Supply chain and Procurement insights based on real market conversations with leaders between July 2026 and September 2026
The tone of the market is cautious rather than inactive. The consistent message coming through is that organisations still have plenty of change they need to deliver, but decision-making has become slower, more forensic and more closely tied to immediate business impact. Large discretionary transformation programmes are being challenged harder, while smaller, targeted interventions linked to margin, operating performance, working capital, resilience and leadership capability are still moving.
The strongest theme is that transformation is no longer being bought as a broad concept. Clients are asking for very specific outcomes: stabilise a supply chain, improve operational maturity, reset procurement, unlock margin, close or consolidate facilities, improve customer service, or replace leadership where performance has stalled. In my view, this makes the market tougher, but also more interesting. The demand is still there; it is just being released in a more selective and disciplined way.
Industrial manufacturing and engineered products
This is one of the more active areas of the market. Traditional engineering and manufacturing businesses are under pressure to become more disciplined around procurement, inventory, demand planning and operational excellence. There is a growing desire to bring in experience from consumer goods, regulated manufacturing and lean environments to challenge long-standing engineering-led cultures, reduce bespoke complexity and improve speed, quality and working capital performance.
Consumer goods, hospitality and service-led businesses
The consumer-facing market remains margin constrained. Input cost inflation, energy exposure and customer price sensitivity are making businesses cautious. That said, where companies have a strong proposition or defensible niche, they are still progressing growth plans. The bigger issue is margin protection: supplier management, sales effectiveness, operating discipline and sharper commercial decision-making are more important than ever.
Private equity and portfolio value creation
Private equity continues to be one of the more resilient parts of the market, although the nature of demand has changed. Funds are having to work harder to create value from existing assets, particularly where entry valuations were high or exit timelines have moved out. Procurement, margin expansion, operational improvement, carve-outs, buy-and-build integration and leadership assessment are all live themes. The most effective operators in this environment are pragmatic: they understand that the objective is not always best-in-class, but the best possible value creation for the most sensible level of investment.
Healthcare, pharma and medical devices
Healthcare and regulated manufacturing remain active, but the agenda is shifting. Large pharma continues to simplify manufacturing footprints, divest non-core assets and partner more selectively with contract manufacturers. In parallel, medical devices and injectable delivery systems are creating operational complexity around quality, compliance, manufacturing excellence and site performance. Operational improvement remains a priority, but capability gaps are often regional, with adoption and execution varying significantly by geography.
Energy, renewables and energy-from-waste
The energy transition story is more mixed than it looked a couple of years ago. Some areas, such as green hydrogen, remain strategically important but commercially difficult without stronger policy support, subsidy clarity and demand certainty. Energy-from-waste, renewables and infrastructure-led energy businesses are seeing activity, but the strongest opportunities are linked to asset performance, maintenance strategy, reliability, procurement discipline and the operational realities of scaling infrastructure-heavy businesses.
Logistics, aviation and transport
Transport and logistics remain heavily exposed to fuel, route disruption, cost volatility and network resilience. In aviation, fuel pricing and refining economics are feeding directly into growth planning and route decisions. In broader logistics, the market continues to value leaders who can manage scale, complexity, safety, service and cost simultaneously. The concern for some candidates coming from very large platforms is whether that experience translates into more resource-constrained environments, so the ability to show pragmatism and hands-on delivery matters.
Procurement and supply chain transformation
Procurement is becoming more central to transformation, but not in isolation. The strongest procurement leaders are those who can connect savings to the P&L, work with finance and commercial teams, improve supplier performance, and bring pace to decision-making. There is also a clear shift towards using technology and AI to accelerate spend analysis, supplier insight and opportunity identification. The value, however, still comes from execution: aligning stakeholders, making decisions and ensuring that savings actually land.
Decision-making remains slow. Many organisations entered the year with clear intentions around transformation, investment and capability-building, but macro uncertainty has caused boards and CFOs to pause non-essential spend.
Transformation spend is becoming more targeted. Broad programmes are harder to get approved, while focused interventions with a clear link to EBIT, cash, service, resilience or risk reduction are still progressing.
Operational resilience is back on the agenda. Businesses exposed to energy, fuel, commodities, international freight or fragile supplier networks are reassessing operating models, inventory buffers and sourcing strategies.
Private equity remains comparatively active. Funds are under pressure to create value in assets they may need to hold for longer, which is driving interest in margin expansion, procurement, operational improvement and leadership change.
AI is absorbing attention and budget. There is clear interest in AI, but the practical value is strongest where it accelerates data-heavy work, spend analysis, process diagnostics and decision support rather than replacing operational judgement.
Leadership underperformance is being addressed. Where strategic plans have stalled or transformation has not landed, investors and boards are starting to act, particularly in roles tied to operations, supply chain, procurement and commercial execution.
My read is that we are moving into a more selective transformation market. Clients are not short of problems to solve; they are short of confidence, bandwidth and tolerance for vague programmes. The work that will move is the work that has a clear commercial rationale, a defined outcome and a credible person or team who can deliver it. That should suit practical transformation leaders: people who can diagnose quickly, get close to the operation, engage leadership teams, and turn intent into measurable progress.
For a quarterly newsletter, I would position the message as cautiously constructive. The market is not easy, and it is certainly not indiscriminate, but there are clear pockets of demand. The biggest opportunities are in operational performance, supply chain resilience, procurement transformation, margin expansion, leadership change and pragmatic use of AI. In short: fewer vanity programmes, more hard-edged transformation.
Written by James Gherardi, Managing Director within BIE’s Transformation Practice
If any of the themes explored in this quarter’s insights resonate with your organisation’s priorities, challenges or transformation agenda, we’d be pleased to continue the conversation.
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