Scope
Technology
Industry
Technology and Digital Strategy
introduction
Led the assessment, business case design and market engagement for implementation of Source to Pay (S2P) and Source to Contract (S2C) Procurement technology for one of the leading UK&I leading food wholesalers
Business Challenge
A leading UK&I food wholesaler sought to unlock greater value from procurement by using technology to drive efficiencies in contract and supplier management. Procurement’s role was historically limited to indirect, reactive spend of £700M within a £5B business, with previous business cases failing to secure executive buy-in. To address this, the company engaged external experts to assess current maturity, evaluate market solutions, and build a robust, ROI-focused S2P and S2C business case to support future investment.
One of the UK&I leading food wholesalers wished to gain greater value from their procurement activities and had identified technology as a key enabler to achieve hard and soft benefits across S2C subjects such as contract management and supplier relationship management.
Historically Procurement was only involved in Indirect and reactive purchasing across the business, which was about £700m of the total £5bil business revenue. By introducing spend analytics and contract management technology and processes it was considered this would support growing Procurement remit moving forward – however, the market analysis and business cases design to date had failed to engage the Executive team and create buy-in and investment.
The business engaged an external party to undertake a S2P (incorporating S2C) diagnostic to understand the current as is position, undertake market technology assessments, model future operating options, design a ROI based business case for CFO review and present recommendations.
Our 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.
Current Functional “As Is” State Assessment across all S2P activities, including P2P
Reviewed & assessed current organisation model and technology landscape to provide a view of the as-is versus best-in-class practice.
Agreed design principles to guide the design and evaluation of draft models.
Interviewed key stakeholders to identify all pain points, challenges and opportunities.
Market Analysis
Undertook detailed market engagement to understand best of breed and right fit technology options.
Defined future “To-Be” Target Operating Model
Identified options for Target Operating Model & pros and cons of each
Designed detailed business case with deep financial modelling of each option and ROI
Undertook impact assessment to understand the impact of recommendations
Outcomes
The project successfully secured CFO approval to invest in procurement technology, beginning with S2C modules as a proof of concept and progressing to full S2P implementation. Delivered on time and to budget in 10 weeks, it provided a clear roadmap and critical path for rollout. The trusted partnership led to further engagement, with 7SS supporting market assessment, partner selection, and system integration planning.
Successfully delivered detailed Business Case to CFO resulting in agreement to invest in technology via initial S2C modules as a POC phase, moving to full S2P investment.
Promoted and secured Procurement value add to the business, showcasing how technology as an enabler could help the business deliver significant benefits across Indirect and Direct spend.
Project delivered on time over 10 weeks and to budget.
Clear roadmap of action (including critical path) delivered for implementation
Due to trust built, asked to undertake market assessment and tender process to select preferred technology partner before moving into support as business integration support role of system integration.