About Us
The business was formed in 2009 to support organisations to bid and tender for contracts. We have since grown in numbers and now have a directly employed core team of professionals split across our 3 key bid divisions; Bid Writing, Bid Resource and Bid Training. We have experience in both public sector procurement and commercial bidding, which gives us a unique perspective and allows us to maximise our clients success. Our team provide consistency, reliability and allow us to build longstanding partnerships with our clients. We are able to work with our clients, understand their goals and become a key part of their business winning function.
Meet The Team!
Dave Thornton
Director
BA Hons, MSc Housing Practice, CIH
With a background in EU procurement, Dave founded the business in 2009.
He is now responsible for the strategic direction and sustainable growth of Thornton & Lowe. He provides hands-on support with regards to bid consultancy and procurement projects, as well as providing guidance and monitoring progress of the team.
Director
Tom has over 25 years experience in the public and private sectors. He comes from a background of manufacturing and operational management, which has seen him involved in many frontline government schemes both in the UK and abroad.
An experienced bid director, coordinator and bid manager, Tom has the skill set to perform on both the shop floor and in the boardroom. He is often called upon by clients for his innovative solutions to complex issues.
Tom Anderson
Charles Grosstephan
Head of Training
LLB Law, Member of APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals)
Charles heads up our Training & Apprenticeship division at Thornton & Lowe. Charles has a background in commercial, manufacturing, professional services, aerospace and construction, as well as considerable public sector experience. He has been at Thornton & Lowe since 2012 and has been involved in well over 1000 of our bids. Charles runs training workshops and 1-2-1 sessions throughout the UK, whilst also providing support to the bids our team are working on.
Charles has delivered over 150 training courses since 2015, with every course receiving positive feedback.
Resource Manager, Cert RP
Mark has over 20 years’ experience in recruitment largely in the construction and engineering sectors. He is Level 3 certified in Recruitment Practice and leads our Bid Resource Division at Thornton & Lowe working with our clients to source experienced bid professionals for both freelance and permanent vacancies within their bid teams.
Mark Mayall
Adam Shafar
Bid Manager
Adam leads the Thornton & Lowe Bid Management division to complete over 400 bids per annum. Adam has a background in legal services and retail, providing him with both an excellent eye for detail and the ability to develop a client’s unique selling points. Adam enjoys the variety of work that Thornton & Lowe offers, learning about our clients’ businesses and their solutions. He enjoys the contrast of working with a wide-ranging client base.
Outside of work, Adam enjoys watching football, cooking, gardening and spending time with his family.
Finance Manager
Emily is a seasoned finance professional and obtained her accountancy degree at the University of Salford. Emily joined Thornton & Lowe in February 2016. She is responsible for the management of the organisation's support functions, specifically compliance and regulatory reporting which includes preparation of financial reports.
She has over 10 years’ experience working in logistics and consultancy sectors. She strives for exceptional quality, growth and performance.
Emily Mamana Saiwala
Chris Turner
Bid Resource & Design
Chris joined our team in 2017 from a background of recruitment, and has brought with him a range of knowledge from working in large recruitment companies in Manchester. Previous to his years in recruitment, Chris co-owned and ran a successful print and design agency and was responsible for print, design, social media and marketing.
Chris manages all of Thornton & Lowe’s design, branding and works closely with the bid team on the design aspect of our bid documents for all clients.
HR and Operations Assistant
Bsc (Hons) International Fashion Marketing
Grace obtained her Marketing degree at Manchester Metropolitan and has over 6 years working in Operations and Accounts with the clothing industry. She joined the team in 2018 and looks after the HR function at Thornton and Lowe and helps with the day to day operations alongside Emily.
Outside of work Grace enjoys cooking, holidays and spending time with her family.
Grace Barlow
Maria Edwards
Senior Bid Writer
As Senior Bid Writer, Maria has been involved in over 550 tenders at Thornton & Lowe, including both writing and review. Focusing on assessing a tender’s structure, appropriateness and comprehension, Maria provides detailed and constructive quality assurance.
Using her experience and expertise, Maria provides in-house mentoring and training to our Graduate Bid Writers. Maria has worked at T&L for over 5 years and holds the APMP Foundation certification.
Bid Writer
Joining Thornton & Lowe as an experienced Bid Writer in 2017, Tom had previously worked in the IT sector. Tom has proved himself as both an excellent bid writer and project manager across a wide range of sectors. Tom really enjoys building knowledge of new industries, while building parallels and adding value from this cross-sector experience.
Tom really enjoys building knowledge of new industries but also finding parallels and adding value from cross-sector experience.
Thomas Daniel
Adam Lee
Bid Writer
Adam has come primarily from an account management/customer service background, with experience in building and maintaining relationships with key customers. He graduated from Lancaster University in 2014 with a First Class Honours in History, specialising in 19th-century science and medicine.
Starting as a Trainer Bid Writer, Adam joined the team in 2018. He has since developed his skills and has been promoted to the role of Bid Writer in early 2019. He has a passion for writing and continuous improvement.
Trainee Bid Writer
Emilia is a Trainee Bid Writer and joined Thornton and Lowe in November 2019. She holds a Masters Degree in English and a PhD in Literature. Coming primarily from a higher education background, Emilia has proved her research, editing, proofreading and writing expertise on numerous projects.
She is an accurate writer with a keen eye for detail and critical thinking, and has supported the team with some fantastic work. Building on her cross-industry experience in linguistic services, hospitality, education, health and social care sectors, she enjoys the exposure to new client industries.
Outside of work, Emilia loves singing, social activities and yoga classes.
Emilia Szaffner
Lauren Palmer
Bid Writer
Based in our Bolton office, Lauren has joined our team from a background of customer service and recruitment. Lauren has joined Thornton & Lowe as a Bid Writer and initially gained experience in writing and coordinating bids in large recruitment companies in Manchester and London.
Outside of work, Lauren enjoys spending time with her family, baking and holidaying.
Trainee Bid Writer
Tom Joined Thornton & Lowe in late 2019, previously working in Customer Services in Manchester. He graduated from King’s College London in 2018 with a BA Honours Degree in English Literature; completing his dissertation on Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre. Tom has supported the Bid Team on various tender projects in different industries and is currently working towards achieving APMP Foundation level certification.
Outside of work, Tom enjoys supporting Liverpool FC, watching Netflix and listening to a wide range of music.
Thomas Groves
Emma McCarroll
Bid Writer
MA (Hons) Medieval History
Emma achieved a Master of Arts degree in Medieval History from the University of St Andrews. Subsequently, she embarked on a career in customer service, working Front of House in luxury hotels across Scotland. Following a career break to raise a family and fulfilling voluntary roles in her local community, Emma joined Thornton and Lowe in February 2017 as a Marketing Assistant.
She has since developed her bid writing skillset and works with the bid team to support a variety of submissions to ensure consistency for our contracted clients.
Head of Internal Marketing
BA (Hons) International Fashion Branding
Based in our Scotland office, Lyndsey has joined the team as Head of Internal Marketing, working with each department to create promotional content, manage our social media accounts and help build the Thornton & Lowe brand. Lyndsey is passionate about building relationships and finding innovative marketing solutions to suit the unique requirements of a multifaceted company such as Thornton & Lowe.
In her spare time, Lyndsey enjoys walking along the beautiful beaches of Fife with her partner and Miniature Schnauzer, Stanley, mascot to the Scotland office. She also sings in a local choir and loves to cook and bake (the spoils of which are often shared with staff members!)
Lyndsey Anderson
Gemma Waring
Bid Lead & Trainer
With over 10 years experience in public sector tendering, bid writing and bid training, Gemma delivers our Bid Apprenticeship training, as well as supporting clients with education, IT and professional services bids.
Apprentice Training Assessor
BA (Hons) Education, PGCE and a recognised QTS
Zeb’s background is in Education and teaching, she focuses on compliancy and standardising the apprenticeship training. Zeb is also part of assessing the apprenticeships during their time on the course to ensure they are fully supported and achieve their targets in the given time frame.
Zeb has worked within mainstream Education for over 10 years and has a lot of experience of supporting schools with meeting Ofsted requirements.
Zebulnisa Butt
