Your CIPS and Procurement Apprenticeships Team, here for you through your study, and beyond.
ABA is entirely owned and operated by Lu, Evie, and Beth with the support of our fantastic tutors.
If you’ve come to this page, it’s because you want to know what makes ABA different, right? The answer is us!
At ABA, We aren’t going to suffocate you under meaningless tag lines about student experience, send you loads of marketing, give you weird AI teachers, or shoehorn everyone into whichever course we need to fill the numbers on right now. We’re real people, always on the other end of a phone when you need us, and we work around what’s best for you.
The three of us have been working together for years, but we’re also friends who sit together on the sofa drinking wine, failing to crochet, and coming up with great new ideas to create learning that is actually interesting and relavent to our students.
That’s the reason we always have a pass rate far above the CIPS average. That’s why our students consistently give us glowing feedback. That’s why so many companies come back to us again and again.
If you want a course that runs the same way it did ten years ago, ABA probably isn’t for you.
But if you want to study with a company that is always working on new things for students, cares about each of them, and does things a little differently, then we’ve got you.
ABA Directors, all based in our Norwich Office
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Lu Hales-Greer, PGCE - Director of Education
Qualified teacher · At ABA since 2016 · Co-owner and director since 2020
Lu’s focus is on the student experience, so she spends her time creating new learning resources, and designing our materials and new exam preparation methods.
Lu is your go to for: learning techniques, essay writing, study help, or recommendations for a new book to read.
Lu Fact: she writes horror novels in her spare time!
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Evie de Belgeonne – Director of Operations
Background in education administration · At ABA since 2017 · Co-owner and director since 2020
Evie makes sure that the ABA runs the way it’s supposed to. She takes care of timetabling classes, managing finances, and keeping day to day operations working.
Evie is your go to for: Corporate enquiries, finance, distance learning, and when Lu or Beth mess something up.
Evie Fact: Evie can, and almost certainly will, eat cheese at every single meal.
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Beth Seager, Chartered MCIPS – Curriculum Director
In procurement since 2012 · Former senior buyer and independent procurement consultant in chemicals, pharmaceuticals and medical devices · Teaches all CIPS levels
Beth takes care of all things teaching, from creating new procurement information content, to managing tutors, to running our bespoke short courses and consultancy.
Beth is your go to for: procurement questions, CPD short courses, consultancy, or obscure information about Taylor Swift.
Beth Fact: she can crochet pretty much anything in the world. It’s like a superpower.
CIPS and Procurement Apprenticeship Tutors
We have an amazing group of tutors who all share ABA’s aim to provide courses aimed at what the students actually want to be learning.
So there’s plenty of chatting, lots of real world experience, and constant updating of courses based on student and employer ideas.
Here are some of the great people you’ll learn from.
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Martin Higginson, PGCE
Qualified teacher · Teaching business and professional qualifications, including CIPS, since 2009
Martin has taught procurement and business skills for over 15 years. Coming from an education background, he specialises in guiding students through the course and applying new learning techniques.
Martin Facts: He’s a keen skier, a licensed sommelier, and was Evie’s geography teacher back in 2005.
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Anton Bull, MBA, MCIPS
Teaches all CIPS levels · Public sector procurement since 2001
Anton spent over two decades in local government, from procurement manager to Head of Procurement and then Director of Resources at a city council, before moving into procurement consultancy. He brings real public sector know-how to every level of CIPS.
Anton Facts: Anton cheats at crazy golf. This is a fact and not at all coloured by the fact that he beat Lu.
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Jim Goodhead, FCIPS, CEng
Teaches all CIPS levels · In procurement since 1988 · Former head of procurement, group supply chain director and management consultant
Jim is a chartered engineer as well as a Fellow of CIPS, and has worked in just about every procurement role there is, across automotive, ports, rail, construction, water and energy. It’s very rare to have a cohort of students without at least one working in a company Jim has first-hand experience of!
Jim Facts: Jim studies karate (although he assures us he doesn’t use it to keep students in line). -
Alan Oxenbury, BA (Hons), Chartered FCIPS
Teaches CIPS Levels 5 and 6 · CIPS examiner 2004–2019 · CIPS centre auditor 2010–2021 · Co-author of Practical Contract Management
Alan is our contract and risk management specialist and our longest-serving tutor. He has nearly 50 years in procurement, from local government and the Post Office to the energy and nuclear sector, including contract audit on the Sizewell B power station project. He has some of the best anecdotes too.
Alan Fact: Alan still owns every incarnation of music player, from wind-up gramophone to a phone for streaming!
The Origin Story
If you’ve read this far, it’s probably because you’re wondering how the three of us wound up here, and now.
ABA Procurement opened in Norwich, Norfolk back in 2012 when another CIPS centre closed part way through the year and left some students stranded. Beth began her own CIPS study with ABA in 2014, Lu began working for ABA in 2016, and Evie joined a year later.
Meet ABA’s not so secret 4th owner, Eko. She tries to help out, but is more of a free-floating agent of chaos.
In 2020 Lu and Evie took over as owners and directors, and Beth began working with us as a CIPS tutor. Then in 2023 Beth joined as the third owner of our company, meaning we were able to make the leap to becoming an apprenticeship provider, consultancy, and CPD short course provider.
ABA Procurement began life as Anglia Business Academy and our Anglian roots run deep. We’re still based in Norwich, Norfolk and have been fortunate enough to build a huge network of local companies whom we work with and support. We stay local with our in person scheduled courses, meaning our local network and knowledge is something all of our students can benefit from. Today we’re the only CIPS Centre of Excellence in East Anglia.
Thanks to a level of demand for courses that are flexible, interesting, and engaging we’ve expanded our online courses to be accessible to students across the world! There’s actually 8,674 miles between our two furthest reaching students and they both have access to all of our resources, great tutors, and unlimited office support.
We’re a fixture in Norwich and love to meet new students here at home, but we’re excited to expand, enjoy arranging our in-company courses across the world, and will always keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
There’s still a million things we haven’t done, but just you wait.
Our Norwich Home. It really is a fine city!
The ABA Team, ready to leap in to action… or possibly fall and injure ourselves.
Get in touch to join us!
We’ve got a great team who will support you in whatever you need, so come and join us!