GLOBAL procurement is as much about internal communication as it is negotiation with external suppliers, says Jim Hunt, Royal & SunAlliance's director - international procurement. He is responsible for identifying and exploiting procurement opportunities covering products and services as diverse as office equipment, computers and its 500-strong company car fleet.

Cars are a far more emotive subject than office commodities, so Hunt said it was critically important to involve all the group's local fleet decision-makers in the creation of a global deal that would supersede their hitherto autonomous arrangements. 'We had to deal very closely with our five major regions because they will be picking up the bulk of the activity and the bulk of the benefit, but we also want to make sure our smaller operations will reap the benefits of being part of a global group.'

To achieve this, Royal & SunAlliance's international procurement team looked to establish a local framework around which its local offices could work, and then took each global development back to these offices to ensure their 'buy-in'. A good degree of responsibility will remain in the hands of local fleet managers, with the international procurement team more focussed on owning the front end of the supply chain and the global supply relationship.