Strengthening Public Procurement, growing Talent: inside TriFinance’s Expert Practice Procurement

The reality of Public Procurement today

Public organizations face recurring challenges that slow down procurement and increase risk:

• Staff shortages and fluctuating workloads
• Limited expertise to prepare tenders correctly
• Stalled processes leading to inefficiency and frustration

At the same time, contracting authorities must comply with strict legislation to ensure transparent, objective, and efficient use of public funds. Without the right expertise, procurement becomes risky, on a political, financial and legal level. This is exactly where TriFinance steps in.

How the Expert Practice Procurement supports clients

Our Expert Practice offers 360° procurement services that combine operational execution with strategic guidance:

• Operational procurement support, drafting tender documents, managing files, ensuring legal compliance
• Procurement planning supported by spend analyses
• Process optimization to reduce inefficiencies
• Centralized procurement services for municipalities
• Procurement audits of organizations or individual files
• Training and coaching for internal teams
• Sustainable and local procurement policies

This multidisciplinary approach allows us to adapt to fluctuating workloads and varying levels of procurement maturity.

Every mission begins with a thorough intake:

• What does the client need?
• How mature is their procurement organization?
• Which processes require improvement?

From there, we build a clear project plan, cost estimate, and communication structure.

Two profiles, one shared mission

Wender Decré: Senior expertise built on years in the public sector

Wender Decré strengthened the team in May 2024, bringing fourteen years of experience in the public sector. He first joined us as a project consultant and has since demonstrated an impressive internal progression.

Today, he leads projects, coaches consultants, and ensures quality across all missions.

Robbe Gielen: A junior consultant gaining mileage under experienced wings

When Robbe joined TriFinance in January 2024, public procurement was largely new territory. With a master’s degree in Political Science and two years of IT experience, he had a solid foundation, but the complexity of public tenders required something different.

Today, more than two years later, Robbe navigates complex public environments with confidence and autonomy.

What started as a mentor–mentee relationship quickly evolved into a strong, equal partnership.

Learning doesn’t happen by accident

Robbe’s growth didn’t happen by chance.

He and Wender intentionally built their collaboration around fixed mentoring and reflection moments, something that easily gets pushed aside in the hectic world of consultancy.

“You can keep working from deadline to deadline, but you don’t learn much from that,” Robbe says. “It was in those mentoring moments that the real added value emerged.”

Alongside daily mentoring, Robbe invested in an internal coaching program focused on communication, assertiveness, and self‑reflection.

This combination, learning in practice, structured guidance, and coaching, strengthened not only his expertise, but also his confidence as a consultant.

Wender saw that evolution up close:

“As a senior, you want to be a sounding board and create a framework in which people can grow. Robbe picked up the material quickly because he was so open to feedback.”

Within the Expert Practice, they take on projects together, allowing Robbe to move quickly operationally while they jointly safeguard strategic depth and quality.

From firefighting to delivering ‘The One Thing More’

Local authorities often look for interim support to plug urgent gaps and “put out fires.”

But the synergy between Robbe’s hands‑on mentality and Wender’s strategic perspective ensures that TriFinance consistently delivers the one thing more: calmness, structure, and sustainable process improvement.

Robbe recalls a complex project in Flemish Brabant:

“I ran into challenges with digital platforms and sluggish communication. At first, you focus on execution, but you quickly learn that’s not where your added value lies. You need to dare to name what isn’t working.”

He gradually grew into that advisory role:

“You become a neutral conversation partner who makes pain points visible. Thanks to the support of the Expert Practice Procurement and Wender, I dared to take this on.”

Wender recognizes that dynamic, and experiences similar growth himself:

“My role forces me to wear different hats: business development, proposals, sales, project management, mentoring. A recent client situation with low procurement maturity required strong stakeholder management. By engaging at the political level and clarifying the scope, you can get such a project back on track.”

The strength of the team

The story of Robbe and Wender perfectly illustrates what the Expert Practice Public Procurement stands for: an environment where people learn from and strengthen one another.

“I’m proud of what we’ve built here as a team,” says Wender. “But the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing people grow.”

Robbe looks ahead with ambition, aiming to deepen his procurement expertise and broaden his focus toward project and change management within the public sector.

“We complement each other. Experience and a fresh perspective. It’s exactly that combination that allows you to make a real impact.”