BID and tender specialist AM Bid has set its sights on further expansion after securing its new headquarters in the first WeWork office in Scotland.
The move comes as the firm unveiled David Gray as managing director as it moves to extend its client base in Edinburgh and also Glasgow.
The firm moves into the first WeWork office in the country today, on the firm’s fifth anniversary, but also plans a base for west coast clients, it said.
AM Bid was founded in 2014 by Andrew Morrison and claims it is Scotland’s largest bid and tender specialist, saying it is working in more than 20 sectors and achieving more than 80 per cent bid win rates for local, regional and national organisations.
READ MORE: Global office firm WeWork to open first building in Scotland
The team has been working remotely, or in clients’ offices as they prepare bids, and has secured the base as it doubles its staff to 10.
The move sees founder and outgoing managing director Andrew Morrison, named IoD Scotland Emerging Director of the Year in 2018, assume the role of business development director.
Mr Morrison said: “We were working in a variety of ways: most staff were working from home, sometimes we would work in our clients’ offices where that makes the most sense, working closely on a bid, and we were also sometimes booking city centre meeting rooms to work together as bid teams as well.
“We are getting bigger as a business now and able to take on moving into a city centre location.”
The team is spread across Edinburgh and Glasgow and it is hoped to have an office presence in both cities, potentially in an anticipated second WeWork opening.
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Mr Morrison also said: “There are a lot of benefits to being together, working as bid teams together and also learning development and support opportunities, especially for younger members of staff.
“Working within WeWork as well in Edinburgh there is going to be 900 people within that building comprising many different firms, so there is going to be opportunities for collaboration, opportunities to provide work perhaps on a freelance basis.
“Also there should be an opportunity for us to sell our services into the WeWork community, because there is quite a lot of tech companies and start-ups and a lot of them need to bid for funding and they also want to bid for tenders and awards.”
READ MORE: Executives honoured by IoD Scotland at awards event
Mr Morrison, 52, said he is is focused on “continuing the progress” which has seen AM Bid increase turnover to nearly £1 million since formation.
He said: “My title will be founder, with my main role being business development director.
“I will lead on bringing in new work to help us to further grow and scale. It has been an exciting journey to get to this point. It has also been a lot of hard work and I have had considerable help along the way.
“We have a great staff team and clients who keep coming back to us for winning bids.”
Mr Gray, who joined from EDF Energy, said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead the business at an exciting time, as we build on the successes of our first five years.
“I knew that Andrew had spotted a gap in the market when he set the business up and that there would be demand for our services. I was determined to help us grow and become more established in our key markets, so it is very satisfying to now have a staff team of 10, a new office in Edinburgh and an established client base across a broad range of sectors.”
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