VERANDA LEISURE & HOSPITALITY

156 category , two hotels in the four-star category , two hotels in the five-star category , a 19th century Chateau , 50 luxury villas , an 18-hole championship golf course , one beach club famous for its international events , and its own spa and wellness brand Seven Colours Spa .

As Group Procurement Manager , Stéphane oversees a small team of 9 people and is responsible for VLH ’ s yearly average spend of $ 30 million . But as Stéphane notes , procurement has changed dramatically in recent years and his teams ’ responsibilities have too . “ We manage the group ’ s procurements for every category of items over the group ” he says . “ We are also part of the Project Management teams and we work with them for all procurement-related actions , decisions and strategies during the renovation of current assets and / or acquisition of new hotels .”

This shift in responsibility within VLH speaks to an industry wide shift in procurement , with more and more companies looking to implement a robust strategic procurement function . But what is meant by strategic procurement ? “ Moving away from tactical procurement to a strategic model was one of the very first tasks I had here at VLH ,” says Stéphane . “ For me , strategic procurement is defined by information ; you don ’ t know what you don ’ t know so we must be guided by

— Stéphane Lacoste , Group Procurement Manager , VLH

DECEMBER 2018