Our 7 Step Methodology: A Proven Blueprint for Commercial Impact

We are 7 Step Solutions, a procurement consultancy founded on the belief that a commercial mindset is the key to unlocking true business value. We focus on solving your commercial and procurement pain points by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and increasing profitability. With our deep private equity heritage, we bring a unique perspective that turns your supply chain into a powerful engine for profit and growth.

I required a partner that could provide cost effective augmented Procurement expertise and resource on demand. 7SS ticked all the boxes. What is also great about 7SS is I feel they really understand my sector, care about my business and deliver real outcomes. Their reputation as commercial and procurement experts is well deserved.

Principal, Value Creation

7 Step Solutions significant reputation in Private Equity is a testament to their commercial and procurement expertise, white glove service, working at pace and delivering tangible results consistently. It is easy to understand how these key qualities I have witnessed for many years have transferred in their services to multi-sector industries.

Director - Global Investment Firm

If you are looking for a partner that can integrate seamlessly into your organisation, reduce costs, improve business profits and Procurement performance, I would highly recommend 7 Step Solutions.

Chief Financial Officer for a £1bil private sector organisation

7 Step Solutions are my go-to partner for Procurement support. Whether a cost out project, M&A support or a strategic procurement transformation initiative, 7SS white glove service and commercial acumen has consistently delivered a high return on investment.

Partner - global investment firm focusing on acquiring and transforming companies across diverse industries worldwide

7 Step Solutions bring a real laser like focus and commercial aptitude, considering not just Procurement supply side activity like some advisories, but business wide efficiencies, savings and improvements along with first class change management.

Director - global investment firm overseeing £20b portfolio

7 Step Solutions have delivered a step change improvement in our Procurement culture and performance, aligning Procurement activity to business goals alongside rapid delivery of cost, process and technology improvements.

Chief Procurement Officer for a £600mil private sector organisation

7 Step Solutions have supported our business at pace to deliver rapid savings and sustained profit improvement. Having an expert, flexible and scalable partner for projects and peaks in demand has been invaluable to our success.

Operating Partner - leading alternative investment firm focused on Private Equity, Private Credit, and Real Estate

Their speed and agility were remarkable. They quickly integrated with our team and delivered a tangible, positive impact on our bottom line.

COO, Global Logistics Company

They truly understood our business and delivered a solution that was not only commercially robust but also perfectly aligned with our strategic objectives.

Head of Finance, European Private Equity Firm

7 Step Solutions helped us redesign our marketing procurement, which led to a 20% reduction in agency costs and a £1.8M annual saving.

Marketing Director, American Manufacturer
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Our Story: Built on Commercial Excellence

Since our founding over 10 years ago, our clients have trusted us to improve their procurement across all sectors and industries. Our ethos is simple: rooted in our deep private equity experience, we present a fresh commercial view and a value creation mindset to every engagement. We work with our clients to deliver a higher quality of expertise and service for a more realistic cost than typical advisory firms.

A different Kind of Consultancy

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Private Equity Precision

Our time in private equity has embedded the core value of thinking commercially and delivering results fast. Our deep-rooted, private equity-based thinking benefits your business by providing a laser-like focus on value creation, efficiency, and strategic transformation.
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Agile and Scalable

We are a global team of active consultants with a boutique mindset. This allows us to provide flexible, on-demand expertise, delivering rapid benefits while building sustainable, long-term improvements.

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Results-Driven Approach

We don't just provide advice; we deliver tangible outcomes. Either as a transformation project force or as an extended part of your team, we deliver an average 10:1 commercial and operational return on investment.
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Optimised Operations & Process Improvement

Streamlined processes, automated workflows and digital tools that free up business time and improve decision-making speed.
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User-centric Alignment To Business Goals

Enhanced strategies to align users with business goals, ensuring procurement is a growth enabler and value-generating function.
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Talent On Demand

Access to flexible, cost effective, experts when you need it - for a project, transformation, M&A, or boost to internal capacity.
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Commercial Innovation

Private Equity honed commercial expertise, innovative design, speed to results and transformational thinking.
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Organised Risk Control

Confidence in your supply chain with greater engagement, robust risk nd contract compliance - protecting you from costly disruptions.
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Measurable Value

Reduced costs and unlock hidden value in your business and supply chain for short-term savings and long-term profitability.
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Enabled Scalability

Improved commercial and procurement culture - better deals, greater innovation and improved outcomes from an enabled business.

Our Service Divisions

Advisory

Operating since 2009, this division provides strategic guidance on function maturity, operating model design, and cost-out diagnostics.
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Outsourcing

Operating since 2020, this division offers a flexible, low-cost operating model that functions as a fully embedded procurement service for your business.
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Technology

Operating since 2019, this division provides essential spend analytics and source-to-contract solutions to streamline your operations and drive efficiency.
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Operations

Effective procurement operations are the key to a healthy business. Our operations services are designed to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and unlock tangible value within your day-to-day processes.
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Our proven process

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Data Collection & Analysis
We begin by examining all relevant spend and contract data to build a clear baseline of your current situation.
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Interview
We engage with key business buyers and stakeholders to understand your buying processes and requirements, filling in the crucial details that data alone cannot provide.
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Baseline & Opportunity Development

We benchmark your current state against industry best practice to identify tangible opportunities for savings and value creation.

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Validation & Recommendation
We validate our findings with your team and present a clear, prioritised delivery roadmap based on value versus ease of implementation.

Case Studies

Analysed $440m in global spend to identify procurement value opportunities

Business Challenge

Operating 427 restaurants across four Nordic countries under separate agreements led to inefficiencies and limited scalability. 7SS was engaged to unify operations through a supply chain optimisation workstream within a wider business transformation.

Solution

7SS took a structured, data-led approach to define the as-is state and identify improvement opportunities. Spend, contracts, and policies were analysed to establish a clear baseline, then validated through interviews with key buyers to understand real-world processes and capability. The findings were benchmarked against best practice to develop sourcing strategies by category, and a delivery roadmap was created to prioritise actions by ease and benefit — forming the foundation for implementation.

Outcomes

The project delivered results in two phases. A 12-week diagnostic identified cost-saving and cash-flow opportunities, producing 25 prioritised initiatives. Over the next 18 months, 7SS implemented a new procurement and supply chain model, realising €33m in benefits across key categories and embedding sustainable practices for long-term impact.

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Public healthcare client outsourced £30m procurement, improving visibility, risk management, and cost efficiency.

Business Challenge

The client, a leading UK healthcare equipment and services provider, faced mounting pressure to optimise its £30M third-party spend. Following a private equity acquisition, the business identified significant cost-saving opportunities in an under-prioritised indirect supply chain. However, supplier engagement was limited, strategic partnerships were lacking, and commercial rigour was minimal—highlighting the need for external expertise and resource to drive improvement.

Solution

7SS took a structured, data-led approach to define the as-is state and identify improvement opportunities. Spend, contracts, and policies were analysed to establish a clear baseline, then validated through interviews with key buyers to understand real-world processes and capability. The findings were benchmarked against best practice to develop sourcing strategies by category, and a delivery roadmap was created to prioritise actions by ease and benefit — forming the foundation for implementation.

Outcomes

7SS initially focused on identifying and delivering cost-out initiatives, which evolved into a two-year Procurement Managed Service. This partnership embedded best-practice procurement, improved contractual structures, and achieved £1.5M in direct savings and £900K in cost mitigation. With an ROI of over 5:1, the engagement strengthened supplier relationships, integrated procurement into business decisions, and laid a solid foundation for future in-house capability.

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Global leisure and fitness leader held 2-day procurement workshop to define principles and drive improvements

Business Challenge

The global procurement team had rapidly grown from 0 to 14 employees in response to the company’s global expansion. While existing structures supported rapid sourcing and basic contract management, the Global Procurement Director sought external expertise to benchmark maturity and identify improvement opportunities.

Solution

Our support began with thorough preparation alongside the Procurement Director to define clear outcomes and design a focused two-day agenda. Using best-practice templates and deep business insight, we built sessions covering design principles, maturity assessment, technology mapping, and key procurement workflows. The workshop combined expert facilitation, interactive group activities, and real-time process mapping to align the global team, surface improvement opportunities, and co-create a clear future roadmap.

Outcomes

The two-day workshop delivered clear, actionable outcomes. We designed and facilitated tailored sessions aligned with the Procurement Director, blending best-practice insights with practical guidance for an evolving team. Day two materials were adapted in real time to reflect day one outputs, ensuring relevance and clarity. The team left with a concise roadmap, defined actions, and a critical path, as well as a clear view of resource gaps to support a business case for future investment.

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A national £1 billion UK broadcaster benefited from our procurement transformation services, allowing them to manage in-house buying activity.

Business Challenge

£1bil revenue British free-to-air public broadcast television channel had an underperforming commercial and procurement mindset, alongside immature finance and procurement technology and process meaning significant value was being left on the table.

Solution

A specialised project team, equipped with expertise across procurement, project management, and multiple spend categories, was created to act as the client’s interim procurement function for 12 months. The team’s remit was broad, focusing on immediate Spend Diagnostics and Cost Reduction Programmes across high-impact categories (Marketing, IT, HR, etc.), and developing a Procurement Target Operating Model Design. Crucially, the team also led unique value creation initiatives, such as Barter and Contra deals, successfully identifying £8 million in savings in Year 1 alone, all while driving change towards a future sustainable in-house solution.

Outcomes

This comprehensive transformation was executed in three disciplined phases, beginning with a swift 4-week Maturity Assessment to diagnose the client’s existing model and commercial structures. We then moved through a focused 3-week Design Phase to finalise the Target Operating Model. Our team concluded by leading the initial 12-week Implementation, delivering the impact assessment and roadmap for the new, commercially focused structure.

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A private equity client with £30 billion in assets benefited from our outsourced procurement service, achieving full spend and contract visibility, managing risk, and optimising costs.

Business Challenge

Our client is a prominent alternative investment firm with $30bn assets under management focussing on private equity, credit, real estate investments across North America and Europe.

Solution

7 Step Solutions was hired as the client’s outsourced procurement function to provide seamless, ongoing operational support. The solution was built on four key pillars: leadership alignment to define ongoing procurement needs; process excellence to shape sourcing approaches; commercial execution leading competitive tendering and negotiation; and risk mitigation in coordination with legal counsel. This was all underpinned by monthly reporting and the implementation of a Contract Management solution to ensure continuous cost optimisation and compliance visibility.

Outcomes

Success of service has resulted in ongoing discussion to renew from a tactical 1st Generation Managed Service to a more comprehensive 2nd Generation Managed Service covering greater scope of global spend, process management and M&A support.

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FAQs

We work with a diverse range of clients, from multinational, blue-chip companies and mid-sized businesses to private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
Our primary differentiator is our commercial discipline, which is rooted in our private equity experience. We treat procurement as a profit-enabling function, not just a support service.
We have been delivering procurement consultancy services for over 10 years, with a proven track record of client success and a 100% retention rate.
Our methodology is a proven framework for optimising business costs through best practice procurement, focusing on delivering tangible value to our clients.

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