Supporting regional development

Niche SME supports regional development:

Being awarded accreditation through Bloom gave Torne and Shirmers an efficient route to market that was otherwise unavailable.

Following a mini-competition, the specialised SME was awarded a Key Account Management project with Sheffield City Region (SCR), where their extensive knowledge and experience helped to far exceed SCR expectations and helped shape future project requirements.

“Bloom is a professional and far-reaching procurement partner, allowing Torne and Shirmers to reach its target market in supporting the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Local Authorities, universities and NHS trusts throughout the UK to achieve their tax payer value for money targets.”
Neil Wilkinson, Managing Director, Torne and Shirmers

The challenge

Through their regional offices, Torne and Shirmers were looking for an efficient route to market that would provide access to projects with public sector buyers across the UK.

At the same time, SCR required a supplier with the right experience to deliver a dedicated Key Account Management programme for a specified 30 foreign-owned companies working within the region, so turned to Bloom for help.

The successful supplier was also required to:

• Provide a strategic relationship management function with the selected foreign-owned companies
• Hold 6 business meetings with the specified companies each month to discuss growth, finance and other needs
• Make a minimum of 2 referrals per month to the Growth Hub services, with a total of 9 referrals during the project
• Assist up to 30 businesses in total
• Identify areas for development and coordinate with the necessary stakeholders to ensure continued development

Our solution

NEPRO and Bloom provided an efficient and compliant way to procure the right expertise to deliver a new and unprecedented requirement for SCR.

Bloom first worked with the council to define a clear and detailed project specification.

The procurement was then run as a mini-competition and the supplier shortlist was put together by Bloom based on the supplier’s proven capabilities. The shortlist included a mix of UK-based SMEs as well as large multinational corporations.

Torne and Shirmers was selected as the successful supplier based on their Pro-vide profile and previous experience working with both UK-based and international companies on similar projects.

The outcome

Torne and Shirmers worked with SCR, successfully delivering the project under budget and within a significantly reduced timeframe.

Torne and Shirmers also exceeded all project targets and;

• Made 193 referrals to the Growth Hub services and Local Authorities
• Filled the gaps in existing provision and successfully account managed a specified 30 foreign-owned companies within the region
• Provided strategic relationship management at Board level, delivering a collaborative approach towards business growth.
• Maintained alignment by working closely with various stakeholders including the DIT and Sector Leads, the NPH, SCR Investment Teams, Growth-Hub specialists, AFCoE and the region’s Local Authorities.

The knowledge and experience Torne and Shirmers gained from working on similar projects in the past, helped SCR shape the scope of future project requirements. It also led to future business opportunities for the SME through NEPRO and Bloom.

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