Procurement and
CRICKE for everyone
Project partners
Procurement and
CRICKE
for everyone Nour-Eddine Boufertala, Head of Procurement at England & Wales Cricket Board, explores how procurement is key to growing the wonderful game of cricket...
Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
Written by
Dale Benton
Produced by
Heykel Ouni
3
Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
W
hen we think of procure-
will look to put a bat and ball into more
ment, and all the focus on
and more hands and introduce more
transformation of the func-
people to the power of cricket over the
tion that dominates the discourse, our minds and that of the CEO and CFO will
next five years. “Put simply, we want to inspire people
often zoom in on the seemingly obvious
to say cricket is a game for me, includ-
deliverables. Cost savings, increases
ing engaging children and young people,
to the bottom line and opening up new
transforming women’s and girls’ cricket
revenue streams for the business tend to
and supporting a range of different
be the ‘go-to’ key phrases in any procure-
communities across England and Wales,”
ment conversation. But what happens
explains Boufertala.
when the organisation is a government
“We have a lot of BAME initiatives and
organisation? And what does that mean
we want to work collaboratively with
for the deliverables and the benefits
British South Asian communities and
that the key stakeholders seek through
make the sport more accessible. We want
procurement? If profit and revenue isn't
everyone to enjoy playing cricket and to
the ultimate goal for a business, what
enjoy the game. What we have is not a
more can procurement achieve for it?
complicated network, but a lot of people
This is certainly the challenge facing Nour-Eddine Boufertala, Head of Procurement at England and Wales
are included in the process and the procurement plays a key part in all of this.” Like many procurement professionals,
Cricket Board (ECB). As the national
Boufertala’s procurement career didn’t
governing body for all cricket in England
start until later in life. Having worked
and Wales, the ECB supports the game
as an industrial engineer before catch-
of cricket at every level - from the grass-
ing on to supply chain and procurement
roots to the professional game. The ECB
(and ultimately training in the profes-
has 300 staff all across the UK who work
sion), Boufertala cut his procurement
closely with first class counties, county
teeth while working with Thales as a
cricket boards and other partners to
raw materials buyer. Here, he worked
promote the game as widely as possi-
across a number of markets including
ble. As part of its Inspiring Generation
aerospace, rail and military and eventu-
Strategy for the national game, the ECB
ally moved on to Hitachi Europe to focus 5
again on procurement in the rail industry. When the call came from ECB, as procurement manager, the big question staring him right in the face was; what use is his procurement experience in the fast paced major global industries when trying to grow the reach of a sport like cricket? It’s a question that Boufertala finds himself quite privileged to be in charge of answering. exactly known for as the function simply
“First and foremost, it was a truly unmissable opportunity for me,” he
did not exist. So, my vision and my task
beams. “But make no mistake, I was
was to build everything from scratch.”
coming from a well-established procure-
It almost goes without saying that
ment department in a huge global organ-
building a procurement function from
isation to a sector that procurement isn't
scratch is no simple task. This is where his
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Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
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experience in working for major corpo-
plane is reflected close to 20 years
rations such as Thales and Hitachi helps.
later when the plane is in flight. At ECB,
“In terms of procurement, this is where we
Boufertala relishes the step-by-step
had the biggest contingency in terms of
nature of his mission.
headcount. It was a massive department with a lot of process,” he says. “It shaped me for what I'm doing right
The evolution of procurement is a long and ongoing tale, as industries the world over continue to adapt and to change
now. It shaped all my understanding
their approach to the function as the
of procurement. On one side you have
necessity and perspective of procure-
to build and maintain a functioning
ment continues to rise. Over the course of
procurement, on the other side you
his career, Boufertala has seen the shift
have to convince the internal stakehold-
from transactional to strategy oriented
ers about procurement.”
procurement and continues to see it to
By his own admission, moving to ECB
this day. But how does this differ in sport?
was the perfect move for Boufertala as it
Where is the procurement conversa-
presented him with the unique opportu-
tion when compared to other industries?
nity to see the direct impact of procure-
Boufertala’s role sees him look to inspire
ment. Reflecting on his previous procure-
future generations of cricket fans and
ment experience, he points to how the
indeed players, supporting the game from
reward for procurement in building a
the grassroots level right to the highest
“ P ut simply, we want to inspire people to say cricket is a game for me, including engaging children and young people, transforming women’s and girls’ cricket and supporting a range of different communities across England and Wales” — N o u r- Ed di ne B oufer t a la Head of P rocurement at England & Wal e s C ri c ket B o ard
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level, and reduce spend, improve level of service and enable innovation. These goals are by no means radically different than say, a Fintech company, but for ECB procurement has only entered the conversation over the past five years. “I think the sport industry wasn't ready to have procurement, because the context was totally different,” says Boufertala. “But right now, terms of procurement, we are lucky enough to take the best from each industry to make it simple and efficient. We weren't behind so to speak, but we will catch up very quickly with the other big businesses, because as a procurement professional netted from the aerospace and the rail industry, I can take the best of those worlds and adapt it to the ECB and to the broader sport.” This is where his experience in particular proves key. As a procurement professional who has lived and breathed procurement in large organisations, Boufertala understands the ins and outs of the function. Most importantly, he knows how to successfully and unsuccessfully bring about change in procurement. “We need to have something simple and quicker because people don't understand sometimes the supply chain and how it applies to cricket” he says. “I’m Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
“Football used to be defined by talk about the big four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United). They were the only one at the top of the league every year, now there are a lot of people who can challenge for the titles,” he says. “This means that a lot of clubs can invest more and more on players and give high salaries to have the best players. “Of course, if they invest a lot, this is because they have something in the background that can help them make these investments. Procurement helps a lot here and this is fast becoming a competitive edge in sports because you can spend more on players if you have less spend or if you have better deals through procurement.” dealing with experts in cricket and they
With procurement being a relatively
need to understand what I would bring to
new thing for both the sport and for
the table. If I'm coming with an extremely
ECB, Boufertala needed to outline a
complicated process, it would be very
roadmap. The goals were clear, but the
hard for them to adhere to procurement.”
journey to get there not so much. As with
Here, Boufertala refers to the supply
many procurement journeys, ECB’s is
chain and procurement conversations
one defined by quick wins and curiosity.
happening in football, arguably the more
Boufertala speaks of needing to be curi-
successful and broadly known sport. He
ous and asking stakeholder after stake-
speaks of how over the last few years, foot-
holder questions about their role, their
ball clubs have started to invest in in-house
successes and indeed their pain points.
procurement best practices as they have
In better understanding what strengths
recognised that how much they can spend
and weaknesses were already present,
on the pitch (player transfers) depends on
Boufertala could then look to identify
how lean the organisation is internally.
the right path. 9
“It’s about finding quick wins to begin
impact of procurement and they will start
with and looking for solutions in the
to ask me more about other ways in which
market to improve the level of service
procurement can help.”
because the stakeholders don't have time
With a focus on creating simple, effi-
to do it,” he says. “Let's look at the goal
cient processes and bringing new tech-
of wanting more women and girls play-
nology to the procurement table, one of
ing cricket. Currently, the stakeholders
Boufertala’s first projects was a rehaul-
are only focusing on how we can make
ing of ECB’s existing travel management
cricket more attractive to that audience.
processes. Due to the nature of the sport,
Procurement can come in and really help
travel and overnight stay was essential
make significant progress there.”
and ECB had around 240 hotels that it
“If we reduce a cost here, you can invest
would use on an annual basis. ECB would
more in making the game more attractive.
deal directly with the hotels with a lot
So, for me, I really started from scratch
of physical interaction and face to face
to say this is what would be considered
dealings involved. Boufertala looked at
a quick win. Once we have a quick win,
streamlining this service and implemented
people would be convinced about the
an online booking tool that would allow
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Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
PROVEN. AWARDED. TRUSTED.
“ We weren’t behind so to speak, but we will catch up very quickly with the other big businesses, because as a procurement professional netted from the aerospace and the rail industry, I can take the best of those worlds and adapt it to the ECB and to the broader sport” — N ou r- Ed d i n e B oufer t a la H e a d of P rocure ment at England & Wale s C ri c ket B o ard
any staff member to have instant access
is good because it forces me to better
to all hotels in the system, saving time. A
understand every single department and
fine example of a simple and quick win
how procurement can improve the level of
that instantly improves the level of service.
service for them.”
“I created all the tender document
In any procurement journey, the road
process and procurement policy. Looking
from A to B is never as simple as it sounds.
at all of the best tools and best prac-
Contingency plans, risk assessments
tices to make sure that we have the best
and even unforeseen factors can impact
value for the best services. I’m still doing
and influence a journey and in 2020,
it to this day,” he says. “It involves a lot of
the COVID19 pandemic was an unprec-
communication. This is key to the success
edented factor that no one could have
when you build a new project or a new
prepared for. For ECB, an organisation
department, because people need to be
built around live sport and thousands of
with you. If they're not on my side, it's very
spectators physically in stadiums watch-
hard to make changes. But that's why this
ing live games, the challenges presented
is part of my job, convincing people inter-
are ones that to this day are continuing
nally and externally that what I'm doing
to prove difficult to overcome. 11
“We lost almost 800 days of live events in stadiums, to put a number on it,” says Boufertala. “In 2019 we won the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. It was probably the best year ever. We hosted The Ashes series against Australia for men and women in the UK. It was a magical year for cricket. Then 2020 came and that momentum was impacted. In those circumstances, we worked hard to give the best entertainment possible to our fans.” As the year unfolded and governments and countries began to work towards a post-pandemic world, having spectators at sporting events was still proving difficult and unsafe. The ECB trialled the safe return of sports with 1,000 spectators in The Kia Oval in London and Edgbaston in Birmingham, but unfortunately had to cancel the second test due to public health guidance. But through challenge came opportunity, and this was an opportunity born out of sound procurement practice. “We are extremely lucky to have Sky and BBC as broadcasting partners. We had the first live women's game on BBC Sport since 1993. It was live on Sky and BBC and we had an audience of more than two million viewers,” he says. “We are extremely proud of that and it was the first live cricket event on the BBC for the last 21 years. I think in terms of the timing of Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
the deal with BBC and Sky, it was perfect. We were not expecting COVID and everything that happened, of course, but at least we could give something to the spectator. Because ultimately the spectator is the end user. This is who we want to please at the end. So, we genuinely have something to be extremely proud of in what was a dramatic year.” These games were played behind closed doors in a bio-security bubble, something that Boufertala highlights as a first for sport in the UK. “Quite literally, we didn't have any layout, or existing examples that we could copy. We had to start from scratch,” he says. “This was an opportunity for procurement to shine because we needed to work fast and work efficiently with both internal and external stakeholders to help to make it happen and to do it in the right way.” “The team was instrumental in making it happen. Before we could get anywhere near opening, we needed to have PPE equipment on site so we went to tender. We had a fast-track process, and within two weeks we secured enough PPE equipment just to make it happen. It was a way to show how procurement can be efficient and how procurement can help.” Procurement was fundamental in securing the PPE equipment, security management for the site, as well as onsite 13
Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
Nour-Eddine Boufertala Head of Procurement at England & Wales Cricket Board As a senior procurement professional, Nour has successfully delivered global transformation projects and achieved significant influence at both the VP and CFO-level though a blend of functional leadership, business development and positive supplier relationship management skills. Recognised as a collaborative leader with strong negotiating and influencing skills, Nour’s ability to motivate and lead people in diverse cultural environments has proved key to his success. As Head of Procurement at England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Nour works across the UK with first class counties, county cricket boards and other partners to promote the game as widely as possible. As part of its Inspiring Generation Strategy for the national game, Nour and ECB look to put a bat and ball into more and more hands and introduce more people to the power of cricket over the next five years.
tracking system and fever camera detection. Boufertala feels that the speed at which this could be achieved, together with the effectiveness, showcases just how procurement is a reliable department within the ECB. With the pandemic still a pressing concern, the future for live sport is one of uncertainty, but for ECB and the procurement journey there is still a long way to go. Boufertala speaks of the key focus on bringing the safe return of cricket at all levels, providing support and financial security across the whole game. Beyond that, the ECB will continue to look to deliver The Hundred, an incredible 100-ball cricket tournament that was due to start in the summer of 2020 and subsequently postponed to 2021. This, Boufertala notes, will be huge for the future of cricket in the UK. 15
“ T his is key for me; step back to see the strong values that the company has. It wouldn’t be possible to work in a company where I don’t trust the value, and this has enabled me to give my best and it is these values which will be the key to the success for procurement, the ECB and the sport itself” — No u r- Ed d i n e B oufer t a la H e ad of P rocurement at England & Wal e s C ri c ket B o ard
“I am convinced that it will be a massive
the disability game, and having more
success,” he beams. “Running at the same
South Asian communities engaging
time, we'll have international games and
with our sport at every level.”
the women's game. So this will be key
“This is why this is extremely reward-
for us for this summer. The success of
ing because we're working in so many
this will help us immensely in growing
different areas but all of them are
women and girls' participation, growing
extremely exciting for the future and
Pro cure ment and cr icket for ever yo n e
are extremely bright for cricket.” Boufertala has mentioned numerous
We're making people happy. We're engaging with a lot of kids and more
times just how privileged he feels to be
kids are playing again up and down the
in his position with the ECB. At almost
country. Oh, and we very recently won
every opportunity, it’s a privilege that he
the world cup. This is key for me; step
remembers and is certainly not some-
back to see the strong values that the
thing he takes for granted. “It's extremely
company has. It wouldn't be possible to
important to work in a company where
work in a company where I don't trust the
you trust the values,” he says. “I trust the
value, and this has enabled me to give my
values of the ECB and the values of the
best and it is these values which will be
sport in general. It's important sometimes
the key to the success for procurement,
to take a step back. What we are doing
the ECB and the sport itself.”
can be extremely difficult. But when we step back and think about what we have achieved, we're not saving lives, we're not doctors. We're talking about sports.
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