Tom Hyner

Tom Hyner completed his MBA at Kent Business School in 2014 and is now the Commercial Director at UK Parliament, where he is leading a major transformation project to improve how the UNESCO World Heritage Site is conserved. 

Tell us about your career path since graduation.

Since graduating I’ve moved between the public and private sector, but always continued to work in commercial management. These moves were enabled by the range of skills and knowledge I acquired during my MBA.

In 2016, I joined the newly formed Department for International Trade to build and lead their new commercial function delivering procurement, contract management and grants. It was a real privilege working there and at the Department for Exiting the EU through one of the biggest political, trade and social changes the country has seen in half a century.

In 2022 I left the civil service and joined UK Parliament where I am the Commercial Director. I am still responsible for procurement and contract management and am currently guiding my team through a major transformation project which will radically improve how we conserve our UNESCO World Heritage Site estate as well as support the members of both Houses of Parliament.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

For me the biggest challenge of the role, as well as the biggest benefit, is the enormous variety of projects I’m involved in. It means that there really isn’t a ‘typical’ day as each deal, each problem, each stakeholder you work with is unique.

Typically, at the moment, being in the middle of a transformation project, my work involves a lot of hands-on team leadership. I’ve recruited an almost entirely new team which means I spend a lot of time in planning and management sessions and then need to communicate those plans effectively.

I also get involved in a wide range of commercial challenges including providing advice and support on our most complex deals. This may include negotiating with suppliers to land or change contracts, or training colleagues outside of our team who are involved in some way with the commercial lifecycle.

Can you share a professional highlight from your career so far?

I’m fortunate to have worked in a lot of places and on a lot of projects that contend for the ‘career highlight’ for me so far. I think if I were to pick one, it has to be the commercial transformation project I’m currently delivering at UK Parliament.

It’s a uniquely complex and dynamic environment as you’re working across two separate high profile organisations, with deeply rooted traditions, and an important role in public life, on a globally recognised historic site. As such, delivering commercial projects and making changes can be sensitive and challenging.

Following an independent review (the Independent Review of Financial Management) the commercial team were given a really demanding set of milestones with deadlines to hit which is why I was bought in. In a little under 18 months we have delivered everything that was asked of us, and in some areas significantly more, whilst keeping the lights on with business-as-usual work.

I’m really proud about the culture we’re creating, in particular how old and new colleagues have pulled together to make this happen, and to observe how we’re beginning to see some really positive feedback from our improvements.

How did your time at Kent help you achieve your current career?

When I worked in management consultancy, we talked a lot about the ‘T’ shape consultant – meaning someone with a broad knowledge base who can engage meaningfully on a range of topics but supported by an in-depth specialism. Studying an MBA at Kent gives you this ‘T’ shape by providing a strong understanding of business strategy outside of your normal specialism.

Although I graduated a few years ago I am still finding that the wide range of knowledge and skills I picked up during my MBA are useful day-to-day and help me to stand out as an addition to my ‘core’ supply and sourcing expertise.

What advice would you give to our current/prospective students who are looking to get into the same line of work?

I feel that a career in commercial has a huge amount to offer because you intersect a range of other professions and end up picking up skills in HR, finance, project delivery, and legal, as well as in your sector area (like construction or technology). In pulling those cross functional teams together to deliver or manage a deal you often find yourself at the heart of business-critical projects either as an advisor or in a key delivery position.

So, my advice would be that the technical skills of procurement and contract management are necessary but not sufficient to be successful. To be really good in complex environments like ours you need also to think about working on and demonstrating your problem solving,, risk management, and other skills, including perhaps, getting experience outside of contract management or procurement for a bit.

I did this through my MBA but also by working in project management and as a consultant in addition to running in-house teams.

Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Kent?

My fondest memories are of the people I met and the opportunities the course offered for group working – even when this involved staying late working on excel models!

I was part of an executive MBA cohort and the project assignments gave me the opportunity not only to embed my learning from the lectures and study, but also to share work experiences and insights with different members of my class.

I developed some strong friendships on the course as a result and have stayed in touch with quite a few people.

Is there anything you would do differently if you could repeat your time at Kent?

I did my course part-time alongside a full-time job and I would try not to do that again. Not because it wasn’t manageable, but because it left me feeling like I could have gotten even more out of it. Mostly because, being part time, I spanned two years of full-time classmates, so I didn’t get the intensity of time with each year group that they had with each other. Also, being pressed for time meant I had to forego some optional personal development aspects of the course.

Are you still in touch with other Kent alumni or academics?

Yes! I’ve stayed in touch with a group from my course, including one or two lecturers, and even now - a decade later - we meet up regularly socially and help each other out with work problems.

In addition to that I’ve stayed involved with the Kent Business School and played an active role in shaping the strategy by serving two terms as a non-executive member of the Kent MBA Advisory Board.

What are your future ambitions?

I’ve always had a preference for working on public sector issues (even when in the private sector) as I’m drawn to the tangible impacts of the work, the sense of public service and the enormous challenge and diversity of the projects you can be involved in. I hope this will continue to feature in my future career, but I definitely see my long-term future as continuing to be a part of the commercial profession and working on sourcing and contract management issues.