
Contract Mobilisation: Getting it right…
Without the benefit of implementation expertise inputting into the bid response, there is a risk that ‘winning content’ will find its way into the bid, and which in reality is very difficult to operationalise

On bid writing…
Writing a bid is a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, except that the all pieces are not in the box and you need to find them from somewhere else or design them yourself…

It’s much more than making stuff look pretty
A good graphic is one that is conscious of the meaning it displays, working with text to send a unified message

We’re hiring… again
It’s safe to say we’re very busy right now… working across multiple continents to support organisations to deliver Better Growth. Please forgive the humble brag, but it’s useful context for what follows…
We’re looking to connect with experienced bid writers who are interested in working with us on an associate basis.

Social Value: from tick box to golden thread
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.

New normal or old normal?
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.

Worlds apart? The similarities and differences of bid writing and Grand Strategy – (the view from a newbie)
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.

Reflections on my first week at 50 Degrees
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.

Better Growth.
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!).

Optimistic storytelling or pragmatic realism?
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.

Covid 19: Agent of change or business as usual?
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.

Office politics

Restart - it went pretty well
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.

Company update klaxon
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?

We are 10 years old
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.

The Everesting Challenge: an update and a thank you
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.

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.

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

The deadline
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.

Employability programmes 2021-25: challenges and opportunities - Part 2
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.