Today Translations, Onlico IT Consultants and MegaNexus are three small companies from the City Fringe (the boroughs surrounding the City of London) who featured in a recent Financial Times article. The article detailed their experiences in seeking out and winning City contracts.
Jurga Zilinskiene of Today Translations explained some of the barriers she overcame on the way to winning £810,000 worth of contracts with City firms including Field Fisher Waterhouse and Shell International. These included the challenge of getting in front of buyers, completing lots of documentation and replicating the policy structures of the firms to whom she was bidding.
David Brooks-Wilkins of Onlico IT Consultants observed how his firm communicates very differently with big corporations compared to how they talk with smaller, owner-managed firms.
Dan Brown of MegaNexus shared his firm's experience of learning to present with more 'gloss' to meet the expectations of City firms. Also, the risk of pricing too low; the firm lost two pieces of workas the potential clients did not find the low prices credible.
Ms Zilinskiene, though, ends the article on a very positive note. "We were 'lost in translation' and it seemed small businesses did not exist in the square mile. But now I have big hopes."
"Suppliers to the Square Mile" by Bob Sherwood was published in the Financial Times on Wednesday 23rd March 2011.