VODG HR Directors' Professional Network

Christoph Marr

Managing Director, Marr Procurement

Christoph started his procurement career with Marks & Spencer after they sponsored him at University and went onto spend six years as Buyer then Buying Manager at the M&S Head Office in London. In 2001 IBM recruited Christoph as Senior Consultant and he was seconded as Head of Procurement for IBM Europe Middle East and Africa to help build the IBM UK Procurement Consulting practice involving procurement projects across the private and public sector in the UK, Europe and the US.

In March 2008 Care UK Plc recruited Christoph to create a procurement function and two years later was invited to join a ten strong team involved in a ￡300m venture capitalist backed management buyout.

In 2013 he was appointed as a judge for the annual Management Consulting Association awards and in 2014 Christoph founded the UK Procurement Leader Care Network, a group consisting of 51 Health & Social Care Procurement Directors with aggregated spend of ￡1bn.

Christoph has a 1st Class BA Honours degree from the Aberdeen Business School where he specialised in supply chain quality and his career ambition has been to create a procurement business which operates with real integrity, which always puts clients first and which only employs extraordinary people who have a passion for procurement – this is what differentiates Marr Procurement.

: https://www.marrprocurement.com/
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-marr-2360a31
: @https://twitter.com/christoph_marr

Emma Burrows

Partner, Trowers & Hamlins

Emma is a partner and head of the Trowers & Hamlins' Employment department which she founded.  Emma has specialised in employment law for over 30 years.

She is known for her practical approach and finding solutions. Emma advises mainly on sensitive issues, managing senior staff exits, board disputes, employment structures and governance issues. At any one time, she manages a few complicated employment tribunal claims, working with other members of the team.

She loves employment law and is an active member of the Employment Lawyers Association Legislative and Policy committee and on the Editorial Board of Employment Law Journal.

She contributes to leadership development in the affordable housing, charities and health and social care sectors, and has written and contributed to guidance over the years. She co-wrote "Board member pay- what housing associations need to know", and is currently involved in speaking and contributing to Leadership 2025, the leadership development programme available exclusively to senior leaders from BME backgrounds working in the housing sector. During her career she's spoken regularly for the NHF, CIOH and at other sector events. 

She works closely with Charities, and edits and contributes to Jordan's 'Employment Law for Charities – A Practice Guide to Employment Law and contributes the employment law section to ICSA's Charities Guide. Emma works closely with care providers and has worked closely with organisations providing social care in the last two years on sleep-ins, providing some advice to the No 10 Policy Unit as part of the discussion. She's been a member of the care team at Trowers since it started, about 20 years ago and works closely with VODG and its members.

Emma is ranked in Band 1 as a leading individual for employment advice to not for profit organisations in the 2021 edition of Chambers UK.  

: https://www.trowers.com/
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-burrows-2a273b3
: @@EJ_Burrows