Leah Barrett

Global Procurement Group

Profile

2021 & 2022 CEO Today Business Women of the Year Award Winner!

Leah Barrett is a resourceful, inspiring leader and an integral part of the Global Procurement Group’s (GPG) senior leadership team, helping it drive forward the company’s net zero consultancy proposition, which enables businesses to improve their resilience and growth, as we move towards a low-carbon economy.

As a new mother, Leah is committed to delivering a specialist, yet practical solution to businesses to reduce their carbon, in an effort to protect the planet from ever-increasing dangers caused by carbon emissions. ClearVUE.Business is a rapidly growing element of the business which Leah is helping to drive across the UK and EU.

Alongside the senior management team, her endeavours and knowledge have helped the business evolve into a more consultancy-based, net-zero specialist, which sets the company apart in the ever-changing utilities sector. GPG is successfully responding to growing customer demand for sustainability solutions and guidance to improve the efficiency of their business practices and operations.

At just 29, Leah is one of the youngest female business leaders in the global utilities sector. Her drive, initiative, and determination have enabled her to achieve rapid success in a fast-moving and dynamic industry. Her ability to develop lasting relationships with new and existing partners, suppliers, and customers has ensured GPG has constantly stayed ahead of the curve, delivered innovative energy management services that support businesses navigate towards net zero.

In the UK, the latest research from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) suggests businesses account for 18% of carbon emissions. Clearly, businesses can play a pivotal part in decarbonising our future. Leah’s understanding of the evolving landscape and the changing requirements of business operations puts her at the forefront of the global utilities sector, spearheading the change required for a sustainable future world.

She states: “Customers want to transition to a low-carbon future but are unsure of where or how to start. We are the partner of choice for businesses who are serious about preserving our planet for tomorrow.

“Using our expertise across three continents, we can tailor consultancy services to a range of customers, guiding and advising them how to better procure, use, and manage their energy.

“In this period of extreme market volatility it is important businesses are equipped with the right services, advice, and technology to navigate their net zero journey.”

Leah joined GPG in 2016 as a Sales Team Manager, where her focus on customer service was quickly recognised. A year later she was promoted to Service Operations Director, where she was tasked with building on the already stringent compliance standards in the sales journey.

Leah proceeded to establish an award-winning process across the Service and Operations Department – the largest standalone team in the GPG network.

In 2019, she was promoted to Global Operations Director, with a greater emphasis on the French and American operations, ensuring a consistency of standards across the global group and supporting the more sustainability consultancy offer.

Leah is bold, personable, and approachable. Whether driving positive change through the UK operations or directing the overseas operations, she is a natural at instilling confidence in the workforce and empowering colleagues.

During this period of crisis within the energy sector Leah gave birth to her first child. Working through her pregnancy, Leah was a role model to all women who seek to balance a successful career with the creation and building of a family. Returning to work after her maternity leave, Leah has continued to drive the business forward and to support customers and partners push towards their net zero goals.

She continues to be an inspiration and role model in her personal and professional life and has been integral to the ongoing success of GPG’s positioning as a trusted expert in the global utilities space and the partner of choice in the net-zero landscape.

Global Procurement Group

Global Procurement Group (GPG) leads the field in energy procurement and services, developing technologies that transform how businesses use and manage their energy, as we move towards a carbon net-zero future. The business continues to expand rapidly with operations in Gateshead, Newcastle and Leeds (UK), Paris and Malta (Europe), Texas (US), and Chennai (India). Current headcount exceeds 800.

The group has evolved over the past decade to develop greater expertise in energy management and low-carbon services and solutions. The realisation that businesses are a significant contributor to global carbon emissions means they can equally help drive the transformation by decarbonising their practices and operations. But businesses need support in discovering how to approach the net zero journey.

This transition is being driven by the group’s consultancy services in ClearVUE.Business. This net zero consultancy enables businesses to become more sustainable and resilient, guiding them on the pathway to meeting their net zero goals to help protect our planet. It accomplishes this through comprehensive energy management, net zero, legislation and compliance, and engineering consultancy services. The team is in growth mode, looking for a further 40 roles across the globe to respond to the demand of customer appetite. It has recently taken on Watford Football Club as a client as well as a leading UK garden charity, helping them to develop their net zero strategies.

Technology has played a pivotal part in the group’s expansion. Of equal importance has been the development of processes that ensure the very highest standards for its growing customer portfolio. GPG’s sales processes are monitored end-to-end, including a rigorous 100-point checklist which validates all contracts.

The UK trading arm of the group, Northern Gas and Power is the UK’s leading B2B energy procurement and consultancy company. It recently moved into a new quayside waterfront location in North East England, following rapid expansion. Energies France, its sister operation on the continent, has also grown exponentially and moved into larger Paris premises in summer, 2021.

The group builds on this solid foundation and today supports 25,000 loyal customers globally. To date the group manages over 34 TWhs of energy globally for its customers.

Also View Leah’s 2021 Winners Entry here: