SCLO Projects
Helping Other Businesses Boom
SCLO to grow capacity
NCFE enjoyed a 100% win rate with SCLO on board their T Levels team
The project I undertook with NCFE for their bid to obtain contracts to be the routeway lead for five of the six new T Levels in the second wave of procurement was one of the most satisfying of my career.
I loved working with such a passionate group of people at a national awarding organisation and, at the end of some hard graft, I shared their delight when it was announced they would be getting all five of the routes bid for.
To have a 100% success rate on a series of bids is virtually unheard of in the industry so was delighted for myself and for the whole team.
NCFE are now responsible for the delivery of T Levels in Digital Business Services, Digital Support Services, Health, Healthcare Science and Science.
Even then, there were still lessons to be learned to try and make sure that that level of success continues into the future.
I began working with NFCE mid-way through 2018 and our partnership has been a fruitful one right up until present day.
The NCFE team have bought into the bidding process and we have evolved as we have gone along. Different teams have combined with organisational support provided to drive success.
Read more: BLOG - Delighted for the whole team at NCFE after 100% T Level success rate.
Upskilling staff in partnership with leading industry associations
Online and face-to-face training sessions in association with AELP
SCLO have been conducting sector-based tendering training for a leading trade body within the training and apprenticeship markets.
Dozens of webinar sessions have now been provided for delegates booking on through the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).
The topics I have delivered on include: Win new contracts using Government Procurement Portals, Tendering for the first time, bidding for UK Shared Prosperity Funds (UKSPF), how to use Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), Skills Bootcamps, Non-Devolved Adult Education Budget, Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP).
These have been beneficial to hundreds of AELP members who have taken the knowledge they have learned back to their organisations to make them better prepared for future bidding.
The feedback has always been good on both the subject matter and delivery and the partnership for SCLO and AELp has benefitted both parties.
Quotes from AELP webinars:
"A good presentation with lots of salient points from a knowledgeable presenter and practitioner."
"I always enjoy Steve O'Hare's webinars and I gain a lot from them too."
Read more: BLOG - 'Chances to share my knowledge leads to exciting times.'
SCLO provide additional support for individual projects
Steve O'Hare became a crucial extra member of the Futures Group's strategic development team ahead of a hugely successful spell of income growth
Head of Engagements and Partnerships, the Futures Group - Chris Grocock said...
“Steve came to us highly recommended at a difficult, but crucial time for the business and he did not disappoint.
"In May 2020, just as the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions were being felt, our Head of Business Development and senior Bid Writer left the company. Working alongside an Interim Head of Business Development and Researcher, Steve delivered a full review of the Futures BD functions, supported recruitment of a new team and delivered multiple high quality training workshops as part of plan to hone and improve how Futures approached business development and bid writing.
"As well as this strategic development, Steve was involved in setting the key growth objectives for the company and led on several vital bids, helping Futures secure contracts from the European Social Fund (IP 1 – Access to Employment and IP2 – Skills for Growth), Apprenticeship-levy paying employers (Suffolk County Council, the NHS), and key welfare-to-work contracts with DWP (Kickstart and Restart).
As of April ’21, the net result of Steve’s support is that Futures has had its most successful year in terms of income growth, securing approximately £45m of new contracts, including the largest contract we have ever won on DWP Restart, working with Maximus in Nottinghamshire.
SCLO consulting has provided essential support to Futures at a critical time, putting us in a stronger growth position that we could have imagined 11 months ago. I would highly recommend Steve O’Hare to other clients across the employment, skills and careers sector."
Reviewing to support success
Engaging businesses for support on their applications
SCLO's work for various organisations on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) has been both successful and rewarding.
The Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers is a record of organisations that are eligible to receive Government funding to train apprentices. All organisations currently registered on the RoATP must adhere to the conditions of acceptance.
Since the launch of SCLO, we have helped over 50 organisations win their place on the register in two rounds of applications in 2019 and 2021.
That work has involved explaining to businesses not only what the Department for Education (DfE) is looking for in an application but, crucially, how to answer the questions by giving the right answers to the right questions and remaining focused on avoiding unnecessary waffle.
The last round of registrations only finished a matter of 18 months ago but the DFE are set to re-launch applications in the coming weeks.
It has been a pleasure playing a part in supporting companies to drive the next generation of apprenticeships to market.
One of those was Mark Capper from Mencap.
"Steve reviewed our application for the RoATP," he said.
"He was really helpful in identifying areas we needed to emphasise, as well as areas of strength and where we needed greater depth to our responses.
"We were really pleased with Steve’s input and our application was successful."
READ MORE: BLOG - The RoATP is back!
