Steve Brown Financial Times Prentice Hall £24.99 An entire chapter is devoted to inventory and buyer-supplier relationships in Brown’s book, which argues that many companies fail to become “lean”, “agile” and “world class” (aspirations familiar to purchasers) because they forget the role that manufacturing plays in business strategy.

Britain can look forward to massive disruption in water supplies if the government does not take measures to counter the effects of climate change, according to the water industry trade body Water UK.

Q: I’m considering introducing an environmental policy. Can a business case be made for “green” procurement?

British Telecommunications is considering outsourcing the management and maintenance of its vehicles to a fleet leasing operator as part of an ongoing debt review. “While there is no specific plan as yet, we are looking at flexible and innovative solutions for our support services, in particular our vehicles,” a spokesperson told SM.