European procurement and supply chain consultancy 4C Associates, announced the appointment of Nick Muir as new Managing Partner to lead the firm’s life sciences practice.

Nick Muir joins 4C as a Managing Partner from Deloitte, where he led the firm’s UK and EMEA procurement consulting business and held prior leadership roles including Global Operations Transformation Consulting Leader for Life Sciences. He joins 4C as a Partner and member of the Senior Leadership Team, focused on establishing a leading global life sciences procurement advisory practice capable of serving clients in North America, Europe and Asia.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been asked by 4C to launch and lead a dedicated life sciences business from within this established, award winning, procurement consulting firm.”, says Nick Muir.

He started his consulting career advising private equity firms on cost related topics, subsequently supported governments to undertake major outsourcing efforts, and has also previously worked in consumer businesses and financial services organisations. Having spent the last ten years in the Life Sciences sector advising clients such as Novartis, GSK, AstraZeneca, Takeda, Roche and Astellas on their most complex cost and operational challenges, Muir has an established track record as a leading advisor to senior leadership at these major global organisations and is consistently trusted to deliver a lasting impact on ways of working and the P&L.

“Nick brings a wide range of operations and procurement experience to 4C Associates at a time of exponential growth, and I’m delighted to welcome him to the team”, says Simon Terry, CEO at 4C Associates.

“Return on investment in life sciences research and development continues to experience strong headwinds, creating a natural focus from executives on cost management and the role of procurement in supporting the enterprise. At the same time, increasingly mature procurement functions are demanding highly specialised and unique advisory support from consulting firms – be it to transform clinical trials procurement or in creating a consumer grade buying experience for enterprise end users.”, concluded Muir.