Following 30 years working in the corporate world Tim Colman established Timecheck Consulting 2002. His previous career had included work in the Pirelli Group of companies, the Chloride Group and the Swatch Group.
His bid writing career started during his time with the Chloride Group when he was involved in the sale of power electronics to the Pacific Rim. Many customers were large Japanese corporations with very complex tendering processes. Tim describes this period as “character building” but one in which he learned a lot about the whole procurement process.
Following the Chloride Group, for twenty years Tim worked in senior positions in the Swatch Group – within their sports timing division – based for several years in their Swiss Headquarters. He rapidly became the “go-to” man when tender documents needed a formal response. During this period Tim headed the bid teams for timing and scoring technology for a number of major multi-sports events including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and more. His record in these tenders was admirable – 100% success!
In 2002 Tim decided to move on from the corporate world to spend more time in the UK and Timecheck – as a procurement consultancy – was born.
He initially concentrated on bid writing for a range of clients but was approached by Business Link in Hampshire who asked if he would speak at an event to share tips on how to approach bid writing. The event was a huge success and over the next few years Tim delivered over 80 such events, not just in Hampshire but across the country.
In 2010 he was asked to take on a procurement related, voluntary, role for the Federation of Small Businesses (in their policy team) – a role which shortly afterwards became the FSB National Procurment Spokesman. This involved lobbying Government Ministers on procurement related issues, particularly those affecting SME’s.
In 2015 Tim was invited to join the Cabinet Office Small Business Advisory Panel – a role that continues today. The panel works with Government (on a non party political basis) to help promote best practice in procurement – whether public or private sector. Recent work has involved considerable input to the Procurement Act which was passed in 2023. This is a really fundamental piece of legislation that ensures public sector tenders are accessible to SME’s, that payment terms are fair…..and much more.
TIMECHECK CONSULTING 