Eximium MD recognised as ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’

Further to my previous posting about the Bright Sparc awards, I’m proud and honoured to announce that I was crowned ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Bright Sparc awards evening at the Cranfield Management Research Institute, part of Cranfield University, on 13th May!!

This is the second award I’ve received so far this year, and represents a major achievement, particularly given the stiff competition I was up against. This is a reflection on the whole team at Eximium, and the quality of their abilities and approach, so I can’t take all the credit myself!!

My award was sponsored by The Open University, and so was presented by Brigid Heywood who is their Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise).

Here I am accepting the award.

I was given a free ticket and space to exhibit at Cranfield’s Venture Day on May 14th, which was an excellent event.  I was particularly inspired by terrific keynote speeches from Lord Karan Billimoria, CEO of Cobra Beer, and Mel Young, founder of the Big Issue in Scotland.

Cranfield University’s CMRI is a world class facility for the study of business management.

The Sparc Technology network is managed by the Milton Keynes Enterprise Hub and run by knowledge-based organisations for technology, who are seeking to develop face-to-face networking opportunities.  They run regular monthly events featuring high profile keynote speakers, an annual awards evening and competitive pitching for local technology led businesses.

Chris Dunkley, Sparc’s network director, said in their press release about my award: “The Bright Sparc Awards have provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate the achievements of some of the region’s most innovative entrepreneurs and technology-led businesses. Derrick Cameron has been instrumental in bringing the benefits of technology to businesses in the East of England. He has also enabled Eximium to both survive and thrive in the current economic climate through the adoption of the Procession tool.

“As a business Eximium is bringing the true power of IT within the reach and understanding of businesses throughout the region, by delivering its unique approach and the latest advancements in business software technology.”

I’m absolutely delighted to have been chosen for this prestigious award and I hope I can continue to live up to the standards that the judging panel felt I had set!

Bright Sparc Awards 2009

I’m extremely pleased to announce that I am a finalist for this year’s Bright Sparc ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’ award.

The Bright Sparc awards are provided by the Sparc Technology and, this year, are in association with Cranfield University, Business Link and Bedford i-lab, among others.  The purpose of the awards is so that technology-led businesses and entrepreneurs from across the region have the opportunity to be recognised for innovative achievements and will honour those businesses or individuals who have truly excelled in their specialist field.

These are the second Bright Sparc Awards and are a great way for innovative companies in our region to showcase their work to an expert panel of judges and gain recognition for their achievements.  Milton Keynes and the surrounding regions are home to many technology companies all of whom are pushing the boundaries of their chosen specialism.  The awards were closely fought last year and gained significant recognition for the winners!

There are a total of 9 awards, in the following categories:

• Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2009
• Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2009
• Technology Led Business of the Year 2009
• Use of Sustainable Technology in a Business 2009
• Business Innovation Support Person of the Year 2009
• Best Interaction between an HEI and Business 2009
• The Best Use of Technology by a Business 2009
• Overall Bright Sparc Award 2009

The winners will be announced at an awards dinner on 13th May.  The evening starts at 6pm with drinks and the presentation of the awards at 6.30pm. There will be the chance to network over a glass of wine and a hot buffet until the end of the evening around 9pm. There are a limited number of additional tickets available, on a first come first served basis and can be purchased using a Ticket Request Form.

A great benefit of being a finalist for this award is that we will also have a free ticket to attend and exhibit at Cranfield University’s ‘Venture Day’ on the following day - 14th May.  Cranfield VentureDay 2009 is a one day conference and networking event for entrepreneurs and those interested in cutting-edge entrepreneurial performance. 

The event comprises keynote addresses by leading entrepreneurs, exposure to the latest research, exhibits by new enterprises and a networking zone.  The extensive range of workshops and plenary sessions will focus on business start-up, growth, finance and business strategy and will incorporate leading entrepreneurs, business angels, venture capitalists and academics.  Tickets for the event are £120 each.

I’m honoured and excited that we are part of this year’s awards and the Venture Day, and there is of course the possibility that I will actually win the award, which would be truly fantastic!!

Please do come and speak to me if you decide to attend either event.

Eximium Building Awarded ‘Excellent’ BREEAM Environmental Rating

We take environmental issues very seriously at Eximium, and we are always looking for ways to reduce the impact our work has on our planet.

A key part of our environmental strategy included an objective to house our operation in a ‘green’ building, and we achieved this in 2008 when we moved to the Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre in Luton. 

We’re now delighted to announce that the centre has been awarded an ‘Excellent’ rating and four stars on the international BREEAM standard, in clear recognition of the achievement this building represents.  The BREEAM standard, recognised worldwide, measures a building against 10 key environmental criteria:

• Energy: operational energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Management: management policy, commissioning, site management and procurement
• Health and Wellbeing:  indoor and external issues (noise, light, air quality etc)
• Transport: transport-related CO2 and location related factors
• Water: consumption and efficiency inside and out
• Materials: impacts of building materials, including lifecycle impacts like carbon dioxide
• Waste: construction resource efficiency and operational waste management and minimisation
• Land Use: type of site and building footprint
• Pollution: external air and water pollution
• Ecology: ecological value, conservation and enhancement of the site

As you can see, the criteria are comprehensive and consider many factors in addition to the building’s design and facilities, including many management measures.

This is an excellent accolade and proves the strong, ongoing commitment of the Basepoint management team to sustainability and conservation.  It also reflects extremely well on our own approach to the environment and to sustainability, and we congratulate the Basepoint team, Luton Borough Council and EEDA on their achievement!

Our next environmental goal is to become Carbon Neutral, which we are currently working towards.  We’ll let you know how we get on!

Our New Partners - Procession plc

We are extremely pleased to announce that we have created an exciting and important new partnership with an innovative software company based in Chesham - Procession plc.

Procession plc are the creators of a fantastic software tool, known simply as Procession, which has revolutionised the capabilities of businesses software.  Procession has been developed over the last 20 years and is capable of both computerising and automating any aspect of business process - and it does this in a quick, flexible, and highly cost-effective way.

We will be selling, developing and supporting Procession implementations, using our IT skills and our experience in helping business owners, directors and managers benefit from using IT in their business.  The nature of Procession means that it can benefit any organisation, of any size, and in any sector - and can be used to computerise and/or automate as little or as much of their business processes as required.  It works extremely well when allowed to grow organically in line with the business needs, rather than having to do everything all at once.  The first place to use it is where the most pain exists, and then expand things from there.  The great thing about Procession is that the business themselves can take ownership of their business logic, and can make changes, without technical assistance.

UK Sport have made excellent use of Procession over the last 7 years, to computerise and automate their complex grant management processes for Athletes, and they are delighted with the efficiency, control and flexibility that Procession gives them.  However, there are literally hundreds of other applications that Procession can be used in - there is no limit to the ways in which this tool can be used to benefit businesses.

A major benefit of Procession is the graphical tool that allows processes to be mapped out in a visual environment, using building blocks, which business people can understand and comment on.  Once that is done, and the relevant business people are happy with the process, then the application is ready and can be tried out straight away - there is no coding required to make the process work, so what you see is what you get!  This makes the process quick and easy, provides a permanent view of exactly what has been deployed, means that there is no room for misinterpretation, and even makes ongoing changes and improvements to the process possible simply by changing the picture!  This is an incredible acheivement that has to be seen to be believed.

We are looking at applications for Procession with our smaller customers (one of them is a one man band), both medium sized and large organisations (including a multi-million pound international corporation), and even into public sector tenders.

Procession represents the ideal mixture of the benefits of packaged software (i.e. the work to develop the framework has already been done) with the flexibility of custom-built software (i.e. you can have it reflect exactly the way your business works) but without the drawbacks of either.

This is an important partnership for us, because Procession is exactly the type of tool business owners and managers need to unlock the benefits of using IT to help them run their businesses.  It is a business tool, created by business people, and aimed at business people.  Given these values are absolutely at the core of our business, there is a perfect fit between us and Procession!

There is much work for us to do now, to integrate Procession into our other product and service offerings, and to produce marketing materials, etc. so we can start to spread the word about this fantastic tool.

In the meantime, if you would like a demo, please just drop me a line from our contact us page.

Further Dates for Business Link Seminars

As previously announced, I have been asked by Business Link East to run a course of 6 workshops called ‘Growing IT in Your Business’.

In addition to this, I’m pleased to confirm another 6 dates for my original Business Link Seminar ‘Getting Maximum Benefit From Your IT Systems’, as follows:

 5th Jun 09 - Chelmsford, Pontins Park
10th Sep 09 - Hatfield, Homestead Hall Hotel
16th Oct 09 - Bedford, Wyboston Lakes
24th Nov 09 - Ipswich, Holiday Inn Orwell
3rd Feb 10 - Cambridge, Villiers Park Educational Trust
30th Mar 10 - Norwich, The Forum Trust

Both of these seminars are part of Business Link East’s ‘Growing Business’ events programme. You can book onto any of the events within this programme online through their Events Booking Service.

Also, I’m delighted to say that Business Link have recently produced the video shown below, to introduce the type of briefings they offer, which features footage from one of my seminars.  As well as showing me waving my arms very enthusiastically, the video shows a general flavour of the events and includes some customer testimonials.

These briefings are really excellent and are all led by expert speakers.  I heartily recommend finding out what events are on in your area, and I hope to see you at one of my seminars soon!

Eximium MD Wins Award at Business For Breakfast Annual Awards Ceremony

We are pleased to announce that Derrick Cameron, MD here at Eximium, won the ‘Executive Host of the Year’ award at the Business for Breakfast Annual Awards held on 27th March.  Derrick represents Eximium at the Luton Advantage B4B forum, which meets at The Brache every other Tuesday, and has been the Executive Host of that group for the last 8 months.

The awards evening was a glamorous black tie event and had a James Bond 007 theme.  It was held at the Lancashire County Cricket Club in Manchester and was a fundraising event for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The entertainment was excellent, with a pay per play casino, music provided by Simply Soul and was presented by celebrity Zilpah Hartley, travel and property writer best known for fronting Channel 4’s highly successful series ‘A Place in the Sun’.

There were 9 award categories altogether:

• Referral Master
• Member of the Year
• Venue of the Year
• Moderator of the Year
• Coordinator of the Year
• Executive Host of the Year
• Executive Team of the Year
• Best New Member
• Best New Team
• Franchisee of the Year

We are delighted to say that as well as Derrick winning the ‘Executive Host of the Year’ award, this was only 1 of a total of 3 awards won by groups led by Ryan Tobias, who owns and manages the B4B groups in the Beds, Bucks and Herts areas.  Ryan’s Bedford group won the ‘Executive Team of the Year’ Award and Ryan himself won the coveted ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award, so it was a bumper night for Ryan and his excellent breakfast groups!

Commenting on his award Derrick said, “I’m thrilled to have won the ‘Executive Host of The Year’ award, particularly given the stiff competition - it feels great to receive this recognition from the members, simply for participating in the group in a way I’ve enjoyed so much.  It’s also the perfect end to my term in the role!”

If you are interested in going along to one of Ryan’s productive and friendly breakfast networking groups, or simply to learn how your business can benefit, contact Ryan at ryan@bforb.co.uk

Here is a photo of all the winners and runners-up from the evening, showing Derrick on the front row on the far left:

Also, here is our proud franchise owner, Ryan Tobias receiving his Franchisee of the Year award:

Here is Derrick receiving his Executive Host of the Year award:

Growing IT in Your Business

I’m excited to announce that we’ve been asked by Business Link East to provide another series of seminars as part of their ‘growing business’ events programme.

We’ll be developing and presenting a 2 hour briefing session for them, aimed at SME business owners, directors and managers entitled ‘Growing IT in Your Business’, in their April 2009 to March 2010 events season. There will be 6 sessions at various venues across the region.

I’m pleased to announce that the dates and venues for each of the 6 sessions are:

• 17th Jun 09 - Thurrock, Orsett Hall
• 16th Sep 09 - Hemel Hempstead, Holiday Hill
• 23rd Oct 09 - Luton, The Leaside Hotel
• 10th Nov 09 - Bury St Edmunds, Ickworth Hotel
• 24th Feb 09 - Wisbech, The Boat House
• 24th Mar 10 - Norwich, The Forum Trust

You’ll be able to book online via their Events Service.

How to Market Your Business Online

I ran the first two of my ‘How to Market Your Business Online’ workshops for EEDA’s TakeITon campaign yesterday at Sprowston Manor Hotel, Norwich.  With more than 60 people attending, I was delighted to see how popular the sessions were and how engaged everybody was. 

The feedback was excellent with many people taking time to tell me what a great difference the briefing made to their understanding and approach towards online marketing.

This seminar is a follow up to the earlier ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’ briefing for EEDA, which also forms part of their TakeITon initiative.   However, attending the previous seminar is not a pre-requisite!

I received some great feedback from Penny Lindop at Penny Lindop Designs this morning.  She attended one of yesterday’s workshops and was very complimentary of both the content and my delivery.  She has posted a great comment on her blog, which you can view by clicking the following link:

Card Art Norfolk blog

If you would like more information or to attend one of these free workshops, please use the following link:

TakeITon website

I’m off to Bedford on Thursday to deliver another 2 of these sessions.  It’s quite hard work delivering so many seminars in such a short space of time, but very rewarding – especially when business owners like Penny are finding them so useful!!

As I get older, I find that I am more and more aware of my own mortality.  As with everyone, I am finding people close to me are passing away and more often than not, from cancer.  I give more to cancer charities than any other now, because it is something close to my heart.

I have two teenage daughters who I rarely get to see these days. We pass in the hall way like flat mates as one or other of us dashes off to a work commitment, while the other is off to socialise with friends.  I am finding more and more now that I have to arrange and schedule quality family time otherwise it just never happens.

I was thinking about both of these a month or so ago, when it struck me that we could do the Race for Life together.  They were both very good cross country runners when they were at school and it’s something that I’ve been thinking about doing for a while.  We can train and do the race together, which means regular quality time together and we can raise money for a very worthy cause at the same time.  Both the girls agreed to run the race with me, so I signed us up for the 5k in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on the 14th of June. 

If you have daughters and you would be interested in raising money for Cancer Research together then why not go to the Race for Life website and see where your nearest race is.

http://www.raceforlife.org/

If you do not wish to participate, but would be interested in sponsoring me, please click the link below:

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jackieeggleton

Eximium shortlisted for The Ixion Challenge!

I’m delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for a remarkable competition being run in the East of England - The Ixion Challenge, created by Ixion Holdings Ltd.

Ixion Holdings Ltd is a successful non-profit making business support organisation which wants to help other businesses in the region be equally successful. They already play a significant role in helping businesses to grow and thrive, and are offering SME businesses within the East of England the chance to receive a package worth up to £32k.

Including ourselves, there were 68 entries for stage 1 of the competition, many of which were apparently ‘of a very high standard’.  8 of these have been selected to go forward to the next stage, which involves submitting a ‘survive and thrive’ business plan. 

We are thrilled to have been chosen by the judging panel as one of the 8 businesses to move forward to stage 2 of this competition.  We’re currently putting together our business plan for the next stage in the hopes of becoming one of the 4 businesses chosen for stage 3, which will involve pitching our business plan to the judging panel at a visit to our offices!

Watch this space for further news of our progress!!

For further information about this competition and Ixion Holdings Ltd please use the following link to their website: 

The Ixion Challenge

‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’

As many of you will already know, we created and delivered a series of 6 workshops for EEDA in November, as a key part of their TakeITon development programme.  These FREE seminars were aimed at SME business owners and managers and entitled ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’.  I’m delighted to say that these events went extremely well and the feedback received was very positive

I thoroughly enjoyed delivering these workshops and was greatly encouraged by the fact that 141 delegates attended in total.  98% of the attendees were satisfied with the overall event, which is excellent news.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback received, I’m pleased to announce that EEDA have asked us to run a further 6 dates for this FREE workshop, in other areas of the region.  We are planning the dates at the moment so I will post those once they are confirmed.

Also, I’m delighted to confirm that they have also asked us to develop and present a further 6 FREE workshops as a follow-up to this session, based on the feedback that was provided by delegates.  We are planning the content and dates with them at present and I will announce further details once they are confirmed.

In the meantime, I am running the ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’ workshop at the Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre in Luton, where our office is based, on Thursday 29th January.  If you would like further information, or to book a place on ths FREE seminar, please contact me at the following link:

 http://www.eximium.net/contactus.asp

Alternatively, you can contact the Business Development Manager at the Centre, Heather Pedder, on the following email address: heatherpedder@basepoint.co.uk

Terminal 5 ‘Lessons Learned’ Still Useful

I was pleased to be invited to speak earlier this month, at an NHS leadership development event,
about the lessons business leaders can learn from Terminal 5.  I did a 1-hour talk for them, based on 2 of the articles I’ve previously had published about the problems at Terminal 5 and the lessons that any business owner or manager can learn from them.

There were 24 senior leaders from the NHS in attendance, and I must admit I was quite intimated by the nature of their roles, the size of the annual budgets they each deal with (circa £500m!), and the real ‘life and death’ environment they work in.  Even so, my talk generated much useful debate and it was obvious from their comments that there were useful learning points for all.

Earlier in the year, I spoke to 60 SME business owners and managers for 20 minutes on this same subject at a networking event in Hatfield, and the response was equally positive.

This continues to prove that anyone in business can learn useful lessons from the problems that BA had.  Also, it’s great to see that it’s still as fresh and relevant as a subject as ever.  My view is always that it’s important to learn from your own mistakes but even better to learn from someone else’s!

The type of problems that occurred at Terminal 5 are happening all the time where business change is concerned, particularly if technology is involved.  This was just a very high profile incident.  Any business change project will benefit from careful management and clear communication, and I guess that’s probably the key message that we can all learn from disasters like those at Terminal 5.

You can see one of the articles I had published about this on smeweb.com using the following link:

http://www.smeweb.com/management/features/lessons-learned-from-heathrow-terminal-5.html

Equally, if you’d be interested in me speaking at your event about this subject, or anything else relating to business IT, please just drop me a line from our meet the team page here:

http://www.eximium.net/meettheteam.asp

‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’

Due to overwhelming demand, two extra sessions have been added to the FREE workshops I am leading for business people, in conjunction with EEDA and the TakeITon programme, entitled ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’.

The interest in these workshops has been extensive and I’m very proud and excited to be leading workshops in such a topical and vital subject area.  There will now be an additional afternoon session on both the 18th and 25th of November, starting with lunch at 1pm and running until 4pm, enabling more people to discover the hidden benefits of making greater use of their existing IT systems during this difficult time.

For more information, please see the following article on the TakeITon website:

http://www.takeiton.org.uk/362.asp

To book onto one of these FREE workshops please email your details to takeiton@eeda.org.uk

McAfee Announces Major Acquisition

As a McAfee partner, we were delighted to hear news of a major strategic announcement from them at the end of last month.   David DeWalt, President and CEO of McAfee, announced their intention to acquire the Secure Computing Corporation, who are a leading provider of network security to businesses of all sizes. 

When Secure Computing and McAfee are combined, it will reinforce their position as the largest dedicated security company, and a leader in security risk management industry.  Once Secure Computing’s products and services are added, McAfee will be able to deliver the industry’s most complete network security portfolio.  This will cover intrusion prevention, firewall, Web security, email security, data protection and network access control.  These will benefit small and medium-sized customers up to the world’s largest organizations.

Other benefits for McAfee customers, and channel partners such as ourselves, also include:

• broader product offerings and a comprehensive set of solutions that can help customers protect their critical Web, email and network assets
• the industry’s most complete network security solution to businesses of all sizes, extending the success of its total protection strategy through best-of-breed technology suites
• the resources of a global security company with enhanced research capabilities
• increased investments in technology and development and continued support for customer’s existing investments

We are very excited by this news, as it will enable us to expand our offering to customers, whilst remaining secure in the knowledge that we are protecting them with the best dedicated security available.

For more information about our managed security services, please use the following link:

http://www.eximium.net/managed_security_services.asp

IT seminars for business people in conjunction with EEDA

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve been selected by EEDA, from a list of 4 potential providers, to deliver a series of IT seminars they want to run, which will form a key part of ongoing publicity for the TakeITon development programme.

EEDA launched the TakeITon campaign across the region in November 2007.  It is aimed at helping businesses improve and increase the use of their information and communication technologies.  The campaign is driven by a recognition that a strong IT infrastructure for the region is critical to improve the productivity and efficiency both of individual businesses and the prosperity of the region as a whole.

New research suggests that businesses in the East of England are limiting their success due to poor IT.  Just 34% of businesses in the region have a website and 44% of the region’s employees feel that poor IT is stopping them from doing their job well.  Such results reinforce the need for better awareness of how IT can boost the bottom line for businesses across the region.

I’m working out the contents of the briefings with their PR people at the moment, but they will be aimed at helping SME business owners benefit from using IT more effectively, and will complement the seminar programme we are running for Business Link.

Watch this space for further details!

For more information about the excellent TakeITon programme, and how it could help you and your business, please follow this link: http://www.takeiton.org.uk/

Eximium engaged by Denplan to help improve key IT system and processes

I’m excited to announce that we’ve been engaged by a major new customer, Denplan in Winchester, to help with their systems development work.

Denplan is the UK’s leading dental payment plan provider, with approximately 80% share of the dental payment plan market.  There are 6,500 treating dentists across the UK (approximately a third of practising dentists) treating over 1.8 million Denplan patients.  They are rated 6th in the ‘Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For 2008′, recognised as an Investor in People, and are an appointed representative of AXA PPP Healthcare Ltd.

We’ll be complimenting their existing IT department, and their other IT providers, by supplying help, advice and development effort.  They use a package for their insurance processes that we have a good deal of experience of.  We will be spending time working with their business people to help them improve process efficiency and generally adding value to the business by getting their system doing more for them - a key part of what we are all about!

As always, there are plenty of niggly issues with the current systems and processes that we’ll be able to help them sort out.  More importantly, we’ll also be helping them expand the system to support their strategic plans and objectives.

Obviously, we’re always delighted to take on a new client, but large customers like Denplan are even more exciting as the possibilities for us to increase the business benefits of their IT systems are extremely far reaching.

Watch this space for news of successful projects!

For further information about Denplan, you can view their website from this link: http://www.denplan.co.uk

Expansion onto the Butterfield Business & Technology Park

Following the announcement of our impending expansion to Butterfield Business Park;

http://www.eximium.net/blog/index.php/2008/06/business-advice-hertfordshire-3/

We are very pleased to announce that we are now successfully installed in our new, larger office at the Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre.

As previously mentioned, the centre is an environmentally friendly building  with a calm and tranquil atmosphere.  It has certainly worked wonders on our stress levels.  We are especially enjoying the view.  We can see the pond with the ducks and moor hens on it, going about their daily lives.  In the recent sunshine it has been quite picturesque and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was actually warm outside!

The building is to be officially launched at 2.45pm on Wednesday 24th September.  We are very much looking forward to the grand opening and being part of the new movement towards a greater environmental consciousness within the working environment.   This has become even more important since the announcement of the forthcoming carbon cap and trade scheme.  This was detailed in the government’s 2007 Energy White Paper as part of their Carbon Reduction Commitment, which proposes to reduce UK CO2 emissions by 1.2m tonnes by 2020.

The move is an expansion and we do still have our office in Capability Green, so you can still contact us on those details, but the new office is our new head office, so should you wish to contact us there, the details are as follows;

 Eximium Limited
 Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre
 110 Butterfield Business Park
 Luton
 Bedfordshire
 LU2 8DL

 Tel: 01582 439 720
 Fax: 01582 439 725

Latest news on our public sector strategy

Since the announcement of our successful accreditation by BSI under ISO 9001, we’ve made an important move into securing public sector work.  The potential for us in this sector was a major strategic reason for ensuring our compliance to this key quality standard.  We’re now going through the process of finding contract opportunities that suit our skills and putting together tenders.  There are lots of opportunities out there but public sector procurement procedures are quite a minefield. 

So, to help us navigate our way through the complexities of the tendering process, I’m pleased to announce that we have engaged the services of Steve Emmett at CIP4B&IT Ltd.  As an expert in the field of public sector buying, Steve has been helping us with the task of identifying suitable opportunities and creating relevant tenders.  Earlier this month, he helped us work on our first major tender, for a contract to supply an online information portal to a major local government body.  Following a pre-qualification process, we were successfully shortlisted and given the opportunity to tender.  In what was an extremely short timeframe, Steve provided some vital input into our tender document, and we were all delighted with the quality of both the final proposal we produced as a result, and the subsequent presentation we were required to make to the awarding authority’s assessment panel.

Unfortunately, we heard this week that we haven’t won that particular contract.  Obviously, the whole team is disappointed.  However, it was always unlikely that we would win our first tender.  Nevertheless, it was a great learning experience for the team and, with the feedback we’ll get from this bid, Steve can help us go on to put a better proposal together for the next tender, and so on.  I’m very optimistic that, with Steve’s help, we’ll have a great chance of winning contracts in the near future.  Like many things, this process will take effort and it won’t be easy.  But, with such a high percentage of all buying coming from this sector, it’s something we can’t afford to ignore.

Watch this space for more news as our campaign progresses.

Steve can be contacted at steveemmett@icfba.biz for further information on the services he provides, including how he helps businesses to secure suitable public sector contracts.

Dates for Business Link IT Seminars

Following on from this post last month, about the IT seminars for business people I’ll be presenting in conjunction with Business Link East:

http://www.eximium.net/blog/index.php/2008/07/business-advice-bedfordshire-11/

I’m pleased to announce that I now have the dates and venues for each of the 6 sessions. 

Here they are:

20th November 2008 – Knights Hill Hotel, Kings Lynn
26th November 2008 – Wyboston Lakes, Bedford
11th February 2009 – Holiday Inn, Peterborough
19th February 2009 – BioPark, Welwyn
5th March 2009 – Denny Brothers Conference Centre, Bury St Edmunds
25th March 2009 – Pontlands Park, Chelmsford

The session is entitled “Getting Maximum Benefit from Your IT Systems” and will last for 2 hours, starting at 10am.  Last week, I gave a 20 minute taster of the session to the events team and I had lots of positive feedback.  There will be room for 30 business owners, directors and managers at each session (no previous IT knowledge or experience necessary!) so I’d be delighted to see you at one of these sessions.  The cost hasn’t been decided yet, but it will either be fully or part funded by Business Link, so the most it is likely to cost is £30 per person.

Please just drop me a line or leave a comment on this post if you would be interested in coming along to one of these.

The Hertfordshire Business Independent (HBI) June Networking Event - Update

Following on from this post last month:

http://www.eximium.net/blog/index.php/2008/06/business-advice-hertfordshire/

about the above event that I was the speaker for, I just wanted to give you an update on the evening.

As featured in this month’s copy of the magazine, the event went very well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  It was well organised and the Quality Hotel in Hatfield was an excellent venue.  My talk was described by the magazine as ‘lively’ - which isn’t bad for any talk relating to IT, as it can sometimes be a boring subject!

There were 60 business people present in the end, so I decided to structure my talk around the advisory article I wrote earlier in the year about the lessons to be learned from the issues at Terminal 5.  I covered 10 key areas to be careful of when implementing any substantial business change, especially those connected with technology.

Thanks to the team at HBI for asking me to speak at the event and to all the people that contacted me and came along:  Ryan Tobias from Business For Breakfast, Ryan Yuill and Mandy Andrews from Applied IT Solutions, Victoria Cox from Thomas Cox and Co, and Mike Waddell from Adsidia.  Also, I’m pleased to say that Ryan Tobias and Mike Waddell both won prizes in the raffle!

I highly recommend these networking events – they are informal, friendly and productive.  The next event is on 22nd September at the Cheshunt Marriott in Broxbourne.

To read the coverage on the June event in the digital edition of the magazine, please use the following links:

To read a version of the article my talk was based on, go to http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?eid=1e736ccc-e947-4644-aff4-1c60f479c390&pnum=16

To see the feature about the event, go to http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?eid=1e736ccc-e947-4644-aff4-1c60f479c390&pnum=30

Also, if you’re interested in having me speak at your own event, please just drop me a line from here www.eximium.net/meettheteam.asp

Eximium announces successful accreditation by BSI to ISO 9001

Business IT specialists Eximium announced today that they have been awarded accreditation by BSI to ISO 9001 for all of their four key services: IT training, IT recruitment, IT consulting and IT solutions.  This has been the result of over 15 months work by the management team to implement a quality management system into the business that complies with the stringent requirements of the standard.

A key reason for the move was the desire to take on more work in the public sector, where ISO 9001 has become a minimum supplier requirement.  In addition, few IT companies have implemented the standard, so it was also intended to set Eximium apart from its competitors as a company that cares about quality and customer satisfaction, at its core.

Managing director, Derrick Cameron, said, “We’re delighted that the hard work and dedication of the team has paid off.  When we first started this process, we weren’t entirely sure how it would work and whether we could do it at all, but we all feel we’ve been through a massively useful process, and our business has benefited enormously from the framework of continuous improvement the ISO 9001 standard provides.”

Paula Wheatcroft, operations director at Eximium, added, “We knew our business was already a good fit for the type of business model ISO 9001 proposes, but we’ve learnt so much from the management principles within the standard and from the help and advice BSI have provided.  We really are a better organisation for it, and we can only go from strength to strength with the processes we now have in place to ensure we focus on customer needs, learn from our mistakes, and constantly improve what we do based on customer feedback.”

Eximium work with business owners, directors and managers to help them get more benefit out of their IT systems.  They can be contacted on 01582 635 078 or at www.eximium.net for advice or for further information.

IT seminars in conjunction with Business Link East

I’m excited to announce that we’ve been selected by Business Link East to provide a series of seminars as part of their ‘growing business’ events programme.

We’ll be developing and presenting a 2 hour briefing session for them, aimed at SME business owners, directors and managers entitled ‘Getting Maximum Benefit From Your IT Systems’, in their October 2008 to March 2009 events season.  Based on our popular 1-day seminar, it will be packed with essential knowledge and skills to help delegates get the maximum possible benefit for their businesses out of their IT systems and IT providers.  There will be 6 sessions at various venues across the region.

You’ll be able to book online via http://www.bookevents.org/events/events_browse_results.asp?supplier=01&suppliername=Business+Link soon - keep an eye out for it at a venue near you.  I hope to see you there!

A deal is struck for expansion onto the Butterfield Business & Technology Park

Over recent weeks, we’ve been finalising plans for expansion and I’m pleased to say negotiations have now been completed for us to take some space at the prestigious Butterfield Business and Technology Park in Luton.  We’ve decided to establish a presence at the new Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre that was built on the park last year.  We’ll be taking a 1200sqft space at the centre, hopefully at the start of September.

Butterfield is just off the A505 and within easy reach of the M1, Luton Airport and the town centre, and is an 85 acre site.  The Business & Innovation Centre cost £18.5 million and was funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to the tune of £14 million. The remaining £4.5 million was provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East).

Great attention has been paid towards providing an environmentally friendly building and we have been very impressed by the green solutions to needs such as heating and air conditioning.  It’s also a terrific looking building, with good use made of natural materials and there is plenty of glass and open space.  The whole atmosphere is professional but also fresh and tranquil.  There is even a pond!

We’re very excited about our new space and we’re looking forward to sampling the new working environment at the centre.  There’s a lot to organise first, though!

The Hertfordshire Business Independent - Networking Event

I’m delighted to say that I’ve been asked by one of the magazines that have previously published my articles, The Hertfordshire Business Independent, to speak at their forthcoming Networking Event on Thursday 26th June.  I’ve been given a 20 minute slot to entertain the 50 or so business people present so I’m working on that now!

If anyone is interested in attending this event, the details are listed below.  You can either drop me a line or contact them directly.  I’d be pleased to see you there.

Latest news on our ISO 9001 accreditation

Over the last year, we’ve all been working hard to implement ISO 9001 into the business.  I can’t say it’s been easy!  It was a daunting task at the beginning, but it’s been a real experience, and it’s helped us and our business in so many ways.  The great thing is that ISO 9001 is a framework of best business practice principles that you adapt to your own business and your way of working, making the quality management system your own.  You can buy off the shelf systems, but they’re an attempt to make something generic out of something that should be very specific, and closely linked into your business, so we didn’t go down that route.  I’m glad we made that decision because it really feels as though we’ve invested our time and money well, and now we have something that we can really use and truly belongs to us all.

I must say that BSI have been fantastic.  I attended their 2-day ‘Implementing ISO 9001′ training course last year, and it really explained what to do, the problems to watch out for, and answered most of my questions about how the approach applied to our business. I don’t think we would have created such a personalised and useful quality management system, as well as we have, if I hadn’t been on the course.  Equally, Steve Mason, our BSI Client Manager, has been instrumental in guiding me down a path to create a robust system without over complicating anything.

Quality is such an important part of what we do that we aren’t treating our quality management system as a separate entity at all, it’s just our business management approach; a completely integral part of how we run our business.  Fortunately for us, our business principles were a close fit with ISO 9001 already, so the idea of things like monitoring and measuring quality, having a customer focused approach, and taking corrective actions when things go wrong, weren’t new to us.  For the most part, we just needed to adapt our procedures and formalise our approach in certain areas, to fit with the standards. There’s no question in our minds now though - we are a better business as a result.

We’ve implemented our quality management system into our procedures now and I’m delighted to say it’s working well.  It isn’t perfect yet, but a key lesson ISO 9001 teaches you is that it’s okay to make mistakes, as that’s all part of the process of continual improvement.  What’s important is showing that you have a mechanism to help you learn from those mistakes, and putting a process in place to stop the same mistake from happening again.

Our initial assessments with BSI have gone well - we’re now waiting for the final assessment at the beginning of July.  At the moment though, it’s looking good for us to get that coveted kitemark!

Eximium joins Luton Business For Breakfast® group

Business IT specialists Eximium Ltd announced today that they have joined the Luton Business For Breakfast® group. The club meets at the Menzies Strathmore Hotel in the Arndale centre between 6:45am and 8:30am every other Tuesday, to share best business practise and exchange quality business referrals.

Derrick Cameron, MD of Eximium said “We are delighted to be working with Ryan and the other members of this group to grow our business, and to help them grow theirs. We’ve already had a number of valuable opportunities come from the group and it’s great to be part of a club with such friendly and like-minded business people.

“This group fits well with our marketing strategy. We don’t employ salespeople, as they can turn people off. Our services and our approach sell themselves, and recommendations and referrals are the most powerful way for us to spread the word about what we do. I can recommend this group to anyone looking to do business in the area, who wants to have an opportunity to meet and nurture new contacts and benefit from a fun, friendly and professional approach to business breakfast networking.”

The group is run by Ryan Tobias. Ryan said “I’m delighted to have Eximium on board. They are exactly the type of forward-thinking, growing company that we’re looking to have as members. Derrick has a great approach to the meetings and is always keen to help other members to grow their business, which is to everyone’s benefit.”

Ryan can be contacted at ryan@bforb.co.uk.

Eximium becomes a McAfee partner

Business IT specialists Eximium have announced a new partnership agreement with international security software provider McAfee.

The Luton based firm are already a registered Microsoft partner and believe that this new relationship with one of the world’s biggest IT security software companies will have a number of benefits for their customers.

“There are a huge number of products on the market and we carefully evaluate anything before we consider re-selling. After extensive testing we were very impressed with the McAfee products ability to cope with viruses and spam, its flexibility, and the fact that it allows us to install and update the product on our clients’ computers quickly and without leaving the office. This means we can offer a faster service but for less money” comments Eximium’s Technical Director, Derrick Cameron.

Eximium joins the Chamber of Commerce for Bedfordshire and Luton

Eximium announced today that it is to join the Chamber of Commerce for Bedfordshire and Luton.

The Chamber exists to promote the interests of local firms and encourage investment into the local economy. Derrick Cameron, Technical Director of Eximium comments “As we are based in the local community it makes sense to join an organisation that helps to promote the area. As well as enjoying the benefits of membership, we are looking forward to working with local firms in the area and being able to put something back into the business community”

Eximium specialise in helping companies resolve their IT problems and also helping firms make the most of their business through the best use of their IT. “We are offering our £500 fact find service free to all Chamber members and we are confident that they will gain a lot from it” adds Cameron.

Eximium registers with BSI for ISO 9001 & 20000 accreditation

Eximium has always put quality first and this month has registered with BSI for accreditation to the ISO quality standards of ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and IS0 20000 (IT Service Management).

This means that over the next 12 months, the company will be working closely with BSI to ensure that processes meet the stringent requirements.

Derrick Cameron, Technical Director of Eximium comments “Our accreditation with BSI to these standards will prove to our customers and suppliers alike that we view quality as a highly important aspect of our relationship with them”.

For more details about how Eximium is striving to meet high standards in all aspects of its business, contact them directly.

Eximium expands into new offices to accommodate growth

Business IT specialists Eximium have completed their move into their new office space at Regus Business Centre, Capability Green, Luton.

The decision to leave their current premises was largely down to space and the desire to have more flexibility in their accommodation.

“Our new offices offer a wide range of meeting rooms of various sizes. This means that we can meet up with clients, and offer training and workshops sessions, no matter how big the number. It’s also just off the M1 and close to Luton Airport so we can be in London, Birmingham or Glasgow for that matter, in just over an hour” comments Paula Wheatcroft, Eximium’s Operations Director.

The new office is situated in the Capability Green business development, which is the premier business park of the east of England, according to the Bedfordshire & Luton Economic Development Partnership. It is close to the M1, M25, mainline trains into Kings Cross, London and Luton Airport. Eximium will share the site with companies such as Ernst & Young, Siemens plc, Bae Systems, Anritsu & Astra Zeneca.

Eximium becomes a Microsoft partner

Business IT Specialist Eximium announced today that they are to become registered Microsoft partners with immediate effect.

Microsoft is one of the world’s largest companies and offers the most widely used software on domestic and business computers. The new relationship means that Eximium can offer specialised advice and more flexibility to customers.

“We are delighted to now be considered as a Microsoft partner and are looking forward to offering new services to our customers, including sourcing Microsoft products directly from us” comments Eximium’s Technical Director, Derrick Cameron. “This also means that we can work with our customers to ensure they have the best licensing arrangement for new and existing software, so that they are not paying more than they have to, but can also access the latest Microsoft products”.