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BUY-SIDE SOURCING STRATEGY
From sourcing strategy to contract award
A large technology or BPO sourcing programme is one of the highest-stakes commercial processes a financial services firm runs. The decisions made in the first few weeks, about scope, market approach, evaluation criteria, and shortlist, determine the commercial outcome long before a negotiation begins.
Wilverley provides end-to-end sourcing advisory, bringing independent expertise and commercial rigour to programmes where the outcome matters and the margin for error is small. We specialise exclusively in Financial Services, which means our advice is calibrated to the specific dynamics of FS procurement rather than adapted from a generalist framework.
WHAT THIS ENGAGEMENT COVERS
Market assessment
Independent assessment of the vendor market for your category, capability mapping, pricing benchmarks, and identification of credible competitors your incumbent does not want you to know about. We draw on current sell-side advisory work to keep this intelligence fresh.
Sourcing strategy design
Defining the right approach for your programme — competitive tender, selective RFP, negotiated procurement, or hybrid, and building the commercial rationale for each decision. We challenge assumptions before they become commitments.
RFP design and management
Structuring an RFP that generates genuinely comparable responses, protects your commercial position, and gives you the information you need to make a defensible decision. We know how vendors read and respond to RFPs, because we help them do it.
Evaluation and shortlisting
Designing the evaluation framework, facilitating the process, and providing independent scoring support, so the right vendor is selected for the right commercial reasons. We ensure the evaluation reflects the client's actual priorities, not the easiest ones to score.
Commercial negotiation
Leading or supporting the commercial negotiation phase, with the benefit of knowing how the shortlisted vendors are likely to approach the table, what their real priorities are, and where the commercial flexibility actually sits. This is where most value is won or lost.
Contract award and transition
Ensuring the commercial terms agreed in negotiation are accurately and completely reflected in the final contract, a step often under-resourced at precisely the point of greatest fatigue. We also support transition into the post-award governance phase.
WHY INDEPENDENT ADVISORY MATTER HERE
"Most FS firms run a major technology sourcing process every three to five years. The vendor sitting across the table does this every week."
David Parsons · Founder, Wilverley Consultancy
That asymmetry in experience and preparation is the single biggest factor in commercial outcomes. The vendor's commercial team knows what your evaluation team is likely to prioritise, how your process typically unfolds, and where the leverage sits. An independent advisor who understands both sides of that dynamic is the most effective way to rebalance it.
Wilverley also works with technology vendors on their FS bid strategies, which gives us direct, up-to-date intelligence on how vendors think, what commercial flexibility actually exists in any given quarter, and where the pressure points are on the sell side. That intelligence is not available from a procurement team working in isolation, nor from a consultant who only advises buyers.
HOW AN ENGAGEMENT WORKS
1 Discovery and scoping
A confidential conversation to understand your programme, timeline, internal resources, the vendor landscape, and what a successful outcome looks like commercially. At this stage, we will tell you whether we think the programme needs a different approach to the one you are planning.
2 Market and requirement validation
Before a formal process begins, we validate your requirements against the current vendor market — stress-testing assumptions about what is available, what it costs, and what is realistic to expect from an RFP. This stage regularly changes the shape of the programme that follows.
3 Sourcing programme execution
We manage the sourcing process end-to-end alongside your internal team, legal advisors, and stakeholders, designing the RFP, managing vendor engagement, facilitating evaluation, and maintaining commercial momentum through a process that can stall without active management.
4 Negotiation and award
We prepare your negotiation strategy, lead or support the commercial sessions, and ensure the final contract reflects the outcome you achieved at the table, not a diluted version. This is where the commercial return on the sourcing investment is secured or surrendered.
5 Post-award transition
We support the transition into the contract governance phase, and many clients move to a retained advisory arrangement at this point to protect the commercial outcome they have secured. We are happy to discuss either model from the outset.
FEE STRUCTURES
£15–25K
Fixed fee. A structured review of your sourcing process and vendor market — validating the programme approach before committing to a full engagement. Delivered in 2–4 weeks. The diagnostic fee is credited against any follow-on engagement.
£75–200K
Fixed fee or time-and-materials depending on programme complexity and duration. Covers all stages from market assessment through to contract award. Typically 3–9 months. Associate resource may be deployed for programme management, scoped separately.
£40–120K
For programmes already at shortlist or BAFO stage where independent commercial negotiation support is the specific requirement. Fixed fee or outcomes-based structure depending on the situation.
Outcomes-based fee structure — how it works
On buy-side engagements, we offer an outcomes-based uplift layered onto a reduced base fee. Our additional fee is tied to verified savings against a pre-agreed baseline commercial position. The client retains the right to independently verify the savings calculation. We are willing to put skin in the game because we are confident in the value we deliver.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE - £50M CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACT
Contract value
£50M
Over 5-year term
Base programme fee
£120K
Fixed, full engagement
Savings achieved
£3.5M
7% vs. opening position
Outcomes uplift (12%)
£420K
Of verified savings
Total Wilverley fee
£540K
1.08% of contract value
Client net saving
£3.0M
After Wilverley fee
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SERVICE
We already have internal procurement resource. Why do we need external advisory?
Internal procurement teams are valuable for programme ownership, stakeholder management, and business continuity. What they typically lack — through no fault of their own — is current, specific intelligence on how the vendor market is operating right now and how vendors are approaching your process in particular. That is what we add. The most effective engagements combine internal ownership with independent commercial advisory.
We are already mid-process. Can you join an engagement that has started?
Yes, and this is more common than you might expect. We regularly join sourcing programmes at the RFP stage, at shortlist, or at the point of entering negotiation. The earlier we are involved, the more we can influence the commercial outcome, but we can add meaningful value at any stage, including a negotiation that has already begun.
Our deal involves technology vendors who may also be Wilverley clients. How does that work?
We never advise both sides of the same transaction. If any vendor in your process is a current Wilverley client on a related engagement, we will tell you immediately and recuse ourselves from that element. Our conflict policy is systematic and transparent, it is available in full on request, and we apply it proactively rather than waiting to be asked.
How do you handle the confidentiality of our commercial information?
All engagements are covered by a mutual NDA signed before any work begins. We do not discuss client programmes, share commercial positions with third parties, or use client intelligence in any other engagement. Discretion is the baseline, not a feature.
What is the minimum contract size you work on?
Our engagements typically involve technology or BPO contracts valued at £20M or more. Below that level, the economics of independent advisory on both sides are harder to justify. For contracts in the £10–20M range, a diagnostic or negotiation-only engagement may be the more appropriate entry point. Contact us, and we will give you an honest view.
THE WILVERLEY ADVANTAGE ON SOURCING
Vendor-side intelligence
We advise technology vendors on their FS bid strategies — which means we know how vendors are approaching your market, what pricing pressure they are under, and what commercial concessions they are making elsewhere. No buy-side-only advisor has this.
FS-only focus
Our buy-side practice is exclusively Financial Services — banking, insurance, and asset management. The sector dynamics, regulatory context, and vendor landscape are specific to FS, and our advice is calibrated accordingly rather than adapted from a generalist framework.
Complete independence
No vendor partnerships, panel relationships, or preferred supplier arrangements. We have no commercial interest in which vendor wins your process — only in the commercial outcome you achieve at the end of it.
Aligned incentives
We offer outcomes-based structures on every buy-side engagement. Our willingness to tie part of our fee to the savings we help you achieve is the clearest possible signal of confidence in the value we deliver.
Commercial negotiation support
For programmes already at shortlist or BAFO stage where negotiation is the specific requirement. Can be combined with or follow on from a sourcing programme.
£40–120K · Fixed or outcomes-based
Retained advisory
Many sourcing programme clients move to a retained arrangement post-award, to protect the commercial outcome and manage ongoing supplier governance.
From £15K/month
Procurement diagnostic
Not ready for a full programme? A structured diagnostic reviews your IT sourcing process and validates the approach before you commit resource to an RFP.
£15–25K · Fixed fee · 2–4 weeks
Contract portfolio review
Already have contracts in place? We assess your existing portfolio for value leakage, non-conformance, and renegotiation opportunities before they become problems.
From £25K
Tell us about your programme
Whether your sourcing process starts next month or is already underway, contact us for a confidential conversation about how we can help, and what that would look like commercially.