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ServQ Alliance

Alliance News

Andrew Crossley Appointed as the Institute of Asset Management's Chief Examiner

 

In October 2021 Andrew was reappointed the Chief Examiner of this international institute. He is responsible for assurance and governance of the professional examination processes.

USGAO Advisor

After more than a decade of support Andrew Crossley has retired from his role as an expert adviser to the US GAO in March 2021. This aligned with the completion of the update to the 2009 USGAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide which was rewritten after he supported the 2015 USGAO Schedule Assessment Guide.

 

In 2015 the US Government Accountability Office published its Scheduling Assessment Guide. Andrew Crossley had supported this project and the US GAOs Cost Management Guide team as an expert advisor since 2009. He says:

 

"It's great to see how excellent collaboration between the US public and private sector can create an excellent practical guide on scheduling best practice. I was first introduced to its Principal Author Karen Richey in 2008 when she came to CAM-I to talk about her work on the GAO Estimating and Cost Guide. 

 

Karen then asked if I was interested in becoming an advisor on its companion volume on scheduling. It is very nice of the team to acknowledge ServQ the University of Bristol and myself as one of the core band of helpers on this new publication."

ISO

For the eleventh year in a row ASC Management Limited completed a successful annual audit for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 as the Alliance's lead body, with a clean bill of health.

 

The new integrated 9001/14001 system was audited by the British Assessment Bureau in December 2019. The feedback from the external auditor was very positive with no significant 'non conformities' identified. The directors say:

 

"We work hard to ensure we have robust and well regarded Quality and Environmental Management systems to the latest codes. This year we again received complimentary feedback from BAB on the quality of our systems and our environmental compliance. We work to these high standards to differentiate our delivery approach from many other firms. We continue to invest on our class leading e-portal for project and system control and it pays off for our clients and colleagues.

Joint Bidding Showcase

The Demonstration Projects that ran between 2014 and 15 using the Joint Bidding Guide were showcased at Cardiff Business School in November 2015. Mrs Hutt the Minister for Finance and Business for the Welsh Government gave a keynote acknowledging the hard work of the Steering Group and the ServQ Alliance in rolling out the Guide. The Steering Group is carrying on its work into 2019.

2016 Procurement Award

In 2016 the National Procurement Service of the Welsh Government won two awars for the Joint Bidding implementation programme. Their processes were based on the early successes of the demonstration projects led by ServQ. Andrew Crossley attended the UK awards dinner in Manchester in 2016 as a guest of the NPS in acknowledgement of his work on the programme.

Major Procurement Advisory Contract Awarded to ServQ

The ServQ Alliance has been awarded a contract for the provision of procurement related training, development and organisational services by the Welsh Government. The contract starts in December 2013 and will be ongoing for three years. The Management Board of the Alliance were all involved in the bidding and securing of this important contract. Work started on the bid in March 2013.

Crossley Joins Welsh Steering Group

The ServQ Alliance's Andrew Crossley has joined the Steering Group overseeing the implementation on the new Joint Bidding Guide, hosted by Cardiff Business School and the Institute for Collaborative Working. Members of the panel include senior procurement leaders in the Welsh public sector, the guide's sponsors and representatives from academia involved with procurement and supply chain analysis.

Teaching at the University of Bristol

Andrew Crossley has been appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol. He contributes to courses on Engineering systems, innovation, entrepreneurship, enterprise and professional studies. Andrew works with students in their first to final year groups on Bristol's highly regarded MEng and MSc degree courses as supervises PhD candidates. He works at Bristol on a part time basis. 

Minister Launches Joint Bidding Guide

Andrew Crossley attended the launch of the Joint Bidding Guide by Jane Hutt, AM Minister of Finance, Welsh Government in Swansea on 21st October 2013.

 

From left to right Andrew Crossley; Sue Hurrell, Value Wales; Gareth Coles, WCVA; Rhian Edwards, Wales Co-operative Centre; Jane Hutt, AM Minister For Finance, Welsh Government - holding the brochure for the manual; Matthew Pugh and Ben Wheeler, Thatreallyusefulcompany.

Mark Fowler's Article on Transformation

Mark Fowler has published an article in the Lord Ashcroft International Business School Journal, Interconnections. The article describes a method for engaging people in creating their new future as a social enterprise. See our Publications pages on Transformation for more information.

Joint Bidding Handbook

ServQ's management team has recently completed a project on joint bidding for the Welsh Government's Value Wales team, the Wales Co-operative Centre and the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action. The project started in October 2012 and involved field research with small firms, procurement teams, institutions and bidding experts. See the case study.

 

Handbook - The team then prepared a practitioner's handbook on joint bidding for procurement and bidding teams. The Welsh public sector procures over £4bn per year and the goal is to ensure that joint bids from smaller entities get equal consideration to those from large organisations. The hanbook will be available in 18 individual chapters at www.wales.gov.uk/jointbidding in early October 2013.

Ian Watson Retires as ServQ's Chairman after 11 Years

After 11 years as the Chairman of ServQ, Ian Watson has announced his retirement. Ian was one of the firm's co-founders. On behalf of the ServQ Alliance's Management Board, its Partners and Associates Andrew Crossley had this to say about Ian's time with the firm:

 

"Ian and I have worked together since the mid 1990s. His professionalism and pragmatic Chairmanship of ServQ has been an inspiration to us all. Ian has been an outstanding mentor to all of our team and he is held in the highest regard by his colleagues, our international partners and ServQ's major clients. We wish Ian the very best for his retirement and for his future. Ian will be missed by us all."

Ken Thompson Develops a Social Media Simulator

Ken Thompson has developed a unique Business Social Media Impact Forecasting Simulator which provides a simple but scientific approach to developing clear and credible forecasts of the impact including financial benefits of social media campaigns before they are undertaken.

 

For more information follow this link.

New Mark Fowler Article

Mark Fowler recently published an article of Transformational Thinking on the Context of Social Enterprises. It is available for download from this site.

Professor Grimes at the UK workshop

UK Nuclear Workshop

 ServQ attended the workshop hosted by the Bristol-Oxford NRC on 18th April 2012 to discuss the current capacity and future needs for nuclear research in the UK. Presentation in the morning from Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge, Imperial, Oxford and Bristol set the scene, with Professor Robin Grimes of Imperial giving a national overview.

 

In the afternoon the delegates split into two work groups discussing recommended research stream in nuclear waste and nuclear futures i.e. the legacy and the future of the UK nuclear programme. This was a very informative day and the significant number in industry delegates illustrated the current level of interest in the nuclear energy options.

Setting Up the NRC

Andrew Crossley has just completed a 6 month secondment working at the University of Bristol to project manage the launch and implementation of the Bristol-Oxford Nuclear Research Centre (NRC). This exciting research programme involves the Universities of Bristol and Oxford collaborating on Applied and Advanced Research as well as mapping Nuclear Futures 50 years ahead. There are over 100 researchers in these areas within the two universities.

Physics Building at Bristol

Andrew says, "It has been a fantastic experience working alongside one of the top teams in materials, physics and nuclear research for the last 6 months. I was thrown in the deep end, having to project manage the launch of the NRC within 5 weeks of starting. The launch was very successful and the team has won many large research contracts since I started. Now it's time to handover to the operational team. I wish colleagues at Bristol and Oxford every success".

 

More information on the NRC can be found at www.nrcuk.net

 Clients' Views

'You have enabled us to articulate and communicate strategic direction throughout the whole organisation.'

 

'Your flair, creative approach, excellent relationships and methodology helped build capacity, develop behaviours and skills that had a lasting impact.  This enabled us to prepare for and manage a period of considerable change and transformation.'

 

'We are delighted with the impact you have had in transforming individuals and teams enabling them to deliver high performance outcomes.'

 

Thanks for the good work'

 

'This has been truly transformational.  It has helped us look beyond roles to the complex, uncertain and ethical dilemmas of working in a very different way.  It gave us the time, space and challenge to grow ideas and deliver change in my and my team's practice.'

 

'Superb work - many thanks'

 

'You clearly understand the dynamics and have a lot to offer the.....initiative over the years ahead'

 

'(EU) outputs fully met the needs of the programme, the quality was very good'

 

'A focused and dedicated team of senior practitioners, researchers and industry leaders delivered work packages at the right time and quality'

 

'Very professional, well prepared and clear understanding of our expectations, very responsive to late change requests and programme revisions. Excellent pre and post sales'

 

'Both programmes have exceeded our expectations and attained high levels of adoption'

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