A word from Brent, Managing Director and CEO Peak Services & Local Buy

There is no doubt we all know Local Government is an interesting and eventful sector, and this wholeheartedly applies to our organisation as much as yours. As you may be aware, the next evolution of change is underway within Peak’s sister company, Local Buy. The catalyst for this change is that after nearly five years, Peter Mifsud has moved on from his role as CEO to take up an external commercial opportunity. I have been working on a transition plan to ensure the continuation of smooth operations across Local Buy.

Local Buy has been on a significant journey to redefine its identity, its value and transform procurement in Local Government over the last few years. So much has been achieved; the biggest of which was the $7M commitment by the LGAQ to invest in what is known as Nex Gen. Peter and the team took this project from pre-concept to a fully integrated procurement ecosystem, redefining procurement in Local Government. It has been no small feat, 63 of Queensland’s 77 councils are now signed up and in various stages of implementation and I look forward to seeing the full benefits of this initiative realised for the sector.

Another significant achievement was redefining how we run our contract arrangements. Working with the various regulatory bodies, Peter and the team completely changed the traditional way of tendering arrangements, which would open every few years, to what is now known as our ‘Active Arrangements’, opening to the market every 12 weeks. This was a direct response to the need of Local Government to support ‘local’. We have grown the supplier base from 1,500 to 3,048 (3,742 active across various arrangements) and will continue to grow to support local economic development.

On reflection of where we are now, with Peter’s resignation, I took this as an opportunity to invest more resources into Local Buy.

As a direct response to the growing need required by the sector for Local Buy to improve the way we engage and communicate to ensure the value and opportunities are leveraged by Councils, we have decided to restructure the role of the CEO across three different roles. I will assume some of the day-to-day CEO responsibilities, such as approvals, appointments, and overall management. The remaining responsibilities will be divided into two newly created Executive Director roles:

• Executive Director Local Buy Operations
• Executive Director Engagement and Strategic Partnerships (Local Buy and Peak Services)

Jessica Jones has been appointed the role of Executive Director – Engagement and Strategic Partnerships for both Peak Services and Local Buy. Many of you know Jess well - she is extremely experienced in Local Government with her previous role as Executive Director Engagement & Growth for Peak Services, and previously spent four years at the Local Buy equivalent, LGP, in NSW. Jess brings a broad and extensive experience that will enable her to lead the team, deliver on our commitment to the sector and ensure we continue to evolve to meet the future needs of Local Government.

Mike Waterland will assume the responsibilities of Executive Director LB Operations. Mike has been an integral part of the broader Peak Services’ success over the last five and half years. Prior to that, he was a senior leader with LGAQ’s subsidiary Propel Partnerships and has extensive experience in Local Government both here and in the UK.

The remaining familiar faces within Local Buy that you have been dealing with will stay unchanged.

I have been intimately involved with Local Buy for over 16 years and previously occupied the CEO role prior to recruiting Peter. I’m looking forward to spending more time in the business going forward.

On a personal note, I have enjoyed working with Peter immensely over the last almost five years. He did the job I tasked him with and although I’d prefer him to stay, he goes with my blessing and support, and I wish him success.

There are plenty of exciting initiatives underway, one of which is the upcoming Local Buy Procurement Summits, with the first one to be held in Port Douglas for the FNQ region and also the 2023 series of the Peak Services HR Masterclasses. For more info on these two events, check out the articles in this newsletter. We’re also planning to release a survey to help us understand how the sector would like to see their procurement function move forward and help us ascertain the understanding you have about the value Local Buy provides. 

See you out there,

Brent