YPO, the UK’s largest publicly owned buying organisation, has boosted its Social Care team with the appointment of Andy Perrins and Lesley Harper as Category Managers.
Andy Perrins brings a wealth of operational experience to YPO having previously worked with a range of local authorities and social care providers. Most recently, he has supported the transition of Public Health from the NHS and subsequent procurement of many of the services, working closely with commissioners and providers to design innovative services that deliver.
Andy said:
“I’m really keen to work with the market and commissioners to understand their needs and bring fresh and exciting ideas to life which will ultimately reduce the burden on providers, commissioners and procurement teams. I am passionate about raising awareness of YPO in the sector and highlighting our ability to offer a wide range of purchasing options which will reduce resource and time intensive tasks internally”.
Lesley Harper brings years of social care commissioning experience, from a decade of working with a young people’s substance misuse service to working in a commissioning role at Wakefield Council.
Lesley said: 
“I love that YPO is 100% public sector owned, meaning that we put money back into the valuable services such as schools and care services offered by local authorities. It is refreshing to work commercially for an organisation which offers social value and I feel like I’m doing my bit to help. It’s also eye-opening to work on a national scale and support the health and social care agenda across the country; not just in my local area”.
In their roles as Social Care Category Managers, Andy and Lesley are responsible for ensuring that health and social care commissioners have a range of products and services available to them to help them achieve their goals. The Social Care Category Managers help commissioners to achieve value for money as well as outcomes for service users by working with providers nationally to identify new and exciting products and services, making these available to commissioners to reduce the burden on their own procurement teams.
Simon Hill, Managing Director at YPO, said:
“We are thrilled to have discovered Andy and Lesley through our recent recruitment process. They both bring a wealth of experience to the Social Care team and are passionate about developing and providing support and services which the social care sector desperately needs in a time where funding of vital services is increasingly in the media. New and existing customers can expect to see our Social Care category to continue to grow over the coming months”.
