We may not have this down to a fine art – there are always things to be learnt – but our stats demonstrate that we have established processes which work well for us. It usually comes down to the way we blend our tried and true systems with an informed ‘feel’ for how things could work.

New tender opportunities come through a variety of regular sources – adverts in The European Journal, OJEU or Local Authority Procurement for example. Often, just 6 or 8 tenders will be sought, which means that before we can begin any process of putting a bid together we must pre-qualify. This involves putting in a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) – submitting reasonably detailed information to demonstrate our position as serious contenders capable of delivering.

After this, we go through a process which is survival of the fittest right the way through.

The first stage of this is to decide whether this contract would, in fact, be a good one for our business. We’re very selective in the work we bid for, and we will only go forward on a pitch if we’re convinced that it fits with our company culture and that we would be able to add value.

After that we involve as many different teams as possible, looking at the contract from different angles.

The Opps Director and the Business Development Team will then do the desk exercise and produce a pack for the Operational Managers to take out with them as they walk the grounds and establish other features which may not be obvious from printed documents alone.

Some of these considerations might be to do with local geography. What are the current standards of horticulture? Is the ground particularly prone to flooding? Do the sizes of the verges have any bearing on things?

When all the information is captured, we come back and share that with the business development team, who turn that into the words and numbers that form the basis of a tender.

And then we repeat the process, for a period of days or even weeks, looking at the tender closely until we’re sure and happy that we can deliver a quality bid. If there are things we are not happy about, we would start to think seriously about pulling out of the process.

It could be that a contract is either too large or too small for us to want to take on. It could be that the contract is too geographically remote or ‘out on a limb’ in some other way, or it could be that we’ve already been successful on a number of recent tenders and we don’t want to over-stretch ourselves.

So what is my personal role in all of this? Well as I’ve indicated here, our teams have excellent track records and they know what they’re doing. But I do like to sit on the team and offer my views and advice. And I do like to get out with the teams too, walking the grounds and getting a feel of the contract.

Sometimes when I do this I think: ‘Yes, this is lovely contract, we could work with this customer, we could improve the facilities and the service delivery and yes, this fits our business model.’

I like to talk to the teams at every stage, to help them build an accurate picture of the contract and to answer any concerns about possible risks, or the impact that the contract may have on aspects of our existing business.

So going back to that point I started on, knowing what to bid on comes down to more than just figures. It’s to do with an innate sense of the contract being right for our company. That means our corporate left-brain and our corporate right-brain working together. Wow, that’s an interesting concept, isn’t it?

Till next time,

Matt

‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’ – yes, it’s a cliché, but it happens to be true. It’s never nice to see people messing up in business, and while this is a strong theme of many of the programmes, we’re often shown stories of people who manage to turn things around – and learn a few important lessons along the way, usually to do with proper planning.

But no business owner or manager can ever hope to make those plans unless they already have a thorough understanding of their company in all its complexity.

For instance, what is different about the way your particular company does things? What kind of picture has been built of the company’s target market and the best way to reach it?

Then when the business succeeds at something, is there sufficient analysis done to show how that success has come about? Again, when pitches are lost, is there thorough analysis of why that has happened?

If things all seem to be going smoothly, the temptation is to say ‘it aint broke, so we don’t need to fix it’, let’s not look to closely under the bonnet. But that’s exactly when you should look under the bonnet – to make sure that success continues, and that you have all the right things in place to grow as you would like.

Future prosperity depends on the senior team knowing exactly how that success is being driven. Because one thing is certain, it is not just happening by accident.

The first step in planning for growth is to visualise it. What does growth look like for your company? Where is growth going to come from, and how will it mesh in with what exists now?

I know that for my company, standing still is not an option. Strategic plans must go hand in hand with thorough knowledge of the business, as well as the right resources to make change happen. That means cash.

While I’m on the subject of clichés, let’s make it a hat-trick by recycling this one: ‘cash is king’. You absolutely must understand how cash flows through the business and you must have access to it. Because if you haven’t got the cash, you can’t move ahead. You can be a very profitable company, but without access to the cash, it will fail.

For me, this is something I monitor every day, looking at the accounts and speaking to our finance director. On that point, I think there is great value in having a non-exec finance director who can look at the company from outside. The last thing I need is somebody who feels they must agree with me at every turn. Much better to have a skilled expert who can be objective about the company.

And that brings me neatly to the other vital aspect of business health: people. Which I’ll need to discuss in detail in another post, because right now I’ve got a date. With The Apprentice.

Till next time,

Matt

When I was a boy and my father was busy building a successful business, it was never assumed by him or any of the rest of the family that I would one day work in the company.

I’m actually grateful to my parents for that, because I’ve seen what difficulties arise when family members are thrust into a work situation together. There can be a kind of resentment and a feeling of ‘I have to work here but I don’t really want to’ that can damage working and family relationships. (This is something that John and I have never experienced in all the time we’ve been working together).

When I left school I started my Business and Finance course with an open mind about my future. I’m not sure that I knew I would definitely join the family company , although I was aware that there would always be an opportunity for me. I did know that I had a love of horticulture which is why I went on to study it at degree level.

When I first came to work at John O’Conner, I started – if you’ll pardon the awful pun – at ground level, spending time out there on the tools. So why am I telling you all this? Well, it’s because of an event I attended a couple of weeks ago.

I went with Max – one of our apprentices – to a Dacorum Borough Council ‘Skills’ networking event. Both of us were down to deliver 10 minute talks. Mine was on – you guessed it – ‘The Benefits of Work Experience’ while Max presented ‘An Apprentice Perspective’.

When you’re looking out on an audience from a podium it’s really easy to see how a talk is going down. Mine went over well, I suppose because this is something I believe in strongly, but what was pleasing for me was to see the way Max’s talk really did make them sit up.

He spoke with such flair and composure that I had to ask myself – was this the same young man who came to us for work experience only a little while ago? It made me realise how much he’d grown and developed in a relatively short time.

When I hear people saying things like: ‘It was more difficult in my day’ and ‘modern kids have it easier’ I get a bit impatient. Yes, things are very different for young school leavers now, but they’re tougher, not easier.

There are certainly fewer employment opportunities now than in the past couple of generations. That’s where Work Experience schemes can help, as we’ve seen at first hand with young people like Max. Most young people don’t know enough about themselves to make a smart career choice, even when the opportunities are all there.

When they’re not, it becomes a whole lot harder. But put these young people into a workplace, let them feel what it’s like to do a job well and see what it does for their self-confidence. What’s the term for that? I think they call it a ‘virtuous circle’, where one positive thing leads to another.

That’s why we as a company embrace Work Experience schemes so wholeheartedly. It’s not about taking advantage, but it is about what we know we do best – nurturing and growing.

Till next time,

Matt

The good news this time is that the National Contractors’ Forum (of which we are founder members) has just agreed to partner with BALI – the major trade association for the grounds maintenance industry.

OK, you can stop whooping for joy now. I admit it’s not exactly the kind of good news that’s going to make people rush out and set up instant street parties. But it is very good news for me – and let me tell you why.

In our democratic society, government policy decisions and initiatives are made on a consultative basis. Ones that affect the country’s parks and open spaces affect the whole of our industry, so the wider the lobbying/consultation base we can build, the more likely the legislation will impact positively on the whole industry.

The National Contractors’ Forum is an association of like-minded and relatively high profile contractors working in landscaping and grounds maintenance. It has provided an effective voice on many issues, but partnering with BALI gives it the potential to have a much more far-reaching voice.

BALI has a membership of over 700 and as well as running events focused on our particular business and operational needs, it is the UK’s representative body in the European Landscape Contractors’ Association. The new partnership therefore gives us a much greater say in any EU directives that could threaten to have a negative impact on UK landscaping and grounds maintenance.

When Bob Ivison of the NCF commented on this new partnership he made a very good point about that base growing wider (and therefore more powerful) than ever when he said:

“…it will allow all sectors of the industry to feel they can link with us.”

To give you an indication of the power of the new alliance, the combined turnover of the  of the NCF members and the BALI major contractors supporting the group is in excess of £1bn and together they employ about 20,000 staff.

So that’s my good news. Not earth-shattering maybe, but enough of an excuse to crack open a bottle of bubbly. Please feel free to do the same!

Till next time,

Matt

Trevor, who this week receives his 10 Year Long Service Award, is employed on our grounds maintenance contract with St. Albans City and District Council. Trevor’s talents for design were noticed after starting work to tend and plant out the gardens, and he was soon working on design, planting and caring for the bedding schemes across the whole district.  He designed the bedding schemes for winter and summer in 2010, and in 2011 when St Albans won the Anglia in Bloom award for Best Local Authority Flower Display Garden for the Civic Centre gardens.  Trevor attends the Municipal Gardens at 7am most mornings to open them and to keep the gardens looking at their very best.  He is now busy preparing the gardens for winter to ensure that we have glorious floral displays in early Spring.

Trevor, who was on his honeymoon when the award was announced in September this year, is part of an experienced team who care for all the key sites and flower beds across the city.  All of the gardens were given recognition by the judges at this year’s Anglia in Bloom competition.

Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for Environment at St Albans City and District Council said:  “We can talk about what the Council does but it is the individual effort of people like Trevor who go the extra mile that makes the kind of difference noticed by the Anglia in Bloom judges.”

Paul Brady, contract manager for John O’Conner said “I am very pleased that Trevor and his team’s hard work has been recognised.  I’m sure his new wife is very proud of him, as are we all.”

St Albans City and District Council entered the Anglia in Bloom Environmental Campaign Awards on behalf of the city for the first time in ten years and succeeded in scooping not one but three awards, as well as being nominated for an additional three categories.  To read more and see pictures, visit the St Albans City and District website at the following link:

http://stalbans.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/press-room/items/2011/September-2011/StAlbanscityscoopsAngliainBloomAwards.aspx

The timing of the call was interesting because I’d only just finished a chat with some of our management team about some community activities that our contracts are involved in.

‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ is the official term for what I’m talking about. For me, this just means being aware of what the company does and how it affects people’s lives. Once you have that awareness, it follows that you’ll want to build it into your service offering because you’ll be doing a better, more effective job.

Some companies look at CSR like its just one more onerous thing they’re now expected to do. So it becomes somebody’s job to dream up different initiatives and community schemes so they can answer to the shareholders and get the boxes ticked. Having said that, I’m sure that there are greater challenges and difficulties in industries other than ours.

Although John O’Conner does a huge amount to support and ‘give back’ to local communities, this isn’t something we’ve had to consciously think about doing; it’s just a natural part of the way we work.

Our staff are out there interacting with communities on a day-to-day basis and they can see how their work enhances people’s lives. Not always, but very often, we see the impact of that little bit of ‘over and above’ service we provide. It’s really heart-warming to receive letters and testimonials from these groups about what we’ve been able to achieve together.

A good example of this would be the way our employees work hand-in-hand with the many ‘friends of’ groups. These groups of interested and concerned citizens usually start up because they see a need or something that needs fixing in a park or open space. So their first interaction with us may not necessarily be positive. But that soon changes, when we start working with them to improve things.

Getting schools involved in bulb-planting schemes, sponsoring ladies bowls teams, volunteering to lock and unlock gates, supplying Park Rangers, marking out football pitches, holding fund-raising breakfasts for charity – our people are always taking time out of their busy schedules to do these things.

These activities all serve to strengthen our client relationships. But just as important, they help build our reputation in the community. I like to think that  people think positively when they see one of our vans drive past because it means we’re doing quite a lot that is right.

And the St Albans Mayor’s Pride award? It must be so hard to pick a winner from shortlisted candidates, because everybody deserves to be there. That’s why I think the most important thing is to have been shortlisted in the first place.

Till next time,

Matt

The Fountain Group’s crisis was a knock-on from the troubles faced by its previous owner Connaught. At the time of the collapse, Fountain employed over 2000 people in contracts around the country. OCS Group stepped in to take up most of the order book and secure many of the jobs, but others remained in jeopardy, and services for local authorities still needed immediate attention if they were to be delivered.

As a company and as an industry we knew that tasks still needed to be done and that we could help people faced with losing their jobs by employing them very quickly. Areas for urgent attention included grounds maintenance in Cannock as well as work on the Isle of Wight and in Norwich. On the Isle of Wight for example, we spoke to our customers there to address the urgent the need for gully-cleaning and toilet-cleaning, helping to bridge immediate gaps which had appeared.

I was really thrilled to see other companies joining with John O’Conner to rally round and take instant action so that we could help sort things out on the ground and hopefully ensure that jobs were not lost. Collectively, the attitude was: ‘This is a crisis affecting all of us and we can help. We’ve got resources, we’ve got people, we know how to provide solutions because it’s what we do day in and day out – we’re there to support you.’

Of course, crisis-management actions like these offer only short term fixes, but they provide that valuable breathing space necessary for building longer-term solutions. Even more to the point, they show a sense of shared responsibility that I find truly inspirational. And that’s just one of the reasons I love working in this industry.

Till next time,

Matt

The contract is for the provision of grounds maintenance services to sites in and around Hastings, Hailsham, Eastbourne, Crowborough, Bexhill and Lewes including thirteen Secondary Schools and more than one hundred Primary Schools. Central to the John O’Conner offer is the provision of high levels of quality monitoring and reporting and an investment into employee training and development.

The contract will operate from an existing East Sussex County Council depot in Bexhill on Sea plus further satellite locations in Crowborough and Lewes. The Contract will be further supported from John O’Conner’s existing office and workshop facilities which are also based in Bexhill on Sea.

Jane Carter, Head of Contracts and Purchasing, ESCC Children’s Services Department said that “East Sussex are pleased to have secured such a high quality grounds maintenance contract and look forward to welcoming John O’Conner Ltd to East Sussex”

The Contract is scheduled to commence on the 30th January 2012 for a term of four years with the potential to extend for a further two years. John O’Conner are looking forward to working in partnership with the East Sussex team and are confident that improved services and value for money will encourage more schools to take advantage of the services on offer.

http://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/east-sussex-county-council-contract-awarded-to-john-o-conner-grounds-maintenance-ltd.html#.TrxGBgU3f4E.email

Paul Osborne, Care Centre Manager, said: “We rely heavily upon support from the local community, and the likes of John O’Conner Grounds Maintenance Limited, to provide our much needed and valued services. I wish to say a big thank you to John O’Conner for their continued support”.

Matt O’Conner said “We are delighted to continue to support Sue Ryder. This organisation provides a valuable nursing support for Hertfordshire people.  Volunteers from John O’Conners have previously been involved with a garden makeover at the centre.  Our support will continue next year and is at the heart of John O’Conner corporate social responsibilities.”

If you would like to support the Sue Ryder Stagenhoe Care Centre, please contact

Paul.Osborne@suerydercare.org or call 01438 871215.

The garden makeover team from John O’Conner, including Managing Director Matt O’Conner, local Contract Manager Gareth Towson, work experience candidate Stephen Bennett from Oaklands College and many others gave their time freely to clear, cut back, dig, rotovate and level.  The once wild and overgrown space has been reclaimed, giving the area a fresh new look and turning an unusable space into a triumph.

The Sue Ryder hospice at Stagenhoe, offers residential care with nursing for adults living with complex neurological conditions including Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Brain Injury and Stroke.