£1.4bn
Portfolio led at NHS Supply Chain
Accountable for all clinical consumables to the NHS, leading 130 commercial and clinical professionals across 450 suppliers — delivering above-target 2023/24 savings.
Beth Loudon, BA (Hons), FCIPS
Founder, Belo Commercial · Government Commercial Function SCS2 (Grade A)
About
I've seen the healthcare commercial picture from both perspectives.
I'm Beth Loudon — a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply with more than twenty years across healthcare commercial leadership, largely within the NHS. I've led large commercial and consultancy teams: a £1.4bn medical consumables portfolio and 130-strong team at NHS Supply Chain, market access for the UK's in vitro diagnostics industry at BIVDA, Category Tower 8 procurement services through Akeso, and national policy at the Department of Health as NHS Procurement Programme Lead.
Through Belo Commercial, I now advise from both perspectives: healthcare suppliers (MedTech, pharma, diagnostics) selling into the NHS and wider healthcare system, and healthcare organisations — including the NHS — procuring in complex MedTech markets. I also coach commercial, bid and procurement teams on both sides of the table — from managed service models and negotiation to category strategy and contract management.
I operate as a senior extension of your team. Tight scopes, clear deliverables, and the person who scopes the work is the person who does it.
20+ years
NHS commercial
£1.4bn
Portfolio led
FCIPS · SCS2
Credentials
Career highlights.
A career deliberately built across both perspectives of the healthcare market.
- 2024 – PresentDirector of Market Access & OperationsBIVDA (British In Vitro Diagnostics Association)
- 2025 – PresentCommercial Healthcare ConsultantSelf-employed — advising a major UK MedTech business
- 2023 – 2024Commercial Director, Medical & Surgical ConsumablesNHS Supply Chain — £1.4bn portfolio, team of 130
- 2019 – 2023Managed Commercial Services DirectorAkeso — Category Tower 8 lead for NHS Supply Chain
- 2016 – 2019Director of SourcingNHS Shared Business Services
- 2010 – 2013NHS Procurement Programme LeadDepartment of Health — QIPP, NHS Standards of Procurement
- EarlierSenior procurement rolesNHS Purchasing & Supply Agency, NW Centre of Excellence
What I've delivered.
Selected outcomes from two decades leading commercial and consultancy teams across the NHS and its supplier base.
£120m+
NHS savings via Category Tower 8
Delivered procurement and category services for NHS Supply Chain through Akeso — 170% of savings target across a 5-year contract.
3 → 1
Teams merged into a single operating model
Led the consultation, transition and in-flight governance redesign that brought three procurement teams from three organisations into one at NHS Supply Chain.
300%
Revenue growth at NHS SBS Procurement
As Director of Sourcing, grew procurement revenue three-fold while lifting Great Place to Work score from 60% to 80% and exceeding customer savings, profit and NPS targets.
National policy
Authored NHS Standards of Procurement
Consulted on, wrote and published the NHS Standards of Procurement and 'Raising our Game' (2012) at the Department of Health — reporting directly to the NHS Chief Executive and Health Ministers.
£400m
Demand Management savings programme
Programme Director for a £15m NHS PASA initiative that delivered £400m of savings over three years across the NHS.
MedTech coaching
Commercial coaching, live engagements
Currently advising a major UK MedTech: coaching product and sales teams on managed service models, transforming the bidding function and running Market Access workshops tailored to product teams.
Industry voice
Market access for UK IVD industry
As Director of Market Access & Operations at BIVDA, leading industry Consultation responses and presenting evidence on Pathology commercial arrangements to senior Government leaders.
FCIPS · SCS2
Senior commercial credentials
Fellow of CIPS, Government Commercial Function Senior Commercial Specialist (Grade A, SCS2), PRINCE 2 Practitioner. Former CIPS Congress North Region Representative and CIPS Council Healthcare Representative.
How I work.
Three principles shape every engagement.
I've held the other perspective
I've led NHS procurement at scale and run supplier market access. I bring both lenses to every brief.
Evidence before opinion
Category data, market intelligence and clinical engagement underpin every recommendation — never assertion alone.
Senior, hands-on, end-to-end
The person who scopes the work does the work. No hand-off to juniors after the pitch.