PRESS RELEASE - 18th June 2010
Arena Flowers won its first public sector contract through CompeteFor to supply floral services to Transport for London.
When Arena Flowers was established in 2006, founders Will Wynne and Steve France had a vision to create an online florist that used the freshest flowers sourced from sustainable and ethically sound producers. They were the first Fair Flowers Fair Plants accredited florist in the UK, and today Arena Flowers employs nearly 50 staff and has a thriving customer base.
Will first heard about CompeteFor through the Park Royal Partnership who explained that CompeteFor was designed to give SMEs access to London 2012 supply chain opportunities. Soon afterwards, Will registered online in anticipation of the many bouquets that would be needed for the ceremonies.
‘The registration process was quite straightforward, which I see as one of the greatest benefits of the system,’ Will explains. ‘It’s simple to create your profile and pick your business categories. Then you can set up your email alerts and let CompeteFor match you to contracts. There was nothing for us to lose!’
‘As a company we’re constantly working to diversify our customer base and CompeteFor provided us with a valuable opportunity to branch out into the public sector’
When Will was sent an email alert about a contract with Transport for London (TfL) for the provision of floral services, he applied immediately. After being shortlisted through CompeteFor, he was invited to tender through TfL’s regular procurement process. This included an online application, presentations and the provision of sample bouquets.
Following their successful bid, Arena Flowers now provides TfL with a facility to order floral arrangements for births, illness and death for members of staff. An online account allows TfL to pay for bouquets through monthly invoices, control who is allowed to purchase flowers and review past receipts.
Will says, ‘As a company we’re constantly working to diversify our customer base and CompeteFor provided us with a valuable opportunity to branch out into the public sector, an area we previously had no contact with. We have found other relevant contracts as well which shows it would have been foolish for us not to explore a resource like this.’
