And rather than tacking Social Value onto the end of bid as a stand alone, rather unloved section, we help our clients to see how it can be one of the key design principles underpinning every aspect of delivery. The golden thread of the bid, if you will.

Two weeks ago, I started my first job after graduating from university. For the past year I’d been hearing countless stories of Covid-related problems from friends starting work: from working at a new job for several months before being able to see coworkers in person to a growing list of friends who’ve tested positive for the virus.

Having now started working with 50 Degrees, I was surprised at how similarly the worlds of bid writing and grand strategy, from what I have learnt so far, appear to work.

It's strange how similar bid writing can be to academia – you are writing something to someone else’s criteria, seeking to understand what it is that they want and how you can provide that.

This week I’ve been enjoying the beaches of Cornwall and, amongst the sandcastles and seagulls, have spent a bit of time thinking about what we do, what makes us different to our competitors, and the reasons clients enjoy working with us (we get a lot of repeat business!). 

An article in The Atlantic early this week described Boris Johnson as an ‘optimistic storyteller’ (insert raised eyebrow emoji), in an article that I felt had parallels with the bid development process.

When 50 Degrees set a written recruitment exercise recently, we asked applicants, 'How will the impact of Covid-19 affect government outsourcing?' The principal objective was to examine their critical thinking, ability to construct an argument, and writing quality.

As it’s a new 50 Degrees, we thought we’d try a slightly different tack and talk about ourselves positively and celebrate a couple of our recent successes.

Last September 50 Degrees celebrated its 10th anniversary. A business that I started as a bit of a stop gap has turned into something much bigger over the years. Over the last year or so, during a couple of the quieter periods (when were they?!), I’ve had time to reflect on where I wanted 50 Degrees to be in another ten years’ time, and the sort of business I wanted it to be. The basic question I asked myself was what was the thing I valued most?

I guess ten years does feel like a long time ago, but it’s an odd feeling actually, because it’s also all gone by very quickly. What was actually started as a bit of a stop gap, has turned into something much bigger.

In our update last week we told you we’d be returning to our ‘usual’ posts this week, but we thought it would be a little churlish not to follow up with an update on Andy Bowie’s Everesting Challenge.

Last month the founder of 50 Degrees, Andy Bowie, lost his father-in-law (Stuart Cunningham) as a result of an inoperable brain tumour. In memory of Stuart, and to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity, Andy is going to do an Everesting challenge – which means… cycling up and down a hill until he reaches the height of Mt Everest, 8,848m or c29,000ft.

Our partnership with 4OC is in full swing… we’ve been working hard to deliver a £40m bid and mobilisation contract.

Deadlines define our business, probably as much as anything else. Bidding is high pressure, it’s tight timescales, it’s about producing your best under difficult circumstances. And the deadline is always looming. It’s always there. Tick tock.

It’s too soon to make a sensible prediction on exactly what Covid-19 will do to the unemployment rate, but we think it’s safe to say that it’s not going to be good. 

We strip out the sales flannel. We show. We don’t tell. We think about what the customer needs in the future, not about making what’s happening today look shiny.

We thought we’d give you a quick whistle stop tour of what’s been going on at 50 Degrees over the last twelve months.

We’ve been been telling our clients what to expect over the last few months… and the statement from the Chancellor yesterday confirmed our thinking.

The nature of the economy has changed. Growth in the gig economy, self-employment and a demand for a greater work life balance has created a more flexible labour market.