Celebrating our stay team A-team

To celebrate our 20^th year in operation this year Independent Chair Pauline Davis presented awards for long service to the five colleagues in the team who have worked for the organisation for 10 years or more. 

Together Carl Bairstow, Liz Butcher, Emma Mottram, Liz Quinn and Lorna Hadley have clocked up 65 years of dedicated service.  They’ve been fundamental to the evolution of Efficiency North.  Over 20 years we have grown from a small, collaborative best practice sharing consortium project, established by the four South Yorkshire local authorities and hosted by Sheffield City Council, to the independent not-for-profit company of today, serving our membership of over 60+ social housing providers.

EN:Procure Director of Operations Carl Bairstow was EN’s first direct hire.  He was appointed in 2006 as Project Manager to drive efficiency savings in the Decent Homes and repairs and maintenance programme. Carl still calls himself EN’s “Patient Zero”. Carl has a deep personal interest in climate change and the environment and has used his expertise in this area to develop our sector leading decarbonisation and retrofit offer.

Corporate Communications Manager Liz Butcher joined in October 2010 as Project Communications Officer to develop Efficiency North’s digital communications and governance on an initial one-year fixed term contract, seeing it as an interesting short-term role increasing the profile of a project that was not widely known or understood.

Director of Operations Emma Mottram joined in March 2015 as Framework Operations Manager and the first official member of staff of the newly created company Efficiency North Limited.  After already clocking up 17 years with Sheffield City Council initially learning her profession of Quantity Surveyor and rising to Contract Manager of strategic contracts.  In her role with the Council Emma was also involved in the establishment of the South Yorkshire Decent Homes Efficiency Forum, the original 2006 project. Since she joined EN, Emma has led the management of EN:Procure’s Frameworks, including procuring three renewals of Installer and New-Build Frameworks with aggregate turnover exceeding £1.5 billion, including developing a new ESG strategy, and implementing the use of Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Commercial & Contracts Support Manager Liz Quinn joined as Framework Manager at the start of 2016, bringing over 30 years’ experience in procurement to help Emma boost the growth of the newly formed corporate entity’s procurement offer.

Marketing, Events and Governance Coordinator Lorna Hadley also joined in the summer of 2016 as a displaced Level 2 Business Admin apprentice in the role of Social Value Administrator, to assist with delivering EN:Able Communities’ Community Investment Fund. Lorna is now a pivotal member of the project team responsible for the charity’s new Community Foundation Fund which opens in April.

Independent Chair Pauline Davis said, “I’m delighted to have this opportunity to recognise the dedication and commitment of these valued members of the Efficiency North team.  The organisation would not have grown to what it is today without their skills, expertise and sustained hard work. Their strong values, drive, resilience and work ethic are embedded in EN’s DNA. EN has survived the financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent recession, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the adverse effects of global geopolitical instability. The whole team’s efforts have put EN in a strong position to continue to thrive in a rapidly changing procurement landscape.”

Chief Executive Lee Parkinson said, “I have worked within the organisation since 2007 in a variety of contracted roles before becoming its first Chief Executive on an employed basis in 2018 and during this time I have had the privilege of seeing them grow and develop into the excellent team that they are today. Their commitment and service to the company and its members is a true representation of our values and they provide an excellent example to others developing their career in the organisation. Congratulations to them all.”

Their early days pictured below.  From top left clockwise, Carl Bairstow 2010, Liz Butcher 2010, Liz Quinn 2016 in front of the site of Efficiency North Ltd’s first office, Unit A06 off Templeborough Road Rotherham, Lorna Hadley 2016 inside Unit A06, Emma Mottram 2015, enjoying an unexpected perk of the new job, hosting a day at Diggerland for winners of the EN Teentech Yorkshire challenge.