Nicolson Maps
History of company:
Nicolson Maps were formed in 1978 when Malcolm Nicolson spotted a
niche in the market for quality street maps. From those small
beginnings we have grown to now be Scotland's map specialists. For
almost 30 years, Nicolson Maps have been producing and supplying
maps to our customers. Our greatest assets are our staff and our
reputation. We take pride in giving customer service second to
none.
Nature of your business:
We produce the widest range of street guides and atlases in
Scotland, which compliment our acclaimed Tourist Map series. Both
have reached the finals of the IMTA (International Map Trade
Association) best map awards.
Not only do we produce our own well known range of Street guides
and tourist maps, but also carry the entire Ordnance Survey small
scale series of maps and an extensive range of cartographic
products from every major map publisher. As both an Ordnance Survey
Mapping and Data Centre and a Licensed Partner, we regularly
undertake customised mapping jobs.
Every year we take part in several trade shows which allow
management to come face to face with our customers and discuss any
improvements in service. Over the years our team has gained a
wealth of local knowledge, therefore the range of maps and guides
carried by each individual customer is designed to be the most
appropriate for them and their area.
We also supply mapping for customer orders of foreign or other
specialised mapping. Our shop carries the most comprehensive range
of non-UK maps in Scotland.
With support from North Ayrshire Council we have been developing
the e-commerce part of our business over the last 3 years. Our web
site allows both the public and account holding customers the
ability to place orders online 24/7. The web site is regularly
updated with new editions and special offers.
Who do you currently supply?:
Our customers are many and varied. Most of our customers are in the
private sector e.g. tourism outlets, post offices, newsagents,
garage forecourts etc. However, we also supply mapping to the
public sector. Many local authorities, fire and rescue, police and
ambulance services use our street maps and atlases.
Not only do we supply customers throughout Scotland and the rest of
the UK, but we supply Canadian, French, German and Australian map
shops with their UK mapping needs. Many of these specialist map
shops place their orders online at times convenient to them via our
e-commerce site.
We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce that we are now
the official and exclusive supplier of maps to Visit Scotland and
their Tourism Information Centres. (We have had a verbal,
non-exclusive deal in place for many years prior.)
We also supply local authorities, planners and architects with
large scale (detailed) Ordnance Survey maps. Our cartographic team
also produce the bespoke mapping used by many businesses for
promotional purposes.
What has been your experience of the procurement
process?:
Nicolson Maps were fortunate enough to be part of a North Ayrshire
Council procurement purchasing course in 2006. This proved
invaluable in reading between the lines to understand what was
required and ultimately success in the tendering process.
Our experiences with the tendering process has been both
frustration with delays in a decision being made and ultimately the
satisfaction of being awarded the contract. We have been very
fortunate with our tender applications. In 2007 we submitted two
tenders and were successful with both.
Some tender documents ask very vague questions and repeat
themselves. Others, from smaller organisations, were better
organised and laid out systematically with distinct points. This
made the layout of our response far simpler.
Quite often you need to get clarification over specific points. Any
tender will be very time consuming. We have found that a senior
member of staff needs to be taken off normal duties in order to
complete the tender and submit it before the due date.
PQQ's (Pre Qualification Questionnaires) are part of many tenders,
these tend to be done electronically. We found this to be an
excellent way of creating a tender. Small sections could be
created, saved and re-worked as time allowed.
Any top tips?:
There are many things that are important to do when preparing a
tender. Things like collecting all the statistics you need and
doing the largest/hardest part first. Here are five useful points
that we have learnt from our tendering experiences.
- Time. Watch it! Deadlines are not flexible. Make sure you deliver in time, if you have to, hand deliver it and get it signed for!
- Proof read your document. It might read fine to you, but get at least 3 others to look at it. You never know what you may have missed. It may be worthwhile for someone outside your company to look at the document.
- Answer the questions and don't waffle.
- Focus on what has been asked and make sure you answer all the questions fully. Are you answering what has been asked or what you want to answer? (remember point 3)
- Don't offer what you know you can't do. Focus on what you do well and make the most of your strengths.
Future plans for your company?
Expansion to be the number one name for maps in Britain and quite
simply the only call you need make for any map.
We are currently the biggest customer of Ordnance Survey in
Scotland and inside the top five throughout the UK (behind the
chains eg Waterstones, WH Smiths, etc). Our aim is to become number
one.
