Supporting operational business: a day in the life of our commercial team
04 Oct 23
CommercialInzpireTeamBlog
For every business proposal and bid made by Inzpire, our dedicated commercial function is on-hand working closely with the operational side of the business, to ensure everything runs smoothly and the company maintains its excellent reputation.
Rebecca Warhurst is one of the team. She’s our commercial bid executive, having joined the company in January 2022, and today she shares her view of what it’s like to work at Inzpire.
Rebecca (centre) with colleagues at DSEI 2023
Rebecca, what led you to join Inzpire?
Having previously spent 12 years as part of various sales and bid teams, I’m used to bidding on public sector work and working in a commercial environment, this, paired with the fact that I’ve also spent time on the ‘other side of the fence’ in public sector procurement, meant the job at Inzpire really appealed to me. It combines all my skills and experience.
It’s my first time working in defence; there are lots of things I have to consider which I’ve never had to worry about before, such as export control, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) and security classifications. It certainly keeps me on my toes, but in a good way!
Please tell us more about your role.
There isn’t an average day in the commercial team. We’re reactive based on what the operational teams are working on or what they need our help with. It makes life quite interesting and varied, so the days can fly by.
I’m the liaison between commercial and the Collective Training Services Division, so I focus supporting their requirements. Being allocated to a division gives me a much deeper understanding of their contracts so I can better advise them. My role is to support the full life cycle of our BWP (Business Winning Process) which governs our business; I do this by reviewing proposals, bids, and contract documentation before it goes out to the customer. I work closely with the legal side of the commercial function to ensure all terms and conditions including non-disclosure agreements, memorandums of understanding or teaming agreements are reviewed, and any risks identified and mitigated via negotiation or caveated in the detail of our proposal. Further to the bid being issued I carry out contract reviews and work with our customer to agree the final contract ready for signature. Once signed, the operational team will come to me if they have any questions or need advice to make any mid-contract changes.
At the Inzpire Grand Prix go-karting event this summer
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I work with lots of people who have done amazing things in their military lives. This can be a bit daunting at first, but from day one I’ve been made to feel as though my opinion is valued which is a lovely feeling.
I like my immediate team very much; we all have different backgrounds and experience, so there is always someone to bounce ideas off or turn to when I have a question. The team is scattered across the UK, so we have a bi-monthly team get-together in person to discuss how everything is going and what improvements we can make to our division to better serve the wider business.
Inzpire support flexible working so I can choose to work in the office or at home. Living locally, I prefer to work in the office two or three days per week; it’s a nice environment to be in and we have good facilities. Being in the office I like that I can go and physically speak to someone if I need to, rather than doing it via Teams, which means I’ve got to know a lot of my colleagues in different areas of the business. A bonus to working in the office is that I can charge my car using the onsite EV charging points!
It’s not all work at Inzpire either; there’s lots of opportunities to socialise. Last year I took part in an online bake-off competition for charity (my Bakewell tart wasn’t great looking, but it tasted OK!) and recently there was a go-karting event which I went along to support even though I didn’t get in a kart.
My Bakewell tart baking effort
Are there any other perks to working at Inzpire?
There’s a great benefits package at Inzpire. I’ve taken out the health and dental cover; luckily, I’ve never needed to use the Bupa cover, but I’ve used the dental plan. I’ve also started the share save scheme with our parent company and I’ve taken advantage of the pension scheme which is more generous than in my previous employment.
We have an unlimited annual leave policy which none of my friends can believe is real! I think of it as a safety net, so I know if I need to take some unexpected time off, I don’t have to worry about having enough holiday days left.
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