Engineering With A Social Twist

Social media is fast becoming an important way to engage with clients, consultants and the community and we are starting to notice that more and more of our clients and competitors are all using social media to stay in touch and as a way of promoting their businesses.

 

Modern marketing now allows businesses to market their products and services faster and allowing them to hit wider audiences within seconds. With the growth of the internet and e-commerce trade, online marketing is laying the groundwork for modern marketing and what we’ve noticed is that online marketing seems to be taking over from more traditional methods of print marketing and distribution.

 

As there is such a wide offering of available social media marketing platforms, we can see why more and more companies are choosing to adopt social media as an alternative and more cost efficient way of marketing. And with the popularity of sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, which attract millions of users every year, any business would be unwise to fail to tap into these free marketing platforms.

 

Companies across the world can now hit worldwide markets and millions of users within seconds, allowing everyone to distribute and market their services at the click of a button. All that is required is a little time to set up a profile and to decide what you’ll be communicating. Think of it as the IKEA of marketing...all the components are there, just a little assembling required.

 

But is modern marketing the lazy way to promote businesses today and are we becoming less and less interested in face to face interaction and communication?

 

It’s a tricky one because on one hand you can’t be seen to be lagging behind in modern technology and outdated, but on the other hand you don’t want to neglect the traditional methods of face to face communication and maintaining professional working relationships.

 

We need to find a happy medium where you employ the best attributes of more traditional marketing methods and the best attributes from modern social media. Too much of one and you’ll look out of touch, but too much of the other and you’ll start to lose important established relationships.

 

At Millward we’re moving with the times and have introduced a company Facebook page, a Twitter profile and a company LinkedIn profile. Yet we still think that social media cannot replace completely the good tried and tested methods of going out and meeting clients and connecting face to face. Every month we host a Curry Club evening, where we invite around 10-11 clients and take them out for a curry as a chance for us to talk and reconnect. It is a strategy that has served us well and has allowed us to meet a variety of people with the result of building strong professional relationships.

 

As with everything it is important to have a balance to maintain a healthy state. We can see advantages to both and the most effective marketing campaigns will use a combination of all of these different strategies.

 

The marketing team at Millward split their time between social media and more traditional methods, so as to target everyone with maximum impact, without neglecting any marketing platform. So far we’re adapting well to change, and with a thoroughly thought out marketing strategy that includes all different marketing types, we hope that we’ll continue to maintain and exceed our previous marketing successes.

 

We'd like to know what you think! Tell us your thoughts about modern marketing methods...

Hmmm did someone say networking...

All work and no play is, well, boring. So any networking invitation we receive is always put into our diary without delay.

September saw us joining our client Kier at their Endurance Challenge in Daventry, to help raise money for children’s charity Barnardos. It was a fantastic day with a great turn out and opportunities to try Go Kart racing, clay pigeon shooting, quad biking and off road buggies. We hope Kier managed to hit their £10K target!

We also had the pleasure of joining Insider to the East Midlands Property Dinner, which was a brilliant evening and a huge turnout. To help raise money for charity Children With Cancer, the evening was a great success, and compere Martin Bayfield made a fantastic addition to the night. It was good to see everyone together and hopefully the positive turn out is a sign that we’re all moving forward together out of the recession.

On the 20th September we joined the Women In Construction to the Riverbank’s Big Breakfast event. Now we wouldn’t normally advocate drinking before Midday but on this occasion we had to make an exception and enjoy a glass of something sparkling with our 6 course breakfast. 
 We are also joining the Women In Construction to the Fur & Frocks day at Nottingham Race Course, which will gives us an opportunity to practice our fluttering skills. And as we approach our 20th birthday, we are in the process of arranging and organising our birthday celebrations, so keep an eye out for further details.


And as the festive season approaches, we're excited to start planning our own event and sharing the festivities with our valued clients.  If you'd like further information, please contact Alice on 0115 941 4560.

If everyone is moving forward together, then succes takes care of itself...

The word on the street is that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and after the past three months, we feel that we’re definitely seeing an end to these dark economic times.


Our team has grown in recent weeks and we are happy to say that so has our workload, which has continued to increase aleaving us in a strong position as we approach the end of the year.


Joining us as Associate Director, our newest member Lynn Clancy has a very colourful background that has taken him around the world and gaining an abundance of experience that we are excited for him to bring to Millward. His impressive CV details appointments in Bahrain and around the UK, with extensive experience in a variety of roles. Welcome to the team Lynn.


We are also pleased to announce that Callum Booth, who joined Millward in the Summer 2013 for a work experience placement, has become a permanent member of the team and as an investment to his future, he will be going to college once a week to gain his qualifications to become a fully qualified CAD technician.


We have started working with new clients Robert Woodhead Ltd on three new build residential development sites in and around Nottinghamshire, which is an exciting opportunity for us to work with a new client.


We are also starting work on the refurbishment of fifteen Derbyshire schools for Faithful & Gould, which is an exciting new challenge for us and an opportunity for us to test ourselves and raise the bar.


We're still keeping everything crossed that the recession is coming to an end, but if everything keeps to this pattern, we're confident the start of 2014 will be a positive one, not just for Millward, but for everything within this industry.

MILLWARD MOVES TO NEW OFFICES

As the company approaches its twentieth year in business and as part of its continuing commitment to the city and sector, Nottingham based integrated engineering consultants Millward have made a major investment by purchasing modern new office in the Lace Market. This marks a significant chapter for Millward and is a clear statement about the confidence that it has in the future of the business.

 

Situated on Malin Hill, close to the Ice Centre and National Arena, the new office is larger than Millward’s previous premises and is ideally suited for the business as it continues to expand and further develop its team.  The modern purpose built office is bright and spacious, with a modern, colourful interior not typically associated with engineering offices.  The cave to the rear of the property adds further character and individuality and will be a useable space to hold meetings.  The new office provides the perfect location and environment for Millward as it moves into its next stage of development and signifies its long standing position within the industry.

 

Millward currently operates in the residential, commercial, industrial and public sectors and provides a multi-disciplinary range of services that include civil and structural engineering, environmental & geotechnical, flood risk & drainage, highways & infrastructure, structural inspections and building alterations & extension advice.

Recent projects Millward has worked on include an £18 million Waste to Energy Plant in Oldbury for Vinci Construction and the Archaeology and Classics building for the University of Nottingham.  Millward prides itself on having a diverse portfolio of projects covering a wide variety of clients and sectors, highlighting the company’s ability to tackle any project.

“The move to new offices marks a significant milestone for the business,” said company managing director Nicola Millward.  “With a current team of seventeen staff and an expanding portfolio of clients, we needed larger premises that are better suited to the current and future needs of the business and provide us with additional space to enable us to develop further and grow.  We also decided that it was an appropriate time in the company’s development for us to invest in our own property.  I am confident that the new offices will prove to be ideal for us as we take the business forward.  They also provide an attractive and pleasant working environment for our team.”

 

Millward would like to thank Marc Ballard of Salloway, who acted on the sale of the property to Millward and also Blueprint Interiors, who carried out work on the interior.