Fellows Winter Dinner

EVENT DETAILS

Join us for the 2024 Fellows winter dinner, at one of London's finest hotels; 
The Dilly, and enjoy networking, delicious food and festive cheer. 

The evening will begin at 6.00pm with a drinks reception and canapes, followed by guest speakers and a three-course festive dinner with wine. 

We are delighted to confirm that Clare Gibbs OBE; (Joint) Interim Government Chief Commercial Officer, Director of the Markets, Sourcing and Suppliers Team will be joining us as our Guest Speaker for the evening. 

Ben Farrell MBE, CIPS CEO will also be joining us for the evening, and will provide a brief CIPS update. 

There are limited places so don’t miss this great opportunity to join us in December. 

This event is open to Fellows and invited guests only.

We look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any queries please contact events@cips.org

Please note this is a CIPS Fellows only event. If you book to attend and you are not a CIPS Fellow, your booking may be cancelled. 

EVENT VENUE:

The Dilly, 21 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BH

EVENT SPEAKERS

Clare Gibbs OBE 
(Joint) Interim Government Chief Commercial Officer
Director of the Markets, Sourcing and Suppliers Team

Clare has over 20 years’ experience of working within government across Commercial, Finance and Business Change. Clare is a Commercial Director and a CCAB qualified Accountant. Clare has been instrumental in leading the Ventilator Challenge, part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon joining the Cabinet Office in 2017, Clare was responsible for preparing government departments for the collapse of Carillion and the transfer of service delivery to new providers. Following this, Clare led a multifunctional team to develop the Sourcing Playbook, and subsequent suite of Playbooks.

In Clare's current role as (Joint) Interim Government Chief Commercial Officer, Clare leads the Commercial & Grant Functions across the whole Civil Service and is responsible for evolving and implementing the Civil Service commercial strategy, positioning the commercial function as a key delivery partner in all commercial relationships and helping departments realise efficiency savings.

In Clare’s role as Director for the Markets, Sourcing and Suppliers Team, Clare is responsible for the development and implementation of the Construction, Consulting, Digital, Data and Technology and Sourcing Playbooks, and the Strategic Supplier Relationship Management Programme, Strategic Partnering Programme and Crown Representatives Programme.

Clare was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours.

Ben Farrell MBE, CEO CIPS

Ben’s significant professional experience and, in particular, his most recent position as Director of Operations, Planning and Delivery for the John Lewis Partnership (John Lewis and Waitrose), means he will bring knowledge and skills to CIPS that are crucial at this stage of the organisation’s development. This experience includes procurement and supply chain management, membership, operations, digital transformation, and experience of the charity sector where he is the Chair of the Invictus Games Foundation Programme Board, he is the Chair of the Forces Employment Charity and is the Founder and organiser of the Blackthorn Rally which combines motorsport and conservation in Africa.

Ben had an illustrious early career in the military during which he achieved the rank of Colonel at a very young age, he was Commanding Officer of the Irish Guards, serving extensively around the world, and was awarded an MBE aged 29.

Ben prides himself in uniting organisations to achieve outstanding results. Through an engaging leadership style and adept management of complex environments, Ben drives both commercial and operational excellence. He is a fervent advocate of inclusion and diversity and always fosters an enjoyable workplace to inspire high performance cultures.

Chair of CIPS UK Fellows and a former President and Chair of the Global Board of Trustees of CIPS.   

Shirley is a successful business leader and entrepreneur with extensive experience gained in delivering first-class financial, commercial, and operational leadership across the Private and Public Sectors. She co-founded multi-award-winning specialist law firm, Tapestry Compliance transferring ownership of the firm to a Trust on behalf of the employees in 2020In addition, supporting many Charities and Non-Profit organisations that drive economic development and have a social impact. Shirley was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020 for services to Women’s Empowerment, Equality and Procurement.

Previously Shirley was Global Procurement Director of Impellam plc and board advisor to Lorien Resourcing.  Prior to this Procurement and Supply Chain Director of Computacenter. Before joining Computacenter Shirley held senior financial positions at Yorkshire Water, Leeds Hospitals and Carlsberg Tetley and Tetley’s, starting work at 18 with Rowntree Mackintosh in Halifax. 

Within 4 weeks plus of the event date - 100% refund
Within 3 weeks of the event date - 50% refund
Within 2 weeks of the event date - no refund will be provided.