Sean Mander – BWL Group’s Commercial Business Director

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Meet Sean Mander, BWL Group’s Commercial Business Director since 2021. He enjoys a flexible work schedule between his home and office, starting each day with a coffee and a walk with his dog, Weldon.

By Sean Mander, Commercial Business Director

How long have you worked at BWL Group?

I joined BWL Group in March 2021, and I haven’t looked back. I have worked for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) specialising in onshore and offshore construction, as well as a 6-year stint at a large professional services firm in PwC where I managed the accounts of high net-worth individuals. I can honestly say that my time at BWL Group has been the most enjoyable by far.

Can you describe your role within the Professional Bid Services team at BWL Group?

My role is fairly broad, but my core responsibility is to liaise with our client’s (such as Pre-Construction Directors and Work Winning Directors) to ascertain their bid support requirements. Some clients look to outsource a bid in its entirety, where others require review services as they have in-house capacity to draft technical responses during a tender period. No two clients are the same, and I will always create a bespoke solution to ensure that we always provide our clients with value for money.

Where do you work from for the majority of the working week?

BWL Group is slightly different to most organisations, as we only hire senior bid professionals who add immediate value to our clients. As there are no junior members of the team to mentor, it creates flexibility in where I can work so I tend to split my days between my home office and work office depending on my diary (nobody in the office likes to listen to my voice on calls all day!).

How do you start your day?

I start each day with a strong coffee (or two) and a walk by the river in Darlington with my dog, Weldon. As a cocker spaniel, that second coffee just about helps me keep up with his energy!

What is on your agenda for today?

I have two meetings to attend this morning with two of our Tier 1 clients to run through their bid pipeline and ascertain where any pinch points may be in their resource planners. This allows me to manage BWL Group’s team of Bid Consultants and Senior Bid Writers to ensure we have availability to support our clients if the need arises.

This afternoon I will be reviewing an ITT and providing a quotation to one of our SME clients in the fire and security sector. We have worked with this client for almost 5-years now and have swathes of information on file, so it should be a nice short bid for us to complete over the coming days.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job, and how do you navigate them?

Most of our client’s approach BWL Group with a view to outsourcing a bid in its entirety (i.e. BWL managing the bid, drafting all technical responses, and plugging into subject matter experts within our client’s organisation to extract technical input to bolster responses). Because of this, I provide clients with a fixed lump sum quotation which is based on the number of days it will take our team to complete a bid submission.

Once a quotation has been approved by our client, I will allocate it to a member of our bid team, who are only ever allocated to one bid at any given time. This model can create pinch points internally within our own work programme, but I navigate this through open communication with our client base and by always looking to manage our team so that we have one resource available to support with any last-minute requirements.

Can you share a recent success story or a project you’re particularly proud of?

One recent win I feel proud to have been part of is supporting an electrical contractor in South Wales secure first place on a large framework opportunity. Our client had never used an external bid consultancy in the past, and the Managing Director was very open in saying they were going to “give us a go”. I received a late-night email which said the following, and it made my day:

“Celebrating tonight following confirmation we are on the Cardiff Uni framework. But we also scored the highest (97.90%). Thank you for your help throughout tender.”

Our Lisa Reece was the appointed Bid Consultant who deserved all the credit for this win!

What do you find most rewarding about working in bidding?

There is nothing more rewarding than working with our clients to actively help them grow their business by successfully supporting them in winning new contracts. Ultimately, this leads to employment opportunities and overall economic growth across the country.

If you could skip back 10 years in your career, what advice would you give to yourself?

Don’t be afraid of a change in direction. I started my career as a qualified Civil and Structural Engineer, moved into the accountancy field at PwC where I qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and then ended up in the world of bidding, as a Bid Manager during Covid-19. At times, I was worried about what I felt was a fairly erratic career path, but here I am, leading a team of bid professionals who specialise in the construction and engineering sector, and supporting our Finance Team to sustainably grow the business – just like everything in life, it all worked out well in the end.

What is your favourite thing to do outside of work?

Being based in Darlington, we are a stones throw away from the Lake District, Yorkshire Moors, and Northumberland – three beautiful areas to switch off from work/life and walk my dog, Weldon – definitely my favourite thing to do outside of work.

You can read more about Sean’s professional experience on our website here. If you’d like to know more about our services our team offers, please contact us, and we’ll be in touch. Alternatively, email us at enquiries@bwlgroup.co.uk.