I joined the British Army in 1978 and spent 13 years working in logistics and supply across multiple countries and operational environments.
That experience shaped how I see the world.
It taught me the value of structure, coordination, discipline, and clear outcomes.
It also showed me how much can be achieved when people work together with a shared objective and practical systems that support delivery.
When I left the military in 1991, I began a new career in procurement and supply.
Over the following decades I progressed from buyer level roles through to senior leadership positions, ultimately serving as an EMEA Procurement Director. Along the way I gained MCIPS by examination and built experience across operational, commercial, and digital procurement environments.
My career has included:
building procurement and supply operations from the ground up
designing and delivering major transformation initiatives
creating new commercial and digital solutions
working across public sector, private sector, and highly regulated environments
supporting organisations through complex change and performance improvement
One of the most formative experiences was establishing a boutique e-procurement consultancy within Fujitsu from a standing start, without budget or pre-existing solutions. Within a short period this evolved into a successful offering supporting central government and major organisations, with more than £1 billion of spend under management.
Later, work within healthcare and the public sector led to drafting and helping implement one of the UK’s earliest Scan for Safety outsourced solutions within an NHS Trust, delivered within six months from concept to live operation.
Across every role and organisation, a consistent pattern became clear:
capable people
good ideas
strong intentions
but limited coordination and follow-through.
That recurring experience ultimately led to meeting Ivar Ingimarsson and the creation of Ideas-Shared.
What began as a way to help people develop and progress ideas evolved into something much broader: a structured system designed to help individuals, groups, and organisations coordinate action and deliver measurable outcomes.
Today my time is split between professional procurement and transformation work and continuing to develop and expand the Ideas-Shared system and Innovation Hub model.
It has been a long and varied journey so far – and it continues.
If you are interested in the Ideas-Shared approach, you can explore it directly through the global platform.
Bob Thompson with Ivar Ingimarsson, co-founders of Ideas-Shared