Philip Thomson

Mr Thomson, 53, is the first company director appointed to the business since managing director David Gray in October 2017 and joins as part of an ongoing growth strategy.

He brings significant experience having worked with bidding teams across the UK and Ireland in a range of sectors and industries, from central and local government to education, healthcare, manufacturing, construction and pharmaceuticals.

The role will see him head up the bid team, comprised of bid managers and writers, with a remit to deliver the consistently high 80%+ bid success rates achieved by the business, even through the 2020/21 pandemic period.

Based in the Falkirk area but originally from Brighton, the father-of-four said: “I am delighted to be joining AM Bid at an exciting time, when the business is seeing a significant increase in bidding activity with new and existing clients. 

“The business has an enviable team of highly experienced and well qualified bid professionals at all levels, and I am looking forward to working with them.”

Mr Thomson’s background was in operational facilities management before migrating into bidding 12 years ago. He led bids and tenders for FM businesses within several tier one construction companies before broadening out to offer highly successful bid and tender consultancy services within all sectors across the UK and Ireland.

AM Bid managing director David Gray said: “I am delighted to welcome Philip to AM Bid as Bid Director and the first new member of our company Board since 2017. 

“Philip is a professionally certified bid practitioner who brings a wealth of experience in leading high-performance bid teams operating at Director level, and is a great fit for us. We are all looking forward to working with Philip and continuing to grow the business as we expand our client base and service offerings.”

Mr Thomson’s appointment sees him join founder Andrew Morrison, MD David Gray, company secretary Emma Morrison and non-executive finance director Carrie Campbell, on the board of AM Bid.

It has been a busy period of recruitment for the firm, which has also appointed Chantelle Seaborn as senior bid manager, while Christine Hornshaw has taken on the role of business development manager. Chantelle brings a wealth of experience in proposal writing and management and is also a professionally certified bidding practitioner. Christine has a background in business development, consultancy and sales and marketing, having previously worked across a number of sectors and industries.

Blair Young also recently joined the company as a business development analyst, recruited through the UK Government’s Kickstart scheme, with another two Kickstart applications in the pipeline in the weeks ahead with vacancies for a marketing executive and bid executive set to be filled. All three will receive induction and ongoing role-specific training from experienced AM Bid staff as part of their placements.