I have worked at Bramble Hub for over 4 years, I originally joined as a Co-ordinator but am now the Tendering Team Manager. We have a multi-skilled team here – they are all really good at what they do and we support each other at work, and have fun outside of work too.
I left my home country when I was 16 and went to Malaysia to study Computer Studies. I then moved to Newcastle for my BSc in Business Information Technology. After graduating, I was offered a job at an Audit company as a trainee IT support technician. After working for almost two years as a trainee I decided to move on to do something different. I then worked for a family-owned fashion retailer in a customer facing and bookkeeping role for 3 years, before moving to Cardiff for my MBA in Finance. In 2013 I moved to London, where I live with my family, and I feel very settled here now.
I find that all my past experience comes in very handy in my role as Tendering Team Manager at Bramble. My role involves dealing with invitations to tender and submitting the bids. I work with Neil and Sarah looking after tenders and contracts. When an invitation to tender comes in we read through the requirements and work out which partner would be best suited.
One of my real strengths is my ability to make sure we stick to deadlines, as I have lots of responsibilities to deliver. My job also means I make sure I’m up to date with Information Technology – I have to be to make sure I fully understand our customer requirements. I use my IT skills a lot, and my background in bookkeeping helps me in my role too, as it means I can make good sense of the figures and talk confidently to customers/partners about finance. I work with the Finance team dealing with outstanding queries, purchase orders and creating quotes etc., and if there are any queries about finances, most of our partners will deal with myself or Neil our operations director. An important part of my role is making sure that all our partner queries are answered/resolved and that they are happy with the services we provide.
I am constantly developing at Bramble Hub, for example, I have recently been on a people management course, which taught me a lot and gave me more confidence in dealing with people, and approaching partners/customers. I am also always learning about new technologies through tenders. I really enjoy my role at Bramble Hub, the team here are friendly and keen to share their knowledge, so we get to know each other and build up relationships which is really good for our partners/customers too.
The advice I would give to Bramble Hub partners would be to work hard on relationships with all the people supporting you at Bramble Hub. The more time you spend with us, the more chances there are for us to share information and opportunities.
Sometimes a new partner works with us on their ‘first’ bid and when they don’t win they become disillusioned, but they really shouldn’t give up. We select partners because they are really good at what they do and there are some great opportunities on the frameworks. Patience may be required – but there are good rewards for partners who do win business.
Mahri’s Linkedin profile: www.linkedin.com/in/mahrigulber/
Meet the Bramble Hub team: The Team