Rachel Hayward Managing Director
We have secured contracts and grant funding totalling:
Ask the Chameleon is accessible to businesses of all sizes. Whether your business needs assistance with a one-off commercial bid application, researching available procurement or funding opportunities, writing a specific business award you want to enter or something longer term, we can help you. Our lead consultant is Rachel Hayward. Following an exceptional career in HR, organisational development, new service development, bid writing and delivery, in the private, voluntary and public sectors, Rachel has gone on to secure £34.5m in funding for Ask the Chameleon clients since 2015. Rachel particularly believes in the power of networking and connections, which has seen her nominated for awards including Female Entrepreneur of the Year – East Midlands Chamber of Commerce Enterprising Women 2021 and 2020. Ask the Chameleon itself was chosen as one of the Small Business Saturday SmallBiz100 in 2018 and Federation of Small Business (West Midlands) Micro Business of the Year 2020. In 2021 Rachel received an Unsung Hero recognition from the Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire and became one of the #ialso f:entrepreneurs for her creation of Derby Swap Shop during the pandemic, to help small businesses and charities swap skills with each other to survive during lockdown.
Rachel is the Area Lead for the FSB and a small business representative on the D2N2 Business Advisory Group.
We know where there are opportunities for contracts and tenders, which your business could deliver. We know how Local Authorities buy (procure) their services, how they advertise and what they look for. We know the different systems that are used and how to use them appropriately (there is rarely a human being to ask these days!). By working with us, we can offer you a fast track to submission, avoiding common pitfalls and frustrations with the systems. We also understand and can translate their terminology!
Usually we meet and discuss what you are looking for, how you operate and what you have done in the past. We then look at available opportunities and discuss how you meet the buyer’s requirements. If you don’t currently meet them, we can talk about how you can achieve this in the future. We then begin to draft, sharing updates as agreed, to ensure you are 100% happy with our submissions. We can even come and work in your premises. You press the button to submit – it is vital to us that you are confident with the proposal and you can deliver it in your way.
We normally need copies of your policies, insurance details, staffing organisational chart, company background to make a start. We then concentrate on fulfilling the specification – the technical part of the bid. If you have never ventured into tendering before, we can work with you to get you tender ready.
Don’t worry! that’s why we are here. We can research what is out there, what systems and portals to use, what words to apply etc so that you can receive regular alerts about available opportunities. Or we can handle that for you. Whatever you need, we can create a tailored solution, that fits your business.
Rachel has worked with the Rural Action Derbyshire team on a number of projects. She brings energy, clarity and inspiration to everything she does.
She has a talent for bringing out the best in people and has helped our staff to develop skills in enterprise development, strategic development and bid writing. Her coaching input to our team helped them to secure a significant funding bid in a very competitive environment.
I can’t recommend her enough!
Beverley Parker, CEO
We worked with Rachel on a grant funding proposal, it was our first time submitting anything of this nature so working with Rachel was an obvious step to take.
From the beginning Rachel was so helpful with the whole process, giving us the benefit of her vast experience which was really useful. Rachel set a clear timetable and was really clear in the information that she required from us. We were able to ask Rachel lots of questions, none of which were treated as stupid.
Rachel was one of my first calls a couple of months later to confirm that we had been successful with securing the grant allowing us to move forward with our plans and support our customers through reopening post COVID.
I would highly recommend Rachel to other business owners looking to put in proposals for funding.
Helen McCabe
Due to time restraints we could only fit in a telephone consultation to discuss a tender contract, but Rachel helped me tremendously, going through all the questions and answers I had written.
She helped me so much in understanding the importance of answering concisely and showing evidence of the service we aim to provide. Rachel gave me the confidence I needed for the task in a very professional and helpful manner, enabling us to be awarded the contract.
I would highly recommend Rachel’s services
Mandy Turner
