DORCAS (Direct Online Reporting of Claims And Sales) is the newly designed secure web portal provided by Maps Legal Assistance. The new design is part of our ongoing programme of improvements to our web based services. We hope it will make the site even easier to use and we will be rolling the new design out across all areas of our website in the coming weeks.

The female name of Dorcas is associated with a rather interesting story. James Tattersall, Managing Director of MAPS, has been researching his family tree for nearly 10 years and one of his ancestors children was called Dorcas Harriet Giles. Unfortunately she met with a rather nasty demise following a road traffic accident outside her house on 13th May 1863 in Reckleford Street, Yeovil, Somerset. She was accidentally killed by a wheel of a cart. At the inquest it was said there was a great deal of furious driving in the streets and that it would be well for the police to have their attention drawn to the fact!

The National GO Awards are the most coveted within public procurement, with entries received from all areas of the public sector.  A record number of individuals and organisations entered this year.

We were ecstatic to discover our first-time entry for the Best Small Business Award, supported by the London Borough of Bexley, was one of only six chosen to reach the national final.

The glamorous awards event was held on 4th June 2009 at The Institute of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, London. Keynote Speakers were Michael O’Higgins, Chairman of the Audit Commission and Nigel Smith, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce.

Congratulations to KiddiVouchers Ltd who were winners of the Best Small Business Award.

Maps announced as a finalist in the National GO Awards for Excellence in Public Procurement – Best Small Business Award.

A record number of submissions entered into the GO Awards, from a broad cross-section of the UK public and private sectors. This makes the achievement of a finalist place even more significant, as the level of competition for these coveted Awards intensifies.

The awards ceremony is being held on 4th June 2009 in London.

Our website now lives on its own dedicated server at Rackspace – world leader in hosting – who guarantee 100% network and infrastructure uptime and many other business-critical support features.

Their customer service philosophy, Fanatical Support^® has won much industry recognition and they were recently voted with the best customer focus in the country, in the 2008 National Business Awards.

MAPS decision to select Rackspace was obvious – a like-minded organisation with very strong environmental credentials!

When we moved, as a result of successful business expansion, into our own larger office building in Bath Street we decided to retain our Stanley Street offices as a disaster recovery site.

We backup our data securely using different methods and locations ensuring maximum protection and reliability. The benefit of our own ready-to-use alternative offices nearby provides invaluable flexibility and assurance.

MAPS have significantly strengthened their market share in the Public Sector and are considered to be the fastest growing independent legal expenses provider. James Tattersall, Managing Director of MAPS, comments: “We continue to win new Public Sector accounts every month and existing clients are renewing with us under long terms agreements. We are probably the second biggest LEI/ULR provider in the Public Sector and remain an independent privately owned company”.

We currently act for 39% of all County Councils and 27% of all London Boroughs as well as a considerable number of other Public Bodies such as Police and Fire Authorities, Housing Associations and Local Councils.

Last month Brother asked local businesses in the North West to help them attempt to create the world’s largest classified advertisement to help celebrate the launch of the world’s first compact A3 multifunction inkjet printers.

The ad ran live until the 16^th November but the web pages, www.brother.co.uk/manchesterad, will continue until the end of December 2008.

Can you find our logo? It’s on the top line!

Peter Woodroffe
Head of Public Sector Business Development

How long have you been at MAPS?
From the beginning in 1995.

What do you do at MAPS?
Gain new business in the Public Sector by client liaison, tendering and broker contacts, and maintain relationships with existing clients.

What were doing before you joined MAPS?
Urban Estates Manager at Lancashire County Council. I worked in local government for 26 years before taking early retirement.

What benefit does your previous job provide for what you are doing now?
I understand the processes that Councils have to adopt in the procurement of services, and the ways in which many local government offices operate.

What is the major difference?
Working within the defined structure of a local government organisation, it is sometimes not easy to appreciate the benefits which the Private Sector can offer.

What has been you proudest achievement at MAPS?
Knowing that I am continuing to provide real benefits to Public Sector clients through our services in a constantly changing environment.

Describe MAPS in 3 words.
Dynamic. Reliable. Responsive.

Maps were at Cheltenham Race Course last week exhibiting at the National Association of Police Fleet Managers conference.

Peter Woodroffe (left) comments: “It was good to meet prospective and talk to our existing clients at such a superb venue. The conference was a great success!”

Did you know that we have been a paperless office since 2001?

In December 2007 we switched from PC’s to thin client terminals which are kinder to the environment because they use a fraction of the electricity. They run silently which was rather strange at first because we were all so used to the noise of our PC’s. Benefits also include improved remote working, ability to work from any workstation, greater reliability and easy setup of new users which used to be tiresome!