Some of the world's most prestigious brands including Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca, Munich Re, Tata Steel and Vodafone are represented on this year's Procurement Leaders Awards shortlist, announced today.

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Sure, there may be reasons to look at Heinz’s report of 14% growth in operating income with scepticism, or attribute it to any number of factors. But the fact remains, its procurement function has made a consistent show of the transformation it has been undergoing and you’d be hard-pressed to say it isn’t paying off.

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The UK's public sector is a funny old beast. With departments like the NHS, the Department of Justice and the MoD having budgets that put much private-sector expenditure in the shade, one would have thought that procurement would be as good as you would find anywhere.

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There's a great article over on Advertising Age about how media buying agency Omnicom, one of the largest media and advertising companies in the world, is looking to procurement for help during the downturn - despite spending years complaining how procurement has harmed creativity.

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Last night, around 400 senior procurement professionals gathered at Banqueting House, London for the most eagerly-awaited bash in the procurement calendar... And what a night it was. Sharing a table with the CPOs of Nokia, IBM, Reed Elsevier, Deutsche Post DHL, Daimler, Shell and Novartis proved illuminating! More of that later...

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This afternoon's session at the Procurement Leaders Network Members' Day focused on the subject of demand management - it was a lively session with huge amounts of value gained all round.

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And so to open a can of worms.... Is there a difference between the American and the European approach to procurement? Which of the two is more advanced and has a more strategic take on how procurement can contribute to the wider business? Which is more respected within the organisation?

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There's a discussion currently underway on the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement group on LinkedIn concerning how procurement functions should be organised.

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A press release published by US technology company, ITG, explains how the company is looking to complete the circle of what external stakeholders think of it by conducting a survey of its suppliers. The survey was distributed to its top 121 contractors in an attempt to guage what they think of the relationship they have with ITG.

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May’s early spring sunshine may seem a long way off but, trust us, it will be here before you know it and when it finally arrives you’ll know that it’s time for the third annual Procurement Leaders Awards.

After the success of the first two ceremonies, both held in London at Vinopolis and Lords respectively, we’re once again looking forward to welcoming the cream of the procurement community to awards that seek to reward outstanding achievement in a number of fundamental areas.

This year we’re also proud to announce that we have expanded our reach beyond European boundaries and have gone global. To reflect this, the judging panel will this year include two of North America’s most senior procurement figures – Greg Shoemaker, CPO at HP, and Pfizer’s Lisa Martin.

There are also three additional categories for this year’s awards, an expansion that not only reflects the event’s popularity but also procurement’s place at the heart of modern-day business.

The new categories are for Best Use of New Technology, Best Procurement Team and the Procurement Leader award.

You have until February 13 2009 to register for the event, which will take place at London’s famous Banqueting House on May 12. With over 400 delegates expected, it promises to be another fantastic evening (not to mention networking opportunity) – we look forward to seeing you there.