“Bringing suppliers from diverse industries together helps create a shared sense of purpose”

15 June 2026

Avanti West Coast’s Head of Procurement, Sue Ferm, explains how the train operator is strengthening its partnership-based approach with its suppliers on the West Coast Main Line.

At Avanti West Coast, the way we work with suppliers has evolved in many ways. We’re taking a more collaborative, partnership-based approach, creating connections with both current and potential businesses to work with. Sustainability and social value also play a bigger role in how we work together.

This was brought to life at our second annual Supplier Conference, led by our Procurement Team. We welcomed 80 guests, including suppliers who work with Avanti West Coast and colleagues from West Coast Partnership. The theme - ‘Delivery, continuity and growth. Performance through partnership’ – gave attendees an insight into how we operate, and the role they play in delivering for our customers.

Bringing these suppliers together from diverse industries helps create connections and a shared sense of purpose. It’s a different approach to contract management. Having face-to-face conversations in a room of businesses who ultimately all have the same goal is much more powerful. It can result in the sharing of ideas and perspectives, delivering greater value collectively than individually.

To build on this, we’ve introduced a Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) programme that focuses on working together on activities that improve what we provide to customers – over and above contracts. We believe we’re one of the first train operators in the UK to actively work with businesses in this way. 

Suppliers are vital to providing our service alongside our customer-facing staff - from catering to maintenance of our fleets, waste management to station improvements and introduction of new technology. Our role in procurement is to engage with these suppliers. Working in harmony and tandem helps ensure we deliver for the business and wider rail industry.

At the conference, discussions around sustainability covered wider business areas, including operations and customer experience - with suppliers sharing initiatives they’re developing. It’s these conversations that create new opportunities beyond the usual interactions between a supplier and customer.

We also highlighted Half the Story, the winner of our Pitch Social initiative – a platform for sustainable suppliers to showcase their business - hosted in partnership with our food procurement supplier, Foodbuy Group. The social enterprise, which employs people facing major barriers to work, including homelessness, now supplies biscuits for our onboard shop.

We marked the conference and our commitment to being a responsible business by funding 100 trees through Time4Tree - a tree planting project in Dartford, Kent. 

Images (top to bottom): Popcorn Shed were invited to showcase their product, as part of the Pitch Social initiative to become a supplier on the West Coast Main Line; Sue Ferm, Head of Procurement at Avanti West Coast); Half the Story, a social enterprise, who employ people facing barriers to work, attended the Pitch Social event; Small Brew Beer Co. present to attendees for the opportunity to supply their product for Avanti West Coast's onboard food and beverage offering.