Home > Dragons' Den > Dragons' Den - 20 January 2009

Dragons' Den - 20 January 2009

The fifth BEST Dragons’ Den took place on 20th January 2009 at the Custard Factory in Digbeth.

The day was divided into two halves with separate morning and afternoon Dragons. The Dragons for the morning session were; Paul Dransfield, Corporate Director of Resources; Eileen Kenny, Community Librarian for Yardley; Councillor Sue Anderson , Cabinet Member for Adults and Communities; Andrew Potter, BEST Programme Manager for Development and Culture and Steven Pitt, BEST Project Officer.

First to face the dragons were Corporate Procurement Services from Chief Executives Directorate. The team, made up of Bob Carmichael, Denville Powell and Bill Mealey, were looking to promote their website to advertise forthcoming contracts. They planned to do this through the use of stress balls as a marketing tool, a method which was successful for them during 2005 and 2006 in promoting the CPS Team The dragons agreed with the idea of advertising their services more widely but felt that the cost of 500 stress balls for this purpose was not offering best value. The dragons suggested that the team went away and looked at other forms of marketing.

Next to enter the Den was the enthusiastic Adrian Addis representing the Resident Involvement Team from Housing and Constituencies. Adrian was looking to gain funding for a branding project to give the department their own identity. The dragons were impressed with the pitch and were very happy to offer funding to them. This was based on the premise that when designing the new identity for the team they involved the residents as much as possible for them to have ownership. Maria Haran and her Child Protection Team from Children, Young People and Families decided they would benefit from two scanners to help aid better productivity, save time and enable them to provide a more efficient and confidential service to their customers The dragons were concerned that the team were currently operating without the equipment that was needed to undertake their role; the dragons were more than happy to offer the full funding for the team. Paul Dransfield also offered to send out colleagues from within IT to discuss issues

Next to face the dragons was Sarah Gimson and Derek le Bron representing Person Centred Planning from Adults and Communities. Sarah and Derek pitched for funding required to enhance their IT equipment that would be used to support the teams work in helping adults with learning disabilities move into new accommodation. The Dragons were particularly impressed with the work that the team had already done, but were concerned that the equipment would only be used whilst the moves were been made. The Person Centred Planning team reassured them that the equipment could be used for different things such as showing users their change and development over a period of time; this is sometimes difficult for them to conceptualise. The Dragons had no hesitation in granting the funding to the team.

The last team of the morning session were DMS Safety Services from Development and Culture made up of Kevin Coley and Mohammed Basharat. The team were looking to secure funding to register Birmingham City Council as a provider of IOSH safety courses. the presentation demonstrated the true merit of the bid as success would improve the teams working and continue their journey to success. The longevity of the project also became apparent as the team would be able to deliver the training to other directorates in the council after it was registered. The dragons granted the team full funding. The afternoon session saw five new dragons enter the Den. They were Chief Executive, Stephen Hughes; Richard Billingham, Head of Organisation Development; Alex Whittard, BEST Programme Manager for Adults and Communities; Chris Gibbs, Assistant Director for Revenues and Benefits and Paul Higgins, Assistant Director for Customer Services.

First to face the new dragons were Glebe Farm Library from Housing and Constituencies. Presenting on behalf of the team were Lorraine Booth and Geoff Millington who were looking for funding to enhance the availability of materials and resources to support local young people in becoming confident and independent learners. The dragons were happy to award the funding on the condition that the team are to explore links with Children, Young People and Families.

Next to brave the dragons were BEST Leaders, Alan Burke and Adrian Harewood and two service users, Bernard and Irene of the Magnolia Day Centre from Adults and Communities. Staff at the centre regularly take the service users out on day trips to venues such as the cinema, theatre, pub meals and railway trips. The team were bidding for funding to continue to make this possible as funding is currently only available from raffles and donations from service user’s friends and family. The dragons were more than happy to give funding to the team so this service can continue. Stephen Hughes suggested that he could discuss with Peter Hay, Strategic Director of Adults and Communities whether this could become something that is done in all day care centres.

The final team to receive funding from the dragons were the Blakesley Hall Team from Development and Culture. The team of Jane McArdle and Linda Garey were looking to fund 2 PA systems for their history buses. The buses link Birmingham community museums to include a guided tour of the city.