APMP UK announces shortlist for 2016 People Development Award

The shortlist for the 2016 People Development Award, proudly sponsored by Bid Solutions, includes:

• EE
• Goodman Masson
• WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

We would like to offer our congratulations to the nominees and look forward to announcing the winner on the 19th October at the Annual APMP UK Awards Dinner. This year has seen a high number of submissions and it has been a very challenging job for the judges to sift down to these final nominations.

If you are interested in attending the conference, please visit: http://conference2016.apmpuk.co.uk/

To view our latest vacancies for bid and proposal professionals, follow this link. To help us connect you with a winner to add to your team, follow this link.

‘Ask the Expert’ Launched – Free, Impartial Advice from Recognised Industry Professionals

Bid Solutions is delighted to announce the launch of its ‘Ask the Expert’ service. Advice from some of the leading lights in the industry, to help you with problems and build your own bid library.

With so many different approaches to bidding and a growing recognition of our profession globally, we understand just how hard it can be to get an objective opinion on best practice or industry-specific challenges. Having personally worked with some of the best people in our profession for over 20 years (and having benefitted from their counsel on many occasions), I’m pleased that we can now extend this fantastic service to our wider network.

The panel is comprised of 15 experts and is actively expanding to cover more industries and disciplines. Our current range of expertise includes: Apprenticeship Programmes; Benchmarking; Cost Modelling & Pricing Deal Management; Public Sector Bidding; Leadership & Coaching; Innovation; Proposal Management; Business Transformation; Proposal Training; Organisational Design; Professional Development; Content & Knowledge Management; and Microsoft Word.

The industries currently covered include: Construction; Professional Services; Financial Services; Aerospace; IT; Defence; and Telecoms.

Got a burning questions or struggling with a particular challenge? Simply find the relevant expert and submit your question at https://bidsolutions.co.uk/bid-hub/ask-the-expert/

Our experts have already offered up some fantastic advice and you can benefit by following the links below:

·         Bid Consultancy Advice

·         Automated Bid Tracking Software

·         Incorporating original thinking in tender responses

·         Direct award options for unique services

·         Team motivation and engagement in times of change

·         Post Brexit Procurement Regime

·         APMP Training

As recognised thought leaders, our experts will be regularly sharing new ideas on best practice and discussing industry trends. Follow all their updates on our website and LinkedIn feeds.

More Information for your Bid Library

More resources are available to you, free of charge, through our Bid Hub.

How often do you achieve a win / win deal?

It was a compelling evening with the International Proposals Academy in London on Monday evening. Ian Law, Head of Commercial Support at Deloitte, led the session on how to secure a win / win deal. Drawing upon his experience of 8 years as Head of Procurement at Barclays, Ian gave great insight into typical bidding pitfalls and guidance on how to create compelling proposals that truly resonate with their audience.

With experience of both sides of the table, Ian provided thought-provoking insight into how to get the most out of commercial negotiations.

We want to hear from you – how much planning do you put into negotiations? Do you try and achieve win / win deals or simply the best for your organisation?

For more expert advice and insight into how to write a winning bid, check out our Ask the Expert section.

Construction, Infrastructure and Rail News

This week’s Infrastructure, Rail and Construction Bid News:

Viridis Real Estate have awarded a £40.8m design and build contract to McLaren Construction. The contract will see McLaren redevelop the former offices of The Guardian newspaper on Farringdon Road, London into 9,300m2 of office and retail space. The project is due for completion at the end of 2018.

The Peel Group have secured planning permission for the second phase of the MediaCityUK development. The £1bn project will see the estate double in size, providing more than 1,400 new homes and 50,000m2 of office space. The plans include –

  • Northern Edge – a new gateway to MediaCityUK including 3 buildings with 632 apartments, 6 two-storey live / work units, office space, 3 multi-storey car parks and more.
  • The Arcade – retail / leisure space around a pedestrian arcade with office space.
  • Studio Square – offices and a small park.
  • Georgian Square – a public courtyard, six-storey podium on top of which would be 2 blocks of flats with residents terraces, 18 three-storey live / work units and separate commercial office space.
  • Market Square – a village hall and square for markets and events.
  • London Square – 14 three-storey town houses with 460 apartments on the upper floors and gym, cinema room and shared office space.

 

Carillion will continue their long running relationship with Centrica to deliver facilities management and project services in a new 5 year contract. Carillion will provide hard and soft FM services including security, cleaning, catering and planned and reactive maintenance in 115 Centrica locations across the UK and ROI. The new contract is worth £90m and has the potential to be extended to 7 years.

 

Department for Transport have issued an Invitation to Tender for the West Midlands rail franchise. The competition is between West Midlands Trains, owned by Abellio (with minority partners East Japan Railway Company and Citsui & Co Ltd) and the current provider, London Midland owned by Govia. The ITT sets out several improvements including

  • An increase in Sunday services
  • Bespoke local branding of trains forming part of a separate business unit managed by West Midlands Rail
  • Space for over 30k additional journeys into Birmingham during peak times
  • Increased frequency of some services and a new service from Birmingham and Wolverhampton to Crewe via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent
  • Expanding smart ticketing and providing free Wi-Fi on all local services by 2019.

To view our latest vacancies for bid and proposal professionals, follow this link. To help us connect you with a winner to add to your team, follow this link.

Research findings – “Gender in Work Winning”

This week saw the publication of startling new research into gender disparities in the bid / proposal profession. The study, led by Krista Takkala of Strategic Proposals and supported by Bid Solutions and the APMP UK, makes for some very challenging reading.

Although the data is primarily UK-based, respondents elsewhere suggested that there are concerns to be addressed worldwide.

Salary Survey Reveals Gender Pay Gap

Following the salary surveys published by Bid Solutions, it should come as no surprise to the profession that there is a gender pay gap. What does shock however is the scale of the problem; fundamentally affecting women and their career advancement. It clearly isn’t just affecting salaries, the research suggests there is widespread discrimination across all roles and all industries.

The report offers some excellent ideas and suggestions for tackling these problems head-on and is available to download here.

I know Krista would welcome further suggestions as to how to tackle the important issues raised. The full results and findings will also be debated at this year’s APMP UK conference in October. Full details of the conference can be found here.

To view our latest vacancies for bid and proposal professionals, follow this link. To help us connect you with a winner to add to your team, follow this link.