New website, new blog!

Hello All,

To celebrate the launch of a redesigned Competitive Solutions Ltd website, we decided that would start letting you know all the latest news and developments from within the funding world.

My name is Michael O’Sullivan. I am one of the Managing Partners and founded the company 14 years ago. I have spent many years working in the sector in a variety of roles and have experienced first hand the amazing work charitable organisations deliver across the United Kingdom.

At Competitive Solutions Ltd, we provide a dedicated bid writing service, which involves looking at how charities monitor their services, maintain governance structures and have in place a plan (Fundraising Plan), linked to responding to the needs of service users.  We are a team of six, with specialist skills to meet the needs of charities in the changing world of funding.  No longer can a charity depend on statutory funding from their local Council or Clinical Commission Group.  Rather it is now prudent to expand their range of funding to include Trusts/Foundations and expand their geographical reach if possible.  

Many charities provide a vital community link but are not valued.  Charities need to think differently if they are to keep up with the changing cycle of funding and Competitive Solutions plays an important role in this process.  The skill set of charities in house in expecting their Chief Executive and/or Operational Team to produce competitive funding application is not realistic given the complexities of applications and the requirement to meet standards.  Outside large organisations (many of whom are not charities) that have their own team of bid writers are taking over local contracts/provision and pushing established local charities out. 

Councils, Trusts, Foundations, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Government Funding Departments are committed to open competitive tendering, which requires a specialist skill set.  Our company provides this skill set and allows small to medium size charities to compete equally with national organisations wanting to establish a hold on local service delivery.  While there are no guarantees of success, charities need to position themselves so that they have the best chance of success.

One of the things I love about my work, is the fact I get to work with charities involved in all different types of work. This gives me a fantastic insight into the ways they work, where they need support and how we can use this knowledge to share and help each organisation.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and updates about our work via this blog.

Please feel free to Contact Us if you feel we could support your organisation.

Until next time…

Michael