Simon Hill, Managing Director of YPO, has worked tirelessly to embed cultural change at the public-sector procurement company. He is the face of the business and staff feel they can talk to him and raise suggestions and ideas.

In spite of flexible working meaning that some staff are at home, Hill, the board and the leadership team are committed to reaching everyone and tailoring messaging to suit the differing needs of staff. It can mean face-to-face briefings around shift patterns with operational staff, to the use of webinars, chats on Microsoft Teams and video content.

Yorkshire-based YPO, one of the UK’s largest public-sector buying organisations and educational suppliers, delivers products and services to a wide range of customers, including schools, local authorities, charities, emergency services, the public sector and other businesses, such as nurseries and care homes.

Its distinctive yellow and purple branding appears on its 30,000 products, which range from pens and paper, computers and furniture, to electricity, food and insurance.

It was established almost 50 years ago by local authorities to help combine their procurement demands and achieve efficiency savings. Today, the business, which has its headquarters in Wakefield, is still 100% publicly owned, but works with even more organisations to achieve the same goal.

Since 2014, it has been able to supply private organisations through YPO Procurement Holdings, which was established and is owned by its 13 member authorities. This has enabled customers, such as private nurseries and childminders, to trade with it.