MEMBER NEWS Bid writing specialist lends a hand
Bid writing specialists Ask the Chameleon has helped Shepshed- based Primo IT secure a major tender to remain part of a national higher education framework supplying a total of six regional consortia throughout the UK. Primo IT has retained its position
as an approved supplier of a wide range of IT, audio visual consumables and assisted technology equipment for universities across the UK which are part of the new ITRAP (IT Related Accessories and Parts) framework. Primo IT is one of just seven
suppliers across the UK which is approved to supply consortium members for the next four years and will reap a share of the £75m budget over that time. Mick Sloan, Managing Director,
said: “We have been part of the framework since 2003 and this latest award will take our involvement to 21 successive years. The ITRAP Framework highlights the quality of our products and services and is, in effect, a kitemark for the industry. Ask the Chameleon added valuable scrutiny and clarity to the tender process, and we look
Construction boss invests in the future
A construction boss has declared 22% of his workforce started as apprentices - and he is now on a mission to tempt others into the sector. Ian Hodgkinson, Director at
Derby-based Hodgkinson Builders, co-founded the Access Training Construction Academy in association with BUILDBASE in 2019 – and has been so buoyed by the quality of the professionals emerging from the bricklaying apprenticeship scheme that he is keen to expand it into 2020. He said: “To survive in
business, you need the lifeblood of apprentices, motivated youngsters who are given the tools that they need to achieve their dreams. “Of our 100-strong
bricklaying workforce, 22 of them are already a product of our training and apprenticeship schemes and I fully expect that proportion to increase as we move into the future.” Hodgkinson Builders had a
record year in 2019, building 180 houses. It is anticipated that 2020 will see the construction of more than 200 houses.
30 business network March 2020
forward to working with them on future projects.” Ask the Chameleon, based in
Derby and Burton-upon-Trent, has been established for four years and has, during that time, secured more than £12m in bids, contracts and funding for clients. Managing Director Rachel
Hayward commented: “ITRAP is a complicated framework to meet the needs of higher education providers across the UK. Even though Primo IT has already been part of the supplier framework, this is a competitive industry and it was important to treat this as a completely new potential customer. “My role was to review and
update everything so that we could provide examples of quality customer experience, robust processes and compliance systems and demonstrate a strong understanding of what the consortium requires. “This enabled the senior
management team to concentrate on the technical specifications and pricing framework. It was great teamwork and we were delighted to be part of the successful process.”
Partnership boosts bid to revive ‘iron giant’
Erewash Partnership has helped a voluntary group to keep plans on track for turning the disused Bennerley Viaduct into a visitor attraction. The partnership has agreed to an 18-month lease,
giving The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct charity its first base in five years. It has also been granted special terms for its work on preserving the ancient railway viaduct and adding it to local cycling and walking paths. The Grade II* structure was recently given
international recognition by inclusion in the 2020 World Monuments Watch list. Opened in 1878, it is an
L-R: Ian Viles, Jeff Wynch and colleague Kieran Lee at Bennerley Viaduct
outstanding example of Victorian railway architecture, surviving almost unaltered. Jeff Wynch, Chair of the Friends, said: “Getting this
office is a milestone in our development and the work to turn the viaduct into a visitor attraction for cyclists, walkers, railway and industrial heritage enthusiasts. We are grateful to the Partnership for its help in providing this office.” Partnership Chief Executive Ian Viles said: “We are
happy to help the Friends in its mission to bring this sleeping 'iron giant' back to life as a walk and cycle path that will be of great benefit to the community.”
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