March 2011
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2011 it is a good time to take stock of how things are going. The UK public sector is under tremendous pressure from Government, media and the general public to really get their house in order. The Banks continue to get lambasted by everybody for seemingly unrealistic bonuses being paid despite their failure to deliver profits to their shareholders (especially in the case of the "publicly owned" financial institutions). The Government appear to be turning a deaf ear to the half a million people (representing many more of the quiet majority) who are unhappy with the focus of the cuts in public spending, preferring to concentrate their feelings on the few hundred declared anarchists who believe in "direct action" (or "blatant vandalism" depending on your newspaper of choice). The price of oil is rocketing whilst "democracy" is fighting its way to the fore in the Arab states. Food and commodity prices are hitting record highs. Japan is recovering from one of the most devastating natural disasters we have seen in our lifetime (compounded by a little "man made" nuclear addition). Apart from this things are going well!!
At a micro level we are seeing plenty of examples of organisations struggling to get their heads around how they are going to come through these difficult times and prosper at the other end. This is especially true of public sector bodies and small businesses. In both the public and private sector we believe one of the most crucial steps to survival is to work closely with others to both provide a more comprehensive solution to your customers and to give you the strength of many to survive the buffeting we are all likely to experience. Most organisations we work with are in some partnership type relationships but find it difficult to determine what they have to do to take that partnership to the next level. The good news is we have now got plenty of evidence to show that two key products are making a difference.
For the public sector our Community Budgets readiness evaluation toolkit has now been joined by the Asset Optimisation toolkit. Both these tools enable partners to get together and really draw out each others strengths and areas for improvement to understand where they can better support and develop each other and where they may have gaps across the partnerships. For more information contact Mike Parry.
For the Private Sector, and especially small and medium size businesses, we have our Recession Busting Tool a copy of which can be downloaded from the Britanniacorp Limited page of this website. This tool will help either individual companies, or even more effectively partnerships, work together to establish a common strategy for driving their business through these difficult times. For more information contact Mike Parry
December 2010
Following on from the CSR announcements and the launch of the pilots for Community Budgets, BQC network, working with LG Leadership, has launched a series of self-assessment tools to help local community partnerships gain a common understanding of how ready they are to undertake the task of delivering for the community in very difficult economic environments. Based on our learning from Total Place we recognise how essential it is to get a partnership wide understanding of how prepared the partnership is, as well as whether the partnership has the capability within the partnership to deliver the critical success factors. Our suite of tools offers the opportunity for partners to sit together to assess honestly where they are starting from and to prioritise what they need to do as a partnership to give themselves the best chance of being successful. To help partnerships we have developed a hierarchy of tools on the top of which sits the generic CSR Assessment Tool. The second level includes tools for Asset Optimisation and Community Budgets and below Community Budgets sits the tool for Complex Families. You can view a short presentation on the Community Budgets Tool via the following link Community Budgets Presentation
For further information contact Mike Parry
November 2010
With all the doom and gloom that's being generated from the CSR it's great to have some good news to report. Our warmest congratulations go out to two excellent organisations with whom we have had long term client relationships. TNT Express with whom Phoenix Consulting (AoE) - with the support of most of the other principal members at one time or other! - have worked over many years, were recognised for their long term commitment to excellence at the UK Excellence Award through the presentation of the Gold Medal. Wakefield and District Housing who have built a relationship with both Team Consultants and Britanniacorp Ltd since their formation, were announced as 2010 Winners of the UK Excellence Award.
Both these organisations are well deserving of this National recognition, and the international recognition that comes with the awards. We hope to continue working with these organisations as they take their development to the next stage.
We should also congratulate the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service winners of the Southern England Excellence Award 2010 who have been supported throughout the process by Furneux Consulting Ltd.
If you want more information on achieving excellence and the winning of awards please contact me at mike@bqc-network.com
September 2010
Waiting on the Autumn Spending Review
Like a large number of our clients we are waiting to see what happens following the October Spending Review. As we discussed in the July update we have focused our summer attention on developing the frameworks into which we can build our new product range, designed to help our clients address the issues surfacing out of the deficit reduction discussions. It is our intention to have something "on the shelves" within two weeks of the announcements made by the Treasury on the 20th October. Whilst these products will be closely aligned to the outcomes of the spending review, they will be designed to help both public, private and third sector organisations through what will continue to be very difficult times.
If you would like to be amongst the first organisations to trial these products we would be delighted to talk to you about our preferential rates for early adopters. Contact me at mike@bqc-network.com
July 2010
Supporting Deficit Reduction
Our Network have recognised the importance of supporting our Public Sector clients, and their Private and Third Sector partners, during these challenging times. We are developing a suite of products and services to help them respond positively to the need for dramatic deficit reduction. Amongst the new offerings are
- A Deficit Reduction Driver developed from our highly successful Recession Busting Driver
- A "cradle to grave" modular support package for those organisations wishing to drive the localism agenda through the concept of Total Place. This package includes
- Tools to help establish the current preparedness of partners to undertake Total Place projects
- Tools, support packages and development programmes to help establish and embed the "place based" culture across the current and potential multi-sector partnerships
- Guidance and support to facilitate collaborative relationships between the local players and Central Government
- Models, tools, techniques and facilitative support to optimise the understanding and involvement of local communities in decision making and delivery of locally focused services
- Project and programme management support for the running of Total Place projects based on the experience of multiple pilots and non-pilots
- Focus expert input on key areas of the new approach to the provision of local public services
- Member Development and Support packages to enable elected officials to work effectively with local partners in delivering cost efficient services focused on the specific needs of their constituents.
A number of these products and services are already in place with more to follow over the summer. For more information contact us through mike@bqc-network.com
April 2010
Welcome Robert Hardy Consulting Ltd
BQC Network is delighted to welcome Robert Hardy Consulting Ltd to our team of professional consultancy companies. A number of us have had the great pleasure of working with Robert on the Total Place Pilot project managed by Kent County Council over the last eight months, and when Robert approached us offering to align his vast experience in local government with the BQC Network we had no hesitation in signing him up. As well as the experience detailed in the "Robert Hardy Consulting Ltd" page, accessed via the button on the left of this page, Robert brings his own unique style further broadening the options available to our clients. We all wish Robert Hardy Consulting Ltd every success in the future, and we look forward to combining our skills to offer clients our unique combination of experiences.
March 2010
Total Place – the Future of the UK Public Sector
March 2010 sees the completion of a major pilot project, sponsored by Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and Communities and Local Government (CLG) focusing on changing the way central government and locally run public sector organisations work together. BQC Consultants have played a unique role in providing management and advisory support to two of the 13 pilots, Bradford and Kent. These pilots have, for the first time, considered the whole of the public sector spend in a “total place” and have brought service providers and users together to co-design services that are effective, efficient, value for money and most important deliver what the service user needs. Team Consultants, Britanniacorp, AS&A along with an associate company Mari Davis Consulting have all taken a major role in making the Bradford and Kent pilots two of the most significant inputs to the March 2010 Budget Report , exciting interest from Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet members as well as senior civil servants.
Details of this work can be provided by contacting us mike@bqc-network.com
November 2009
Careers SW Ltd Continue BQC Network’s Client Winning Record
Careers SW Ltd demonstrated their excellence by picking up the two achievement awards in the 2009 UK Excellence Awards. After picking up the Achievement Award for Leadership and the Achievement award for Customer Satisfaction, Jenny Rudge, CEO Careers SW Ltd, was clear about the important role BQC Consultants Geoff Norris, Mike Parry and Steve Bratt played in helping the development of her and her team into an excellent and highly successful organisation. She complimented the BQC team on their patience, insight and sense of humour as well as their willingness to be honest and not pull their punches. Mike Parry said
“Working with Jenny and the whole Careers SW Ltd. team is a pleasure. They are one of those rare organisations who truly have their values running through every part of their business. They want to learn and are never satisfied with standing still”
Congratulations to all at Careers SW Ltd for their fabulous achievement.
If you want to learn more contact us on mike@bqc-network.com