Buying & Procurement Manager – Packaging Supplies

Company: Praco Packaging Supplies Limited
Location: Leicester
Job Type: Full\-time, Permanent
Salary: £30,000 per year
Additional Pay: KPI\-linked performance bonus
Schedule: Monday to Friday

About Praco Packaging Supplies

Praco Packaging Supplies Limited is a growing B2B packaging supplier serving businesses across the UK.

Our product range includes pallet wrap, packaging tapes, mailing bags, thermal labels, nitrile gloves, refuse sacks, food packaging, catering disposables and other fast\-moving packaging products.

As the company continues to expand, we are looking for an experienced and commercially driven Buying \& Procurement Manager to take ownership of our purchasing, stock planning, supplier management and new product development.

This is a key management position within the business.

We are not looking for someone whose role is simply to raise purchase orders.

We need someone who can understand demand, manage cash intelligently, negotiate strongly with suppliers, prevent stock shortages, avoid overstocking and continuously identify new products that can generate profitable growth.

The Role

The Buying \& Procurement Manager will be responsible for ensuring that Praco has the right products, in the right quantities, at the right cost and at the right time.

A major part of the role will be finding the correct balance between:

• Maintaining strong stock availability for customers.


• Avoiding unnecessary cash being tied up in excessive inventory.


• Reducing slow\-moving and obsolete stock.


• Securing competitive buying prices.


• Improving supplier terms.


• Managing UK and overseas suppliers.


• Forecasting future requirements.


• Identifying and launching profitable new packaging lines.

You will work closely with the Directors, Sales Team, Warehouse and Finance functions and will have significant influence over the company's commercial performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Stock Management \& Demand Planning


• Take full responsibility for maintaining healthy stock levels across the company's product portfolio.


• Analyse historical sales, current sales trends, customer requirements, seasonality and expected growth to produce accurate purchasing forecasts.


• Establish appropriate minimum stock, maximum stock and reorder levels for each major SKU.


• Identify fast\-moving, slow\-moving and non\-moving stock and take appropriate action.


• Ensure core products remain consistently available without unnecessarily over\-investing company cash into stock.


• Monitor stock cover and highlight potential shortages before they become a problem.


• Produce forward stock projections taking supplier manufacturing times, shipping times and expected customer demand into consideration.


• Work closely with Sales to understand major upcoming orders, customer contracts and changes in demand.


• Maintain an effective ABC inventory classification, giving the highest level of control and attention to commercially important products.

Purchasing \& Procurement

• Manage purchasing across both UK\-based and international suppliers.


• Prepare and place purchase orders based on demand forecasts, stock position and commercial requirements.

Negotiate:

• Purchase prices.


• Minimum order quantities.


• Container quantities.


• Payment terms.


• Credit terms.


• Production lead times.


• Delivery schedules.


• Freight arrangements.


• Rebates and volume discounts.


• Exclusivity opportunities where commercially beneficial.

Continuously benchmark existing suppliers against alternative sources.

Understand the full landed cost of a product rather than making decisions purely on unit purchase price.

This includes product cost, freight, duty, clearance, warehousing and other relevant costs.

Challenge supplier price increases and require commercial justification where appropriate.

Develop second\-source or backup suppliers for strategically important products to reduce supply\-chain risk.

Supplier Management

Build strong long\-term relationships with key suppliers.

Monitor supplier performance across:

• Price.


• Quality.


• Lead time.


• Delivery reliability.


• Communication.


• Claims and credits.


• Product consistency.

Hold suppliers accountable where agreed standards are not achieved.

Regularly review the supplier base and identify opportunities to consolidate purchasing where this creates stronger buying power.

At the same time, ensure Praco is not excessively dependent on one supplier for critical product categories.

Working Capital \& Inventory Investment

A major responsibility of this role is protecting company cash.

The successful candidate must understand that purchasing more stock is not always the correct answer.

You will be expected to analyse how much money is tied up in inventory and ensure investment is justified by sales velocity, margin and strategic importance.

You will monitor:

• Inventory value


• Stock days / stock cover


• Slow\-moving inventory


• Dead stock


• Supplier payment terms


• Inventory turnover


• Expected return on inventory investment

Purchasing decisions must balance customer service with working\-capital efficiency.

New Product \& Category Development

We expect the Buying \& Procurement Manager to actively contribute to the growth of the business.

You will continuously research the packaging, catering, hygiene and related B2B markets to identify new products that Praco can profitably introduce.

Potential opportunities may come from:

• Existing customer demand.


• Sales\-team feedback.


• Competitor ranges.


• UK manufacturers and importers.


• Overseas manufacturers.


• Industry exhibitions.


• Supplier recommendations.


• Market trends.

Before recommending a new product, you will prepare a commercial case covering:

• Expected landed cost


• Target selling price


• Expected gross margin


• Market selling price


• Expected monthly demand


• Minimum order quantity


• Initial investment required


• Expected stock turnover


• Competitor analysis


• Potential customers


• Risks

New products should not be purchased simply because they appear attractive.

Every significant new line should have a clear commercial reason for being introduced.

Commercial \& Margin Management

Work closely with management to protect and improve gross margins.

Identify cost\-saving opportunities without compromising product quality or customer service.

Analyse product profitability and highlight categories where buying costs have increased disproportionately.

Support pricing decisions by providing accurate and current landed\-cost information.

Identify products where increased purchasing volumes could unlock materially better buying rates.

Identify opportunities for private\-label, direct\-import or exclusive products where commercially appropriate.

Market Intelligence

Stay informed about factors affecting purchasing costs, including:

• Polymer and plastic pricing.


• Paper and pulp markets.


• Oil prices.


• Freight costs.


• Exchange\-rate movements.


• Import duties.


• Shipping disruptions.


• Raw\-material shortages.


• Supplier capacity.


• Packaging legislation and regulatory developments.

Provide management with early warning where market changes could affect pricing or availability.

Key Performance Indicators – KPIs

Performance will be measured using clear commercial KPIs.

1\. Core Product Availability

Target: Approximately 97–99% availability across agreed core/high\-priority SKUs.

Repeated stock\-outs caused by poor purchasing or forecasting should be kept to an absolute minimum.

2\. Inventory Investment

Maintain inventory within agreed stock\-cover parameters by product category.

The objective is to maintain excellent availability without unnecessarily increasing cash tied up in stock.

3\. Slow\-Moving \& Obsolete Stock

Actively reduce the percentage of inventory sitting beyond agreed ageing thresholds.

Management will review stock aged:

• 90\+ days.


• 120\+ days.


• 180\+ days.

Corrective plans should be created for material slow\-moving positions.

4\. Forecast Accuracy

Initial target: 85%\+ forecasting accuracy across major/core SKUs, with category\-specific targets agreed after reviewing historic data.

5\. Supplier OTIF – On Time In Full

Target: 95%\+ for key suppliers where commercially achievable.

Supplier delays should be identified and escalated before they result in customer shortages.

6\. Purchase Cost Improvement

Deliver measurable annual purchasing savings and cost avoidance.

Indicative target:

3–5% improvement on addressable purchasing spend, subject to commodity\-market movements.

Savings must be calculated using genuine like\-for\-like landed costs and cannot be achieved through reducing product quality.

7\. Supplier Terms

Continuously improve:

• Payment terms.


• Credit limits.


• MOQs.


• Lead times.


• Rebates.


• Freight arrangements.

The objective is to improve both company cash flow and purchasing power.

8\. New Product Development

Identify and commercially evaluate a consistent pipeline of potential new products.

Indicative target:

2–4 commercially viable new product opportunities per quarter.

Products will only count as successful launches where they demonstrate actual customer demand, acceptable margin and appropriate stock turnover.

9\. Stock Turnover

Improve inventory turnover without damaging product availability.

Targets will be agreed by category because locally sourced lines and imported products require different levels of stock cover.

10\. Supplier Quality

Maintain very low supplier\-related defect and quality\-claim levels.

Root causes must be investigated where recurring problems occur.

11\. Management Reporting

Produce a clear monthly purchasing report showing:

Stock value

Stock cover

Stock ageing

Potential stock\-outs

Slow\-moving stock

Purchase commitments

**Supplier performance*

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