NEC Eyes Expansion into New Sectors with Appointment of New Users’ Group Chair

John Welch, NEC's New Users’ Group Chair The industry-leading provider of procurement contracts to the construction sector, NEC, has appointed the Deputy Director of Crown Commercial Service (CCS) for Construction, John Welch, as its Users’ Group Chair.

Alongside his role at CCS, John will drive further collaboration across sectors as NEC Users’ Group Chair, facilitating more streamlined implementation of procurement contracts, along with extending into new areas such as manufacturing.

With over 20 years’ experience working in civil service roles, John has vast knowledge of establishing the best commercial solutions for Central Government Departments and Wider Public Sector organisations in procuring for construction and infrastructure projects.

John has worked across all tiers of the supply chain and across multiple sectors including building, infrastructure, petro-chemical and nuclear, and will bring strategic direction aimed to increase NEC’s growth and usage worldwide.

Prior to joining CCS, John was Head of Procurement at Cavendish (Babcock) Nuclear, where he transformed the procurement function of major organisations such as EDF Energy. During his time there, he worked on significant projects such as Hinkley Point C, along with decommissioning projects such as Sellafield’s Magnox facility.



Rekha Thawrani, Global Head of NEC said: “Following the pandemic and the turbulence of the last two years for the construction industry, developing strong working relationships and good collaboration needs to continue to be the foundation for enhancing project outcomes.

“John’s experience in public sector roles makes him perfectly positioned to navigate NEC’s outreach into new markets both nationally and globally.

“Having worked on numerous major projects across a wide expanse of sectors, we’re confident that John will bring the expertise needed to support the growth of NEC”.

John said: “NEC has already forged a reputation as the leading procurement contract provider to the construction industry, which gives me confidence in its ability to expand its reach globally and into new sectors.

“In the future, I want NEC to be synonymous with carbon reduction, and it’s extremely reassuring to see that it’s already heavily on the agenda industry wide.

“The collaboration and flexibility that NEC offers means it already plays a vital role in the industry, and it’s promising to see that this will only continue.

“After what’s been a difficult past two years, industry and government bodies have grown closer than ever, and I’m pleased to be working with NEC at a time when the sector is in such a fortunate position”.