pa.
When in the Cabinet Office in the early 1980s, Colin had a leading role in the efficiency drive of the ‘Thatcher’ government, including public sector procurement and outsourcing policies. In 1991 he pioneered an initiative to identify the scope of benefits fraud, which led to the continued drive to address this.
Colin is a:- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
- Member of IACCM (International Association for Contract and Commercial Management)
- Member of SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives)
- Member of Society of Purchasing Officers (SOPO)
- Honorary Associate Fellow at Manchester Business School
- Associate of ResPublica
He is a regular speaker and chair at national and international conferences and seminars, is a regular contributor to professional journals and web-sites, including the Guardian’s Public Leaders Network and Supply Management, and a regular broadcaster. He is a regular judge on awards panels for business and the public sector.
Colin has been a member of EU working groups on innovation, procurement and sustainability, has been an ‘expert witness’ to UK Parliamentary committees and has contributed to some recent high profile reports, including the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee’s report on ‘Public Procurement as a Tool to Stimulate Innovation’, the Office of Fair Trading’s report, ‘Commissioning and Competition in the Public Sector’, and the New Local Government Network report on shared services, ‘Shared Necessities’. He was appointed a Senior Adviser to the Office of Government Commerce.
Colin’s report, ‘Towards Tesco’, on public sector procurement, outsourcing and shared services, commissioned by the Institute of Directors, has been quoted regularly by ministers and senior officials. His consultancy, Marc1 Ltd, is recognised widely for its thought leadership.
