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Blog posted by: Fiona Wilkins, Corporate Communications Manager, 09 August 2016.

YPO has further strengthened its specialist procurement team with the appointment of a multi-academy trust relationship manager, Liann Read.

As one of the first public sector purchasing organisations in the UK to create a role of this stature, Liann has been newly recruited at YPO to forge relationships with the growing number of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) across the country. She will focus on ensuring services and supplies meet the needs and the specific requirements of MATs, working to create effective partnerships that help deliver education excellence as well as value for money.

With more than 10 years’ experience in customer and account management in both public and private sector organisations, Liann brings extensive experience to the YPO team having previously worked for large organisations such as Dyson, and Banner Business Services. Previous customers include HMRC, DEFRA, Environment Agency and a number of local authorities including Cambridge City Council. Liann also spent some time working for Lyreco writing pre-qualifying questionnaires and tenders. 

Following her appointment, Liann said: “I’m extremely excited to have joined YPO. I’ve always been passionate about education so to be working for a company that reinvests all profits within the public sector is a great achievement for me. I’m working with a great team of people who already have fantastic relationships with local authorities and individual schools and academies. To me, my new role is even more exciting as I get to focus fully on the rapid evolution of MATs.”

“Each MAT has different governance and its own ideas about how to help academies succeed. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to know we can work in partnership with the MATs in the back office, which allows academies to concentrate on teaching and attainment.’’ 

YPO specialises in providing legally compliant procurement services to the public sector and has been catering to local authorities and schools for over 40 years. 

Reflecting on Liann’s appointment, YPO’s managing director Simon Hill said: “As the educational landscape changes and the importance of MATs continues to rise, it’s vital we understand the needs of these customers and work in partnership with them to meet their individual requirements. Liann’s position is an important new role and we welcome her to the team.”