Safe Contractor
Safe Contractor
For procurement leaders, managing contractor risk across complex supply chains is becoming harder, not easier.
A recent CIPS Risk and Resilience Week session, supported by SafeContractor, explored why many organisations are struggling to maintain visibility and control beyond tier one contractors, despite having established compliance processes in place.
Speakers include:
A standout insight from the session comes from Anthony Hanley:
“Tier 1 supply chain assurance just doesn’t land anymore.”
Polling from the session highlighted just how varied organisational maturity still is. Among the 48 procurement professionals surveyed, some said they are still primarily focused on meeting legal compliance requirements, while others have made supply chain risk to a board-level priority.
This gap reflects a wider challenge facing procurement teams today: confidence in compliance does not always match the reality across the supply chain.
You may have robust processes in place, but how confident are you that they reflect what’s really happening on site? Do you know who is delivering work beyond your tier one contractors, and whether they meet the standards you expect?
Expectations have shifted. It’s no longer enough to show compliance, organisations increasingly need to prove and continuously evidence it, across every tier of the supply chain.
And when something goes wrong, whether it’s an uninsured contractor, a safety incident, or a modern slavery concern, gaps in visibility quickly become commercial, operational and reputational risks.
Disruption and uncertainty remain constant pressures for procurement leaders. Session polling identified market volatility, including labour and material shortages, as a leading challenge, alongside geopolitical tensions and economic instability.
At the same time, regulation continues to evolve rapidly. From supply chain due diligence requirements to emerging UK legislation, organisations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate not just intent, but auditable, end-to-end compliance across their supply chains.
Alongside this, ESG expectations continue to grow. Priorities such as carbon reporting, ethical sourcing, and modern slavery prevention are no longer standalone initiatives, they are becoming embedded into procurement decisions, tenders and audits.
Together, these pressures are reshaping what effective contractor risk management looks like in practice.
Despite this increased focus and investment in compliance, one theme stood out clearly throughout the session: visibility remains a major challenge.
Many organisations still lack a clear view beyond tier one contractors. Disconnected systems, inconsistent contractor data, and limited multi-tier oversight make it difficult to confidently manage risk or evidence compliance when it matters most.
Without a strong data foundation, even well-designed processes can begin to break down.
Another key takeaway from the session was that contractor risk cannot sit with procurement teams alone.
Managing risk effectively requires collaboration across operations, safety, finance, legal and leadership teams. Yet in many organisations, responsibilities still sit in silos, creating gaps between policy, procurement and operational reality.
The session explores how leading organisations are starting to close these gaps, not by adding more process, but by building more connected and scalable approaches to contractor management.
One insight stood out in particular: many organisations already have the right building blocks in place but the systems, data and teams supporting contractor assurance are often not fully connected. The result is compliance that appears robust on paper but is harder to evidence consistently in practice.
If you’re responsible for contractor compliance, contractor assurance or supply chain risk, this session offers practical insight into where gaps emerge and what it takes to address them.
Watch the full webinar to see how leading organisations are closing the gap between compliance on paper and reality on site.
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