Meet the buyer Ebony Armitage

Blog
01 Dec 2020

Name: Ebony Armitage

Position: Assistant Buyer Fleet

How long have you been working at YPO? 2 and a half years

What do you like most about working at YPO?

I love that YPO are a friendly and caring organisation who give back to the public sector and local community. They also provide great progression opportunities – for example, their apprenticeship scheme and the opportunity to begin CIPS qualifications. Without these progression opportunities, I wouldn’t be where I am now!

I also am grateful for the core values that YPO embrace; we care, we are helpful, we are straight talking, and we don’t like waste. This makes me proud to work for the organisation.

What are your main responsibilities in the procurement services team?

My main responsibilities include managing procurement and spend reporting for the Fleet team. I also manage customer and supplier relationships. I assist customers with a compliant route to market, supporting them with their call offs. Running and managing customers further competitions is also a key aspect of my role, in addition to supporting with day-to-day enquiries and operations. It is also important to regularly analyse the fleet market as it is essential that I keep up to date on trends, changes and new opportunities.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I find it incredibly rewarding assisting customers to achieve their procurement needs in a compliant and cost-effective manner. I love helping others, whether this be a colleague, customer, or a supplier, and doing this day in day out is very fulfilling, it makes my job worthwhile.

Describe your role in three words:

Fun, rewarding and challenging.

How did you get involved in procurement?

I joined YPO 2 and a half years ago as a Business Administration Apprentice and I was placed within the procurement services team. My procurement career began in the HR Services team working on frameworks relating to recruitment and apprenticeships however I have now secured a role in the Fleet team where I am working on frameworks such as specialist vehicles, telematics, and tyres. I am excited to be learning about a completely different market.

My next goal in my procurement career is to begin studying and achieve my CIPS qualification.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

In my spare time I enjoy going on long walks and exploring different areas of the countryside that we have here in Yorkshire. Most weekends you will find me socialising with friends and family as this is important to me. Other than this, I also like to get stuck into a good book... and I am a bit of a junkie for a rom com!

If you enjoyed this read, you can find out more about our employee’s and how they found themselves at YPO, as well as their job responsibilities and progress throughout the business. Meet the YPO team now!