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Bolton Council

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Bolton council receives 92% approval ratings

Bolton Council’s marketing and communications department implemented a new way of working in 2012 in order to tackle their growing workload while their workforce was cut from 41 to 23 staff. Using Panacea Software to automate many of their work processes and to create a simple, transparent, shared workflow, the team managed an increased volume of work. Their new infrastructure allowed the team to use their skills and expertise to best effect, and 92% of their clients rated their service as good/excellent.

Account Management 88%

Overall Service

88.5%

Client feedback rated the Communications and Marketing Team as Good/Excellent

Creativity*

91%

*Design services provided by the Communications & Marketing team's design unit

Significant budget cuts left the marketing and communications department almost halved in size, yet managing an increasing volume of work, including:

  • All the council’s marketing campaigns, statutory communications and press activity

  • Many large-scale events: Olympic Torch Relay and Evening Celebration, the Food and Drink Festival, Ironman UK, Sky Ride, Festive Bolton, Love Your Local Market Fortnight and more

  • Tendering for a new framework contract for creative, print and digital services

  • Embracing additional responsibility for Public Health communications

Saved

£500,000

Print prices reduced 49%

Team cut from 41 to 23

Lessons learnt:

  • With too few staff to support the former dedicated account manager structure, responsibility for all work had to be shared by the whole team. Transparent workflow, accurate management data and a robust audit-trail have proved essential to this new structure.

  • Automation of administration, planning, estimating, project management and reporting allowed the smaller team enough time and capacity to continue to deliver a valuable service for the council.

Introducing Panacea Software in Bolton was fundamental to achieving budget savings and implementing new ways of working. It has enabled us to manage marketing and communications projects more easily between staff, reduce duplication and provide a clear audit trail.

As we already had a framework (approved list) for suppliers of these services, I didn’t expect our costs to reduce significantly – but they have. It’s good to know that Panacea has facilitated even better value for money for our clients.
Working with the skilled and professional team at Panacea has been a great experience. With their support the system was implemented smoothly and we were quickly up and running. I’ve found them to be open to our feedback and keen to use it to develop the system further.
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— Karen Johnston, Consultation and Communications Manager, Bolton Council

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