‘Procurement has grown up’, says Professor Lynette Ryals in her paper ‘Holding up the mirror: The impact of strategic procurement practices on account management’. A shift from short term price reductions to long-term relationships with our suppliers is delivering more sustained shareholder value. Yet paradoxically the vast majority of relationships (approx 70%) are at arms length. She goes on to say that many organisations suffer from supplier delusion as they may believe they are in a partnership arrangement with a customer however, the buying organisation has a very different picture. Supplier’s often pour time, money and effort relentlessly into relationships with customers that will never be anything more than arms length.