In a nutshell, procurement is buying goods and services for an organisation at the best possible price, in the right quantity and quality, at the right time, in the right place and from the right source.
At its most complex, procurement is a challenging career which involves analysing information and communicating effectively between interested parties.
The public sector as a whole spends £175 billion a year with third party suppliers, and central government departments making up about £40 billion of that spend. This compares to a top oil company, which would spend around £30bn and to a major mobile phone company's typical spend of around £10bn.
The range and complexity of what is procured is vast, ranging from first aid kits to foreign aid programmes to office chairs to tilting trains, making for a varied and interesting career.
It's also a challenging one as there's an ever-increasing pressure on government to get best value for money and deliver efficiency savings.
One of the key aims of the Government Procurement Service, which is part of the Office of Government Commerce in the Treasury, is to attract new talent into government procurement, which is why a two-year graduate training scheme, the GPGS, has been set up.
Now in its third year, the GPSGS is currently recruiting around 25 graduates with a 2:1 degree, which is likely to be in business-related subjects. If not, candidates should show a keen interest in business and demonstrate sharp commercial acumen.
Senior entry schemes project manager for the GPS, Alex Holden said: "We are looking for people who are able to analyse information. They'll need to be pro-active self-starters with a good business brain.
"Our graduate trainees are parachuted into different government departments, so they could be procuring medical equipment for the NHS, or negotiating with stakeholders and evaluating tenders to build the Olympic stadium."
Leigh Kopec is one of the graduate trainees on the procurement team working towards the 2012 London Olympics. The 30-year-old, who is in his second year of the GPS graduate scheme, said: "It's amazing to be involved at this level in such a huge international event. "I had no idea when I started looking at a career in procurement that it would be this absorbing."
Kopec, who is a marketing graduate, only heard of procurement at a university careers fair. "Procurement wasn't a profession that I or any of my fellow trainees had ever considered. We were all looking at graduate schemes at the milk round and the GPSGS was new at the time we applied.
"People know what buyers are, but I don't think a lot of people know what procurement is. It sounded interesting and the more I found out about it, the more interested I became.
He added; "Procurement is an area of business that is growing in status and is recognised as being a key area where real profits and losses are made. "I particularly liked the chance to be at the coalface of dealing with, negotiating with and building rapport with many suppliers as well as various internal stakeholders."
He works at the Olympic Delivery Authority, the public body responsible for building the infrastructure for the Olympic Games. Every month he spends three or four days in a classroom being trained with others on the programme.
"It's hugely exciting to be involved in the Olympics. There's a real buzz and energy as everyone is working at an incredibly fast pace. There's a lot of hard and challenging work to do in a short period of time."
Kopec's job in corporate procurement mostly involves buying services such as consultancy and training, but recently he's been seconded internally to venue procurement.
"I've been looking at tenders to build the white water canoeing lake at Broxborn in Essex and structural improvements at the rowing lake at Eton Dorney where they are widening the lake and building a couple of new bridges. "These big construction projects are really interesting and different for me – in fact, it's been absolutely fascinating. I don't have a background in construction, so it's been a real eye-opener for me."
In January, Kopec started a secondment at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, which is a private company. The move is designed to give him more exposure to the hands-on delivery of the Games, as part of the scheme's promise to deliver a variety of experiences.
As he looks ahead towards the completion of his training in September 2009, he believes he has already progressed his career significantly while gaining new skills and a professional qualification, membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
In January, Kopec started a secondment at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, which is a private company. The move is designed to give him more exposure to the hands-on delivery of the Games, as part of the scheme's promise to deliver a variety of experiences.
As he looks ahead towards the completion of his training in September 2009, he believes he has already progressed his career significantly while gaining new skills and a professional qualification, membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
"My role has been challenging and extremely rewarding to date," he said. "Having been thrown in at the deep end, dealing with major procurements that will have a real impact on the development of the Olympic site and the Olympics has been an amazing opportunity that I have relished.
"I've also been involved in an anti-fraud project, which I thought up and delivered to raise fraud awareness among all the employees of the ODA. It covers procurement-related fraud involving conflicts of interest. Because we're a public body we can't receive gifts and gratuities. The project flags up the kinds of pitfalls we may face.
"Procurement gives you the opportunity to put many skills into practice including research, networking, relationship building, presenting, report writing, evaluation and negotiation, amongst others. "It offers you the chance to get a good oversight of many areas of business and demonstrate your ability to work with initiative and make a real contribution to business."
