What we do
Esby & Co is a specialist consultancy helping leaders design world-leading partnerships and procurement experiences. We empower clients across NZ and Australia to navigate complex technology and transformation environments.
Organisations work with us for our strategic and commercial intelligence, our leadership in Lean-Agile Procurement, and our ability to align teams with strategy. We use tech-enabled and people-centric approaches to unlock value and accelerate delivery.
Esby & Co was established in 2019. We reshape how people engage with their customers, suppliers and the ecosystem in which they operate. We are building a team of trusted and influential advisors doing bigger and better things to support our clients in Australasia and beyond.
Why our clients choose to work with us
Esby & Co’s Strategic and Commercial Intelligence
Most organisations thrive because they are good at what they do, but in large organisations, that line of sight between strategy and execution can be muddied. We start by understanding your strategy and priorities, then bring together people around a shared direction. By quickly building trust across teams and organisations, we make it possible to cut through competing objectives and focus on what really matters: delivering results and finding great partners to get you there. Our expertise spans commercial partnerships, procurement and negotiations across multiple industries and for multi-billion dollar programmes of work. We draw from our experiences on the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ side of the table to bring commercial acumen and commercial empathy so that you can grow partnerships that are trusted, resilient, and built to deliver.
We are Australasia’s Procurement Accelerators
Esby & Co is New Zealand and Australia’s leading delivery partner and trainer in Lean-Agile Procurement. Our approach to LAP drastically reduces the time to source complex products and services. We’ve learnt what makes a great LAP project and where it can go wrong. Esby & Co’s approach to LAP is trusted by large organisations in NZ and Australia for critical partners and solutions.
We understand the evolving B2B technology landscape
Enterprise technology decisions have never been more complex. The pace of change, the rise of AI, and the shift to an ‘ecosystem’ of technology architecture means that selecting the wrong vendor isn’t just a procurement failure – it’s a strategic one. We bring deep commercial and contractual expertise to technology sourcing. We accelerate the clarity you need – not just what you need to buy, but how to choose a great partner on mutually beneficial terms. When third-party risk is increasing and the stakes of getting it wrong are higher than ever, we help you choose partners – not just suppliers.
We align People and Partners with Business Strategy
Procurement creates the most value when it is directly connected to business strategy. Whether it’s a high-stakes sourcing project or a redesign of the operating model, the work must be guided by the outcomes the business needs to achieve. We start by understanding your strategic priorities, then bring together people and partners around a shared direction. By quickly building trust across teams and organisations, we make it possible to cut through competing objectives and focus on what really matters: delivering measurable results for the business. Our role is to create a clear line of sight from strategy to execution – ensuring that procurement and partnerships not only meet immediate needs but also accelerate long-term performance.
We focus on the Customer
Procurement is often arduous, time-consuming and full of unnecessary jargon. We change that. By designing engaging, frictionless experiences for internal customers and their suppliers, we transform what procurement delivers and how it feels. Organisations come to us for operating model reviews, process simplification, managed procurement services and procurement technology advice. Our recommendations are always grounded in one thing: the customer.
How we work
Engaging is who we are
We use passion, positivity and inspiration to bring fun to our work. We bring a renewed sense of purpose to organisations by curating creativity, fresh thinking, and optimism.
Simplicity is our aim
It’s time to cut the procurement-ese and complexity where its not adding value. We help you simplify how you do things to create meaningful value, happier people and experiences.
Change is what we enable
Lasting change happens at the intersection of people and purpose. We help you build alignment and understanding, providing the support you need for forward momentum.
Why we do it
No person is an island. We achieve 10x more when we work successfully with others. When human relationships thrive, our business relationships flourish beyond expectations and that’s when we get to create amazing things that drastically improve the world that we live in. And that’s what gets us up in the morning. We love equipping people and teams with what they need to design better commercial partnerships and procurement experiences.
We love working with execs and teams to help them make sense of complex commercial and procurement strategies. Our aim is to be a trusted advisor to achieve their definition of success.
Sarah Blackie, CEO
Our Values
Open-minds: We believe most people bring good intent to their work. We treasure opportunities to learn from a variety of perspectives and creative thinking. We encourage our clients to do the same.
People-first: We believe that great things happen when we take the time to connect and collaborate. We listen to and care about our clients and their partners. We use plain language to help people feel included and understood.
Challenge: We respectfully challenge the status quo where we believe there are better ways to achieve what our clients need. Our clients know us for this, and as we challenge each other, our mutual trust grows.
Business for good: We want our businesses and communities to prosper. People and businesses should be rewarded for their hard work, good ideas and successes. We also believe there is always more that organisations can do to help our economy, our environment and our society to prosper.
Our history
Esby & Co was established by Sarah Blackie in 2019.
Sarah founded Esby & Co after 15+ years of managing commercial relationships, negotiations and teams.
Sarah has led and advised organisations in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA and served as a Board Director for two New Zealand businesses with a global footprint. Prior to forming Esby & Co, Sarah created and led Xero’s global commercial and procurement function. She is an award-winning advisor, with 15+ years global experience in technology, energy, financial and infrastructure sectors.
In 2022, Esby & Co was rebranded from its previous name “Esby.” Esby & Co is a growing team of experts and together we are doing bigger and better things to better serve our clients and our purpose. We can’t wait to work with you.
