The Procurement Adventurer
Academy
**Next Cohort starts 8th September 2026**
42% of Procurement Professionals state their training is either below average or poor!
My vision is to deliver high quality and accessible training:
Wherever you are in the world
Whichever company you work for
Whatever your role in Procurement
Whatever your seniority
For a range of budgets
Are you ready to benefit from the training you always needed, but never received?
The Procurement Professional is faced with a significant challenge
Procurement jobs are getting much bigger
Market conditions are getting much harder
Expectations on Procurement are getting much higher
And yet you’re not being set up for success
Key issues often raised are:
Training isn't up to date with the needs of today
Training is too narrow and too shallow
Training is hard to access in some regions
Competencies are poorly defined
Training is inconsistent
Investment in training is often too low
I founded the Procurement Adventurer Academy to help people like you who want to be razor sharp at Procurement but don’t know where to get the training you deserve.
Testimonials
"You packed so much useful information into it and I'm already using a lot of the tools in my head when thinking through problems. The examples you went through were very easy to follow. It made everything click much better than just theory. Having a comprehensive view of the whole procurement lifecycle is very valuable. Thanks so much for putting all of this together. It was great meeting other people in the industry and having collaborative sessions”.
Logistics Director
Jackie Miller
Who Gives a Crap
"The Procurement Adventurer Academy was a highly valuable and engaging experience. It strengthened both my technical procurement knowledge and my confidence in applying practical tools at work. The trainers were knowledgeable, supportive, and made each module relevant to real procurement challenges. I would highly recommend this program to procurement professionals who want to develop their skills and grow in their careers".
Procurement Supervisor
Celina Ascencio
Badger Inc
"I found the entire course to be engaging, varied and a great opportunity to expand my network by buddying with others in the group throughout the course. There was a good mixture of hard skills specifically needed for Procurement and soft skills which are very transferable from/to other career paths. I also found the soft skills were quite naturally peppered throughout the sessions and Simon made it so easy for me to make connections from one session or concept to the next - it all came together beautifully by the end of the course!
Commercial Manager
Catherine Bowles
Expana
“Simon’s procurement course covers all the elements of procurement over an extensive 10-week course. Simon is engaging, and a font of procurement knowledge and expertise. The course was interactive and we had the opportunity to buddy up with professionals across the globe. We have been left with a richness of tools, tips and techniques to apply ongoing, most of all the mindset threaded through each course which will help us engage, influence and build stronger relationships with suppliers and stakeholders alike”
Supply Chain Director
Philippa Taylor
Who Gives a Crap
“I found the entire course to be engaging, varied and a great opportunity to expand my network by buddying with others in the group throughout the course. There was a good mixture of hard skills specifically needed for Procurement and soft skills which are very transferable from/to other career paths. I also found the soft skills were quite naturally peppered throughout the sessions and Simon made it so easy for me to make connections from one session or concept to the next - it all came together beautifully by the end of the course!”
Supply Chain Director
Janina Hutchinson
Badger Inc
Everything in the training has a positive take away:
- 10 great topics
- 9 insightful and interesting classmates
- 6 weeks between career path lesson and my new job :)
- 4 interesting expert tutors
- Wacky and fun tasks
-1 fun charismatic procurement encyclopaediatic top-of-the-pops tutor
Procurement Manager
Felipe Solano
Robertet
The Academy Modules
What will you learn?
In the opening module module, I welcome you to the Procurement Adventurer Academy and we introduce ourselves to the other members of the Cohort.
Right from the offset, The Academy is about you: your vision for your career, your hopes, your fears and development areas you'd like to focus on. So we each share what we're looking to achieve.
We then explore the journey of a procurement career, emphasizing that it is rarely a straight line and often involves unexpected twists and turns. We discussed key strategic decisions you may face, such as whether to focus on direct or indirect spend, the benefits of working in both large and small companies and whether to be a specialist or generalist.
We discuss the rapidly evolving procurement landscape and the importance of adapting to changes, especially in light of recent global events and the changes that tech and AI are bringing.
We look forward to the modules over the next 10 weeks and how we can use the Academy as a powerful springboard for your career.
And within the first week, I have a 1-2-1 with every attendee to listen to their exact needs and create a tailored plan for them
In this module, we walk you through the procurement process and how to execute it with metronomic precision. I share personal experiences to illustrate the importance of following the process, highlighting both successful outcomes and costly mistakes.
The steps include out-of-cycle research, kick-off, requirements, sourcing plan, buy and contract, implementation, and review.
I encourage you to actively apply the techniques discussed and practice the process to ensure great results.
In this module, we explore the concept of Procurement Category Strategy, focusing on how to create effective strategies with maximum value and minimal stress.
I emphasize that most category strategies are overly analytical and lack clarity, often resulting in disengagement from stakeholders. I propose a fresh approach that starts with a one-page summary, outlining observations, implications, and clear recommendations for moving from the current state to a desired future state.
I encourage you to think about your own category strategies and consider how to simplify and clarify your presentations. Throughout the session, I provide various tools and techniques to support your strategy development.
This module explains that contract management is a core procurement capability that goes far beyond legal compliance and is a major driver of value, risk control, and supplier performance. It outlines the full contract lifecycle - from requirement capture through negotiation, signing, storage, active management, and renewal/exit - emphasizing that most value is created after the contract is signed.
Procurement should take ownership of this process, working with legal as support, because it owns supplier relationships and delivery outcomes. A strong focus is placed on getting the basics right: clear requirements, using the right contract type, and ensuring key terms (especially specifications) are properly captured.
The module highlights that good contracts are clear, balanced, and practical, and that negotiation should be collaborative rather than adversarial. It also stresses the importance of actively managing contracts through performance tracking, amendments, and regular reviews. Finally, it underscores that poor handling of renewals, exits, and contract storage is a common source of lost value and avoidable risk.
Stakeholder engagement isn’t about managing stakeholders - it’s about understanding people.
In this module, you’ll learn how to move beyond frameworks and truly connect with individuals: what drives them, what they need (professionally and personally), and how they make decisions. We’ll break down a practical approach to influence — from getting that first conversation, to building trust, to securing real action.
You’ll explore powerful techniques to shape thinking, handle resistance, and create momentum. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to turn agreement into outcomes. Because in procurement, nothing happens without people.
This module is about using analysis to create maximum insight and value with minimum wasted effort. Too often, analysis becomes a mass of graphs, tables and data that takes too long to produce and says too little.
The module shows how to start with the end in mind: the decision, value, risk, or insight the analysis needs to support. It introduces a simple process covering context, data gathering, preparation, analysis, and turning findings into clear observations, insights and implications.
A major focus is on cleaning and structuring data properly so it can be analysed quickly and accurately. The module also explores tools such as Tableau and Power BI, showing how the right system can make analysis faster, easier and more powerful.
Ultimately, the aim is to help Procurement professionals move beyond charts and create analysis that drives better decisions.
This module introduces Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) as a strategic and collaborative approach to working with suppliers to create long-term value for both parties. It explains the difference between Supplier Relationship Management and Supplier Performance Management (SPM), highlighting that SRM is broader, more relationship-focused and future-oriented.
The module explores how to segment suppliers, define supplier strategies and use tools such as the Kraljic Matrix to determine the right engagement model for different suppliers. It also covers key SRM disciplines including governance, supplier scorecards, KPIs, QBRs, risk management, innovation, ESG and joint business planning.
Throughout the session, there is a strong emphasis on building trust-based supplier relationships, creating mutual value and moving away from purely transactional procurement approaches. The module also introduces the evolving role of SRM technology and software in supporting supplier collaboration, performance and resilience.
This module is designed to help you communicate ideas in a way that captures attention, creates clarity, and drives action. You will learn practical techniques for crafting stronger messages, structuring information more effectively, and presenting ideas so they are easy for audiences to absorb and remember.
The session also explores how to add creativity, emotion, and impact to your communication while building stronger connections with your audience. Through real examples and practical exercises, you will develop storytelling skills that can be applied in presentations, meetings, workshops, and everyday business conversations. The goal is not simply to share information, but to communicate in a way that people genuinely engage with and act upon.
This negotiation training course explains that negotiation is a skill everyone already possesses and can improve through preparation, structure, and practice. The course presents negotiation as a process of moving from differing positions toward agreement and introduces a practical four-step framework:
Plan → Propose → Negotiate → Close.
Work-related stress has become one of the most significant challenges facing modern professionals. According to Mental Health UK's 2025 Burnout Report, 91% of professionals experience some form of work-related stress. Stress is therefore not an exception—it is a normal part of working life.
The purpose of this module is not to eliminate stress. That would be impossible. Instead, the goal is to:
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Understand what stress is
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Recognise how it affects us
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Identify our personal stress patterns
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Learn practical coping strategies
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Build long-term resilience
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Exclusive Guest Speakers
To complement my skills set and to give you a fresh perspective, I bring in platinum guest speakers to co-deliver 4 modules
Miles Barnes
Partner
Howes Percival
Contract Management
Miles is quite simply the finest lawyer I've ever met and worked with. Not only is he razor sharp at commercial law. He also explains it in a way that makes total sense. His expertise is deployed by a number of my clients and over the last 18 month we've co-created considerable amounts of thought leadership. During the contract management module, prepare for your contract knowledge to catapult forward!
Rebecca Lisi
Founder
Rebecca Lisi Therapy
Resilience & Wellbeing
Until fairly recently, it wasn't that common to train resilence and wellbeing. But, Procurement Teams are under huge pressure to deliver bigger and bigger results, with less resources and in shorter times. Many Procurement Pros are feeling the squeeze. Rebecca is one of the UK's leading experts in resilience & wellbeing in the workplace and ideally placed to deliver this module. You'll find her highly insightful, wise, a brilliant listener and generous with the practical techniques she shares.
Lucy Barks
Supply Chain Director
Bold Bean Co
Stakeholder Engagement
The internal battles can often be harder than the external ones. But not for Lucy. Whereas some others may struggle to build relationships with neighbouring teams such as Finance, Marketing and Legal, Lucy doesn't. She's cracked how to flex to a wide range of people and understand their needs. With a smile on her face and a good dose of humour she lands breakthrough results for the business. She's perfect to deliver this module.
Josh Beth
Supply Chain Director
Holy Moly
Supplier Relationship Management
Josh is a true pro at Supplier Relationship Management. He is able to motivate suppliers through all sorts of scenarios, gaining their utmost respect. His approach? This is what he'll teach you. All I can say is he's brimming with energy and charisma!
Investment
What's the cost?
Choose to pay up-front
or in 3 installments
FAQs
The most popular questions
The Academy is for ambitious procurement professionals who want to accelerate their careers and become more effective, influential and commercially-minded procurement pros.
If you are curious, open minded, keen to broaden your skills beyond traditional procurement training and are interested to contribute to The Cohort, then the Academy is for you.
The Academy is pitched at those setting out in the Procurement career as procurement analysts or junior buyers up to Heads Of and Directors.
How and why does it cater to this spread of experience? ...
The Academy acts as a rapid learning platform for those whose procurement careers are in their infancy
And for those who's careers are ~5-15 years long, the Academy acts as a safe and rapid accelerator to plug gaps in their competencies that they've had for years but for whatever reason haven't addressed.
For managers, heads of and directors, The Academy is also a fantastic way to 'train-the trainer' by showing how to teach the core procurement modules and in providing a complete set of tools, techniques and templates that can be used with their teams
Yes - the Academy is open to anyone from any country around the World.
The sessions start at 14.30 UK time GMT. This is the optimal time for Europe, North America at the beginning of their day and Asia at the end of theirs. I recognise that this is the middle of the night for Australia and New Zealand. They are still welcome to attend by watching the videos, using the digital assets and working in pairs with other attendees.
Yes! no matter your specific role in procurement or your spend portfolio, the techniques I teach can be applied to whatever it is you're sourcing
The Academy comprises of 10 modules which we split over 12 weeks (4 modules > rest week > 4 modules > rest week > final 2 modules)
The 2 rest weeks give you all time to catch up in case there is any material you'd like to check before moving on
Each week we meet as a cohort:
Every Tuesday 14.30-16.30 (UK GMT)
Every Thursday 14.30-15.30 (UK GMT)
Every Tuesday I present one module which is an energising blend of theory, stories, mini exercises and group discussion.
Every Thursday we review what we've learnt over the last week and discuss the homework
There is light-touch home work of 20-30 mins which is done in pairs between modules
I bring in highly experienced guest speakers to co-deliver 4 of the modules. They add an additional layer of expertise over mine and bring fresh energy and ideas
Every attendee gets 2 X half-hour 1-2-1 sessions with me to discuss their career and/or any modules they need specific help with. In case there is anything else you need, you are free to contact me and I will aim to respond within 36 hours
The Academy is a distillation of more than 20 years of my expertise and experiences in procurement, delivering significant value and coaching and training many 100s of procurement pros. All the techniques deployed are tried and tested, there to help you rather than being the regurgitation of old-school procurement text books.
The Academy is highly personalised. I'm committed to helping every attendee who joins to have a positive and rewarding experience
Whilst each module is a live webinar as a cohort, each session is recorded and comes with an easy-to-use 1-pager summary as well as a full set of notes. You're free to watch the videos at a time of your convenience.
The 2 rest weeks give you time to catch up and review any material you'd like to check
The techniques I train can be deployed immediately after each module. A number of the previous attendees came back within a week saying they were already deriving significant value from what we'd learnt the week before.
Ultimately, success is down to you, how much effort you put in and being prepared to deploy what you've learnt to your work
Each week you will receive:
An easy to use 1-pager summarising the module
A word summary of what we've covered
Tools, techniques and templates we've learnt
The video of the module