Ramesys locks horns with RM for BSF glory

Mark Chambers: We are a small company compared to others, but we can deliver

Ramesys has issued a war cry to rival RM as it guns for dominance in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) space next year.

The integrator has won about 10 BSF contracts so far compared to RM’s 14 deals, but with a slew of new contracts up for grabs next year, Ramesys is looking to at least double the number of deals it wins in the next year.

Mark Chambers, chief executive of Ramesys, told CRN: “There are about 20 IT companies that bid for BSF contracts, but these are generally awarded to consortia led by builders and contractors.

“RM is the biggest education specialist and has been for years, but we are feeling very confident.
“We are a small company compared to some of the other players out there, but we can deliver.”

Chambers said that his company is planning to swell its headcount by 50 staff next year across its three locations in the UK ­ London, Nottingham and Manchester ­ to cope with the extra workload brought on by public sector bids.

He added that the company would probably look to employ a further 50 staff in 2010.
“Bidding is a very long process and you have to find a good contractor with which to partner, but because of the long lead time it is easier to plan ahead and we already have contracts worth a total £160m in place for the next five years,” he said.

“This also allows us to know how many people we need to employ in advance to cope with the workload.”
Gregory Webb, BSF bid support manager at RM, said: “Ramesys has had some success to date and we expect them to be an active competitor in the market.

“However, we have been looking at how we will bid for all these increased contracts for some time and are extremely well prepared. We are confident that we will stay at the top of our game.”