bid management companies Archives - Tender Consultants

Strategic Bid Management: Everything You NEED to Know to Succeed!

John Hudson — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 08:00:23 +0000

Here’s what you should know about strategic bid management

Got questions about strategic bid management? You’re in the right place! Here at Hudson Succeed, we thrive off teaching you anything and everything about the tendering process. Part of that process is strategic bid management. So, do you want to know what it is and how to conduct it successfully? Keep reading and you’ll learn our secrets!

What is strategic bid management?

Strategic bid management is a way of staying organised and on track when you embark on a bid. Producing a bid proposal is no easy task. There is a lot of work involved. This includes a lot of different stages and processes that can easily become overwhelming. Those that don’t value strategic bid management are likely to struggle during their tender writing process.

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

We sat down with several of our Bid Writers to see what goes into bid management and planning for success.

1. Check you are eligible for the opportunities you source

One of the first stages of strategic bid management is checking you are eligible for opportunities. You would be surprised how many businesses ignore this factor. Read ALL of the tender documents thoroughly. Note down any key details that stand out.

If the buyer states they want the supplier to have a certain qualification, then pay attention to this. If you don’t, but you bid anyway, you’re very unlikely to win. You’ll be wasting both yours and the buyer’s time, and this won’t leave a great reputation on your part.

2. Consider exactly what the buyer requires

When you read the buyer’s documents, you need to show you have a grasp of what they’re asking. Plan out your answers to their questions. This way, you can ensure you don’t ramble and go off topic. If you do this, the buyer will grow bored and believe you can’t focus on what’s important.

3. How to create your strategic bid management plan

When you are creating your strategic bid management plan, you should consider the following:

Who will be responsible for developing responses?
How is the work to be submitted? Some buyers require physical submissions as well as online.
What format do they require your responses in?
What do you need to attach for each question?
Where is the response to be submitted and with what deadlines?
How long will each individual question take?
Do you need to create case studies for responses?

Having the answers to these questions ensures you are as prepared as possible. This also means you’ll complete the bid on time and have enough time for proofreading and reviewing. Remember: it is essential to have your bid in on time. If it is late by even a minute, you’ll lose your chance of being considered. So, create your strategic bid management plan and you’ll be set to win tenders!

Summary

Here’s a summary of what we covered:

What is strategic bid management?

To ensure your bid process runs smoothly, you need to be prepared. Bid management is the key to ensuring this. You’ll be able to stay organised and no small but essential details will go unacknowledged.

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

Check you are eligible for the opportunities you source
Consider exactly what the buyer requires
How to create your strategic bid management plan
- Who will be responsible for developing responses?
- How is the work to be submitted? Some buyers require physical submissions as well as online.
- What format do they require your responses in?
- What do you need to attach for each question?
- Where is the response to be submitted and with what deadlines?
- How long will each individual question take?
- Do you need to create case studiesfor responses?

Want to learn more about strategic bid management? Contact us to speak with our experts and we will answer your questions!

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised, and easily accessible.
A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
A free 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert Bid Consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

Open tenders
Restricted procedure tenders
Competitive dialogues
Negotiated tendering procedures
Innovation partnerships
Single supplier contracts
Framework agreements
Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

What we can do for you

We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – they can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our professional Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Strategic Bid Management: Everything You NEED to Know to Succeed! appeared first on Tender Consultants.

3 Benefits of Bid Management Companies You NEED to Know

Millie Newbold — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 10:34:48 +0000

Why should you work with bid management companies?

Simply put, bid management companies are organisations that offer support with the tendering process. This could be anything from writing tender responses to managing the bid writing process for clients.

In this blog, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about bid management companies. Keep reading to find out more!

Why is bid management important?

Bid management is important to ensure the tendering process runs smoothly. After all, the process can be time-consuming and complex, with different stages and tasks to complete. Without the necessary bid management skills, many businesses will find the process overwhelming. As a result, key details could be missed, making it harder for organisations to win tenders.

If you think you need extra support, bid management companies, like Hudson Succeed, are there to offer support.

Why should you work with a bid management company?

Before you outsource your bid management, you need to make sure it’s the right option for you. So, let’s look at the benefits of working with bid management companies:

Produce a winning tender response

It goes without saying – to win contracts, you need to produce a winning tender response. However, not everyone has the time, resources or skill set to do this in-house.

That’s where bid management companies come in!

Generally, they’ll have years of experience under their belts. They’ll know how to approach the questions and your tender response in the best possible way. So, when you work with a bid management company, your chances of success will improve.

Manage the tendering process

As we’ve already established, the tendering process can be complex and overwhelming for inexperienced suppliers. So, it can be helpful for businesses to seek support from bid management professionals.

If you need help in this area, bid management companies can support you with the following:

Assessing tender documents
Producing case studies
Setting internal deadlines, such as deadlines for first, second and final drafts
Writing a winning response
Submitting the bid on your behalf.
Save you time and money

This is one of the biggest benefits of working with bid management companies. It’s also why so many businesses turn to them for help.

It’s likely that you and your employees are incredibly busy running your business. If that’s the case, you probably don’t have time for internal bid management. Not only that, but your team might need upskilling so they’re familiar with the tendering process. Training your team in bid management will cost you time, money and resources, and take away from their day-to-day responsibilities.

However, if you outsource the process to bid management companies, they’ll handle everything for your business. While you focus on your usual work, professional Bid Writers will complete the entire bid for you. In half the time and at a fraction of the cost!

In summary

Bid management companies are organisations that offer support with the tendering process. This could be anything from writing tender responses to managing the bid writing process for clients.

Before you outsource your bid management, you need to make sure it’s the right option for you. The benefits of working with bid management companies include:

They’ll produce a winning tender response on your behalf
Bid management companies will manage the tendering process for you
They’ll save you time and money.

How Hudson Succeed can help

So, are you interested in how bid management companies can help you grow?

Enter Hudson Succeed!

We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – we can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. We’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once-over before you submit it. Our Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. Once the programme is complete, you’ll have access to three days’ worth of bid consultancy. This can be used for bid writing, tender reviews, or general advice and guidance.

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Need help with searching for tenders?

Are you curious about finding tenders for your business?

There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads.

Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. Likewise, you’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See all the opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised, and easily accessible.
A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
A free 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert Bid Consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

Hudson Discover hosts all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

Open tenders
Restricted procedure tenders
Competitive dialogues
Negotiated tendering procedures
Innovation partnerships
Single supplier contracts
Framework agreements
Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro-businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. We’ll take your bid and give it a complete makeover. With professionally designed tender documents, you’re sure to make an impression on the buyer!

Our team specialise in six areas, including:

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post 3 Benefits of Bid Management Companies You NEED to Know appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Bid Writers Near Me: Here’s Why Closer Doesn’t Mean Better

John Hudson — Wed, 04 May 2022 08:00:48 +0000

Searching for ‘Bid Writers near me’? Here’s what you should consider…

Have you found yourself searching for ‘Bid Writers near me’? It is understandable that many people will assume that services closer to them are more suitable. But this isn’t always the case…

Here at Hudson Succeed, we have offices in Durham, London, Manchester, and Florida. We have also supported businesses all over the world!

We know that many businesses will likely look for local businesses for help. In this blog, we will discuss whether these professionals are you best option. As well as what other help there is available to you. Keep reading to learn more…

Why do so many businesses search for ‘Bid Writers near me’?

Many businesses will opt for local Bid Writers for several reasons. Firstly, they may believe that it is more suitable. In some cases, this can be true. For example, a local business will work to the same time zone. Therefore, there won’t be a limited timeframe for communication. This would be the case if a business hired a Bid Writer on the other side of the world.

Similarly, some businesses may prefer to do things in person. They may want to meet with their Bid Team. It mainly comes down to personal preference. They may even trust local businesses more and want to support other local companies. However, this mindset can be limiting when it comes to your choices of Bid Writing Professionals.

Why can outsourcing remote Bid Writers be more beneficial?

Since the pandemic, we have become ever more aware of how much we can use technology to our advantage. Schools and places of work were able to continue because of our access to technology. Working with a remote Bid Writer would work similarly. They’ll be able to have phone and video calls to clearly discuss the project if this is preferred. Afterall, talking directly to someone can make things easier than via several emails.

By limiting yourself to ‘Bid Writers near me’, you may be missing out on the best expert for you. Local Bid Writers may not connect as well with you and your business. Many businesses in London actually use Bid Writers in the North East. This is because their prices are considerably cheaper without London office overheads.

We have won contracts for businesses all over the world. So, we can confidently say that doing your research can benefit you far more. See which Bid Writer suits you best, rather than one that is close to you for convenience.

Summary

Let’s recap everything we covered!

Many businesses prefer searching ‘Bid Writers near me’ out of convenience. This is especially the case if they want to meet in person.

However, this can limit the quality of Bid Writers available to you.

Still got questions about Bid Writers? Feel free to contact us! We are always happy to help.

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific website that posts unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

Open tenders
Restricted procedure tenders
Competitive dialogues
Negotiated tendering procedures
Innovation partnerships
Single supplier contracts
Framework agreements
Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Now you may be wondering how to write a bid. Well, luckily for you, Hudson Succeed, are experts in bid writing.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Bid Writers Near Me: Here’s Why Closer Doesn’t Mean Better appeared first on Tender Consultants.

What Can Bid Writing Companies Do for Your Business?

Kathryn Wright — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 13:21:52 +0000

Here’s everything you need to know about how bid writing companies can benefit you

Got questions about bid writing companies? Here at Hudson Succeed, we aspire to help anyone and everyone to learn more about bidding for work. Our blogs are produced to help those who have broad and specific questions about all things tendering.

When it comes to the services of bid writing companies, you may wonder what is to be expected. Ultimately, they are here to help! So, let’s get into how bid writing companies can benefit you and your business.

Bid writing companies save you time and money

This is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of bid writing companies. It’s also why so many businesses turn to them for help. Bid Writers take the stress out of the entire tendering process. The chances are that you are incredibly busy running a business and working on projects. You may not have the time or the skills to complete a winning bid. That is why it is so much easier to turn to professional Bid Writers. They can complete the entire bid whilst you focus on your usual work. Some will even submit the bid on your behalf.

Bid writing companies produce high-quality bids

Another great benefit of turning to bid writing companies is that they can offer a unique skillset. They have experience in the industry and understand exactly how to go about the task. It is their job, after all.

Firstly, they’ll break down all the documents to note all key information. This will include dates such as the final deadline and any other requirements. They will manage the workload so that it is done on time and not rushed. Rushing a bid at the last minute will no doubt result in plenty of mistakes, and the buyers will not approve. If they get the impression that you are lazy, they will not award you the contract.

Summary

In summary, bid writing companies can do a lot for your business. They are able to execute expert level skills to create the highest quality of work. Relying on them also saves you time and money by increasing your chances of success and decreasing your workload.

If you still have questions and want a more direct answer you can contact us. We will be more than happy to help! We have only scratched the surface. For more information on the benefits of using bid writing companies, check out our other blogs.

We cover topics including:

Our services

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect bid for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of the whole thing for you they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. They can also help you better understand the tendering process. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents. They will work with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Hudson Discover portal and additional tendering development services.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit. This can help you formulate a winning submission.

Additional support

If you only need the assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved.

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

All of the above.
Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

The post What Can Bid Writing Companies Do for Your Business? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Where to Find Bid Writing Services in the UK

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 07:00:21 +0000

How can I find the best bid writing services in the UK?

Are you wondering where to find bid writing services in the UK? You’re not alone. Outsourcing bid writing services can give you a significant advantage over your competitors when tendering for contracts.

So, where can you find bid writing services in the UK?

You could try typing ‘bid writing services UK’ into a search engine. This may draw up bid writing businesses near you. Additionally, it may bring up other bid writing consultancies that are based further afield. Luckily for you, if you’re reading this blog, here at Hudson Succeed, we offer our own bid writing services.

What are the advantages of outsourcing bid writing services in the UK?

Increased quality

You may be wanting to find bid writers near you, but proximity doesn’t guarantee quality. You may find the best bid writing services in the UK that’s based on the other side of the country. They may have a higher success rate and more experience. Pay attention to the business sectors they specialise in.

Remember, they do this for a living, so they are likely very good at what they do. Using a bid writing professional can increase your chances of success. They know how best to tailor your business expertise in line with the specification, error-free.

More time

When you use bid writing services in the UK, it can give you more time. This time can be spent on the day-to-day running of your business. Depending on the size of the bid, they can take as little as one day, or up to three months. This is a long time.

By using an external bid service, you can carry on with the running of your company, uninterrupted. Neither you nor your staff has to sacrifice their daily tasks. This optimises the use of your time can only offer benefits. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

They can save resources

Bid writing services in the UK can save on your resources. You don’t need to hire anyone and spend your time and money training them. You can carry on knowing your bid is in safe hands.

In summary

When searching for bid writing services in the UK there are a number of things you should consider. Outsourcing to a bid writing company can greatly increase your chances of success. You can focus on the running of your business knowing that your tender is in good hands. Bid Writers are experts in what they do – writing winning bids. You can trust them to know what they’re doing.

Using bid writing services can save you time and resources while increasing the quality of your submission. If you can’t write the bid yourself, there are options.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you need help with a bid, we can help. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of tender writing experience and an 87% success rate. We know that writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. But that doesn’t mean you should lose out on winning new business contracts. We offer four levels of bid writing support.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Additional support

If you only need assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved.

Discover Elite

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

All of the above.
Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Where to Find Bid Writing Services in the UK appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Construction Bid Management – Construction and the Environment

Katherine Kane — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 07:48:27 +0000

Everything you need to know about construction bid management

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:30 am

The environment we live, work and socialise in is in flux. 2019 brought about the UN Climate Action Summit. The goal of this summit was to address climate change directly.

A key point was that globally, we must do more immediately to address climate change. The Paris Agreement plays a key role within sustainability and climate change.

It is an agreement initially reached at a Paris COP 21 climate change conference in 2015.

It was entered into force the following year.

The English text edition of the Paris Agreement (dated 2015) comprises of 29 Articles over 25 pages. This document sets out environmental aims and objectives, which are agreed by parties (parties here meaning countries).

Key points within the Paris Agreement which apply to the Construction industry include:

Acknowledgement that we must take action against climate change based on scientific data. Climate change is an urgent threat;
The importance of conserving greenhouse gas sinks. Sinks store carbon dioxide -examples include soil, sea and plants;
Public awareness, education and training about climate is extremely important;
Understanding that producing goods and services sustainably will help to address climate change.

To date, 189 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) have signed. Across the world, countries are taking note that environmental action is needed, now.

Several UN climate action summits, conferences and dialogues were held in 2019. Locations included Madrid, New York, Brazil, Ghana and Poland. At these events, grassroots enterprises, big businesses and scientists gathered to discuss key environmental initiatives and plans.

Climate change

We can already see climate change in action right now. This is evident with increasing events such as:

Australian bush fires in 2019 and 2020. These fires severely impacted people, animals and landscapes across the country. Global warming is likely to increase bushfire risk by 30%, according to the World Weather Attribution consortium and BBC.
Recent NASA satellite data found that Greenland loses 283 gigatonnes of ice sheet mass every year. One gigatonne alone is comparable to the mass of one billion metric tonnes of ice sheet loss.

Climate and sustainability experts are concerned that we are not on target to meet average global temperate targets. Due to climate change, temperature have risen, which contributes to the events described above.

Climate change and construction bid management

Companies and individuals recognise the impact and responsibility they have when producing and delivering services. However, in 2018, new UK construction work was valued at over £113 million by the Office for National Statistics. There has also been a steady rise in new construction organisations carrying out works. This figure may prove contradictory to the needs of the Paris Agreement. How can construction businesses thrive economically, whilst also being sustainable?

Let’s look at some key construction companies within the industry. How are they reducing their environmental impact through service delivery?

Amey: A huge competitor within the construction industry, they produced a white paper last year. This paper outlines decarbonisation within the UK. This involves significant changes to the heating structure, change in policy, and investment in low carbon technology.
Kier Group Plc: Through smart technology, in line with high environmental standards, 92% of Kier Group operations are ISO 14001 certified. They provide energy saving advice to clients and are members of environmental protection schemes like the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
Morgan Sindall: Recording their carbon emissions yearly enables Morgan Sindall to measure and reduce climate change impact. Morgan Sindall verifies their CO2 emissions through the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS). They also measure the total amount of construction activity waste which is diverted from landfill annually.

What might a bid manager and their construction clients consider?

Bid managers when supporting their construction sector clients will find very specific environmental questions in the tendering process. Social, legislative and environmental pressures influence questions posed by buyers seeking construction services. Buyers – particularly those within the public sector such as councils and government bodies – must consider sustainability. They must source construction companies who, through their service delivery, will:

Mitigate climate change risks through practices and procedures;
Provide sustainable and economic value both at contract acquisition and during contract lifetime.

How can construction organisations evidence sustainability?

There are numerous ways for a bid manager to support their construction sector client tenders. We can demonstrate innovations through for example:

competitor analysis
audits
research
policy and procedures.

As mentioned above, construction companies are responding to current environmental needs. It is essential going forward for others to follow suit. For service delivery to be economically sustainable, companies must demonstrate environmental sustainability to achieve this.

Innovation is key for larger companies, as they are at the forefront of public awareness. Larger companies who have the capital can invest in new methods of reducing and mitigating their CO2 emissions.

During tender writing, for any innovations, it is essential that they can be evidenced and measurable. This must be in solid facts and figures. There is little value in providing vague or airy statements without the ability to demonstrate this to buyers. Evidencing innovations will present your construction business as having transparency and integrity.

Small construction companies have just as much opportunity to demonstrate environmental innovation. If you have a small business, the best way to do so is to become involved with your community. Bid Managers may find that their construction client does not have formalised environmental evidence. This is something that they can develop with time and planning.

The supply chain – Construction Bid Management

For example, key in many construction contracts is the supply chain. Construction clients can commit to implementing sustainability within their supply chain. This can include:

their transportation arrangements;
raw materials;
waste removal.

For example, can vehicles transporting materials commit to going electric? Can the business commit to hiring qualified staff who are local to the area. There are many options to explore here.

Other suggestions may include alternative means of communications for meetings, such as Skype or Zoom. This is particularly relevant given the recent social proximity restrictions due to COVID-19. Doing so enables individuals to maximise their productivity, spending less on the road commuting to meetings.

Dashboards

An environmental dashboard is an excellent opportunity for small and large construction companies to demonstrate innovation. This dashboard can be as flexible as your organisation needs it to be. Therefore, Bid Managers in the Construction Industry could suggest elements such as measuring energy, fuel or water consumption. Other approaches could be reporting on the total weight of construction materials recyclables saved from landfill each month.

Embodied Carbon

Embodied carbon is becoming something of a buzzword in construction tender questions. Indeed, demonstrating that your business measures embodied carbon is essential for many large construction businesses.

As a Bid Manager in Construction, it is important to differentiate between carbon footprint and embodied carbon, across your quality responses.

In simple terms, embodied carbon is measured through all processes starting from the ground (literally). It includes measurement project CO2 from the ground (raw materials) and includes:

transport and logistics
powering the construction site
waste management and material recycling.

On the other hand, carbon footprint is measured through the CO2 emissions produced by actually using the created product or service. When buyers pose the question of measurements, they are looking for:

all carbon emissions used to produce a final construction project – this is embodied carbon.
all carbon emissions produced by that completed construction project in use – this is carbon footprint.

Passivhaus

As a Bid Manager, your construction-sector clients may be interested in Passivhaus. Passivhaus is a building construction standard, established by The Passivhaus Trust. Buildings are designed and modelled using a bespoke package. The building is assessed, to determine if it passes criteria, such as:

How airtight is the fabric of the building?
Are the windows high performance and sufficiently insulating?
Has the design enabled the efficient recovery of heat within the building?
Is it very well insulated?

Buildings which can be certified as Passivhaus can range in size and scope. They are designed to be so efficient that the need for internal heating is negligible. This means that the building does not lose heat. So much so, that rooms maintain pleasant ambient air temperature within the space.

Passivhaus is important to the construction sector because it more heat-efficient buildings means less CO2. For one building alone – this makes a difference. For larger housing contracts and frameworks – the cumulative CO2 saving is more significant. Designing houses to this standard makes sense, both financially and environmentally.

It is beneficial for construction companies to consider Passivhaus, particularly those who specialise in housing. Passivhaus certification is highly regarded by procurement buyers seeking environmentally friendly construction businesses. The key here is that Passivhaus is more economical to implement during a building design phase. It can be potentially more costly to refurbish a space later on, in line with this standard.

Construction Bid Management – Looking forwards

It is clear that there are many environmental considerations for construction companies during the tendering process. Why not let our bid writing team help you to optimise each opportunity? Our highly experienced team know exactly how to win a tender. Our service will help you secure new, relevant construction contracts. We will work with you, to win those opportunities which your company can deliver, and identify areas where you can improve in order to grow your business. We support over 700 businesses globally – get in touch today to see how we can help with your construction bid management.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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Recruitment Tenders – How to be successful

Robyn Crawford — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 13:46:59 +0000

What are Recruitment Tenders?

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:42 am

Outsourcing is still front and centre for many corporations. The public sector outsources major functions to specialised and efficient service providers. With one main outsourced function, being recruitment.

Recruitment refers to the overall process of attracting, shortlisting and appointing suitable candidates. Often for specific job roles within an organisation.

There are many reasons why an organisation may choose to outsource recruitment. The most common reasons include:

Reducing and controlling operating costs;
Improving company focus;
Gaining access to world-class capabilities;
Freeing internal resources for other purposes;
Streamlining or increasing efficiency for time-consuming functions;
Maximising the use of external resources;
Sharing risks with a partner company.

The process will start with a recruitment tender opportunity, published by a public sector organisation. This will then generate competing offers to meet the specific requirements. These will be outlined in the contract notice.

The advantage of public sector tenders is that no matter how small your recruitment business, there is always an opportunity to supply the government.

Standing out from your competitors

There are so many Recruitment agencies in the market currently. We know you will feel a bit ‘lost in the crowd’. It is so important to stand out when tendering for contracts.

The real key to standing out is understanding what sets you apart from your competitors.

So, what can you do to exceed expectations?

Know your Unique Selling Point (USP) – where do you add value? Look for your gap in the Recruitment market and own it!
Care about your brand, not just your numbers! – targets are always going to be a top priority in Recruitment. However, it is important to think strategically. If you want your clients to be your biggest marketers, give them reason to be!
Sell Differently – rather than focusing on selling the best CVs to clients, why not try something different? Offer a service that is totally tailored to their needs.

Questions to look out for in Recruitment Tenders

We have worked on many Recruitment Tenders and have won a considerable amount.

Due to this extensive experience, we have detected a pattern in quality questions.

When wanting to outsource the recruitment function, buyers tend to ask very similar questions. Likewise, they have comparable expectations.

Questions to look out for are:

Methods and Processes

Buyers want to know what processes you have in place, in order to get the job done. They need to know what internal systems you use, as this all affects the quality of the service you deliver. TOP TIPS:

What is your general method for candidate provision?
Do you have a step-by-step recruitment process?
Have the internal systems you use been successful in other contracts? If so, what statistics can you provide?

Knowledge and Coverage

The buyer wants to know about your recruitment tactics. How do you stay up to date with current trends in the market? And how your current network will allow you to provide candidates, especially when given short notice. TOP TIPS:

Discuss how you undergo sector-specific market research and analyse trends;
Market Mapping – identifying holes in the market;
Mention what networking works for you? i.e. conferences, events;
Maintain a dedicated Account Manager – the buyer will want to see fully qualified recruitment specialists taking the lead. Those that have years of successful experience in the field.
Provide statistics – powerful evidence will increase your chances.

Account Management

How will you build a successful strategic relationship with the buyer? They want to know your processes for making all communications transparent. What plans do you have in place to ensure constant, sufficient resources? TOP TIPS:

Be adaptive – tailor your services to the unique requirements of each client’s workplace;
Provide a step-by-step guide on how you will ensure a successful partnership. i.e. undergoing an operational analysis, attending performance reviews;
Provide the buyer with your company organogram. It is important for them to visualise the key members of staff you are proposing. Highlight their relevant experience.
Discuss how you would determine a successful candidate to an unsuccessful candidate. As well as how you would communicate these decisions to candidates.
Determine the challenges you may face on that specific contract. Draw up a risk assessment on each potential challenge. Set out your proactive and reactive solutions. Mitigate the risk before it has even happened.

Top tips for winning Recruitment Tenders

Recruitment and the supply of staff is something that will be constantly sought after by a range of companies. Especially by the public sector. This is due to not having the time nor capacity to complete recruitment tasks in-house.

Due to our extensive knowledge of recruitment tenders, we know exactly what the public sector looks for. Likewise, the questions they like to ask. Here are our top tips for winning these tenders:

Are you choosing the right recruitment tender?

It is important to read through and fully understand specification requirements. It is crucial that you comprehend exactly what the questions are asking you. You need to ask yourself a question. Can you commit to this contract?

Are your recruitment systems and processes properly documented?

Public sector buyers require detailed and thorough explanations. As well as hard evidence. They want to know HOW you are going to deliver this contract.

Have you collected strong evidence from previous experience?

Providing relevant evidence and case studies is crucial. The right testimonial can overcome scepticism and create credibility.

Do you have a clear plan for delivering the service?

How do you intend to fulfil the contract? In other words, do you have appropriate resources? How will you meet ongoing demand?

Do you have strong compliance and safeguarding procedures in place?

It is important to state what policies your recruitment agency have in place. How do you implement them?

Do you give extra value for money?

Public sector opportunities are awarded in accordance with ‘best value for money’. This is best known as MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender). When have you saved your clients money and time? Be prepared with statistics and be proactive.

Sourcing the opportunities

Looking for Recruitment Tenders? Look no further than our HR Tenders portal on Hudson Discover.

We source HR Tender opportunities daily from thousands of buyers across the UK. Our goal is to save you both time and money manually searching for new Recruitment Frameworks.

We have sourced opportunities for:

Healthcare Recruitment;
Professional, Commercial and Legal;
HR;
ICT and Support;
Digital Technology;
Project Management;
And many more.

By signing up, you gain complete access to our one-stop-shop HR portal. The main benefits of our portals are:

Your Dashboard screen will show the most recent tender opportunities – based on the personal information you provide about your company.
You can manually track opportunities – no CPV codes or algorithms required.
You can search for Recruitment Tender opportunities by using keywords relating to your services.
Searches can also be made by location or budget.
You will be assigned a dedicated Account Manager to help you throughout the tendering process.

“If an opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door”. We are your door.

Get in touch

Upon finding opportunities within our HR portal, you and your organisation then have the task of writing the specific technical response. You will need to ensure the buyer’s specification is covered and the evaluation criteria are met. Often within a tight deadline.

We appreciate that recruitment tenders are one of the more difficult tenders to win. Due to the high volume of competitors within this field.

Ask yourself these questions; do you have the relevant resources in-house? Do you have the time?

The tendering process can be really daunting. Especially if you do not have a team of professional, skilled bid writers at hand. However, we have a solution. Our bid management team at Hudson Succeed can help you and show you how to win a tender.

Our team of professionals have decades of experience and can tailor it to your specific needs. We can successfully imitate your brand and voice. We write to win.

Our Tender Writing service is the perfect ad-hoc solution for businesses that do not have the time or the in-house resources to complete excellent bid responses.

Interested? Get in touch.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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How to write a tender: The Complete Guide

Alex Holt — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 09:00:16 +0000

The complete guide on how to write a tender

Last updated: Mar 17, 2022 @ 3:56 pm

It’s safe to say that tendering for contracts is a great opportunity to develop your business, providing services for the public sector. With over 150 tenders uploaded to our 11 portals each day, there is an opportunity for every business – including yours.

Once you’ve found your opportunity, you’re going to want to make sure you maximise it. So, in this blog, we’re going to run through how to write a tender properly.

Don’t just jump in

One of the more exhaustive, yet essential processes before writing a tender is to make sure you know what you’re writing about – not to mention this process is often overlooked by many taking on tendering for the first time.

Yes, it’s easy to quickly jump in and try and answer the question in front of you without a moment’s hesitation, but this can quickly snowball into missed requirements and drafting something that doesn’t answer the question.

More often than not, those who are new to tendering can often end up ensconced in their own echo chamber – putting down the answer to the question they think the evaluator should be asking, not what they’re actually looking for.

This approach to writing tenders will, more often than not, score poorly.

Know what you’re writing about

Before you start writing bids – make sure you can actually fulfil the criteria as set out in the specification, avoiding wasted time. Consider:

Do you meet the minimum financial criteria?
Can you feasibly meet the requirements of the buyer?
Do you have the required accreditations and memberships?
Do you possess the relevant experience to undertake the contract?

From here, you can make a bid/no-bid decision – if you can’t meet the likes of the above, you’re likely to be excluded from the process altogether or end up scoring poorly.

PQQs/SQs

So now we can get into the fundamentals of how to write a tender. So, we’ve evaluated the specification, and now we’re ready to tackle the submission.

PQQs or pre-qualification questionnaires (or sometimes referred to as selection questionnaires) typically ask questions regarding what you have done in the past previously and are used as the first stage of selection, as part of the restricted tender procedure – open procedure tenders seldom use PQQs.

As discussed in the previous point, we are going to want to explain how our experience makes us suitable for delivering the contract.

Typically, completing a PQQ involves:

Filling in basic company information, such as registration numbers
Confirming that you haven’t breached legislation, or became a James Bond villain overnight
Technical and professional ability – or case studies (see next section)
A declaration and contact details

Some PQQs are different than others, however, this is the typical process. Some PQQs, such as PAS91s in the construction sector, consist of several additional sections, which often entails a far more detailed, evidence-based approach.

Case studies

Normally included in the PQQ section under ‘Technical and Professional Ability’, case studies ask you to describe 2-3 contracts of a similar nature that you have completed, or are currently undertaking, in the past five years.

These case studies are an opportunity to sell yourself and demonstrate previous successes, and how you can bring similar results for buyers.

With word counts typically within the 500-word mark, you could consider:

What is the scale of the contract? For example, how many properties do you renovate within a given period?
What is the nature of the relationship? How did this start?
How did we mobilise and deliver the contract?
Have you had any key challenges, and how have we learnt from them?
To summarise, what are the results? Did you finish on-time and within budget, and has the contract been renewed or extended?

ITT section

Now we move to the ITT section. This is where knowing how to write a tender will come in handy, as this is the proposal section. This is what we WILL do.

Typically, questions in a tender may cover the likes of:

Quality management
Health and safety
Environment and sustainability
Social value
Mobilisation
Service delivery
Experience
Complaints handling
Continuous improvement
Supply chain and subcontractor management

Deconstruct the question

Tender questions are often made up of several key points which a buyer will want you to address, with marks distributed equally across each section. Consequently, to maximise your marks, you should always deconstruct the question in such a way that all points are addressed. You can’t know how to write a tender without first breaking down the individual elements of the tender questions. Let’s look at this example:

The principal contractor must provide details of how you propose to manage your sub-contractors and supply chain (including placement of orders to ensure appropriate lead times).

In your response, please include details on the below:

Provide 2 examples of a problem which occurred completing similar work and how did you overcome this?
Provide 2 examples of problems you have faced with sub-contractors in the past and how did you overcome this?

So – let’s deconstruct this one. The bold sections are the mini-questions, shall we say, which should inform our structure. Note, the buyer has been kind to us on this one also, with some bullet points to point out some other points they want to see covered.

We could, therefore, adopt the following headings and subheadings:

Management of our subcontractors and supply chain
Placement of orders to ensure appropriate lead times
Problems occurring during similar work
Problems with subcontractors

As such, this clearly highlights to the buyer that we have addressed each point of the question, making their life easier. Not to mention it makes sure we cover the points they’re asking!

Make life easier for the buyer: be concise

Buyers will, potentially, have hundreds of tender submissions to evaluate, and as such, you want to write content that is easy-reading and clearly highlights conformance with the specification. Some pointers to make your submissions as easy reading as possible include:

Use headings matched to the deconstructed parts of the question
Don’t use filler or fluff content, this doesn’t add anything of value, and instead could frustrate an evaluator
On a similar note, be to the point – if you can say something in fewer words, do it
Bullet points are your friend – they are easy to read, and can often allow you to say a lot more with tight word counts

You still want to make sure that, even when you’re being concise, that what you’re writing both:

Is coherent, makes sense and answers the question
Is grammatically correct, free from colloquialisms and mistakes

The above will leave a negative impression with the evaluator; we’re all human, so we don’t want to put them in a bad mood. An unhappy evaluator is one that is more likely to deduct marks.

Avoiding filler content

This idea of being to the point is especially important when we consider word counts. It’s not uncommon to see these restricted to as little as 200 words, for example, whilst asking for several things to be covered in a response. Here, being concise and avoiding ‘filler’ or ‘fluff’ content is vital – see the example below:

‘Here at Tendering Company Ltd, we are passionate about quality and strive to implement quality into all we do’

This is a particularly empty statement which doesn’t answer the question, especially in the context of a short response. Think about it – this is 19 wasted words, nearly 10% of the word count saying absolutely nothing. No company is going to say they don’t care about quality, right?

Review and proofreading

So, once you’ve written your response, you should always make sure it has been proofread. After all, spelling and grammatical errors reflect badly on your submission, highlighting a lack of attention to detail.

Ask a colleague, a manager or director – an additional pair of eyes will always prove useful when:

Identifying mistakes, such as sentences that do not make sense
Contradictions or points which may come across negatively
Additional content or points that could be fed in

For example, here at Hudson Succeed, we use a three-stage checking process for all tender responses:

The writer will conduct a self-review before sending it for proofreading
This will be passed to another member of our bid team for review
Our Head of Bid Management, or Bid Manager, will review the content before finalising

Submission

Tender submissions can be requested by buyers through a variety of means:

Email submission
Postal submission
Uploading to a procurement portal

The latter is, by far the most common. To mitigate the chance of any potential IT errors, it’s always best to ensure you handle the submission in advance – usually days – to eliminate the chance of any last-minute mistakes and stress. Late submissions – even by 1 second – are often disregarded and won’t be evaluated. So, plan ahead, and get it submitted in good time. We always try to get tenders submitted at least a day prior to the submission deadline.

Sit down with our Managing Director, Jill Hudson

Jill has over 20 years’ experience with Tender Writing. She knows how lonely it can get when you see rejection in the early days.

I quite quickly went from a success record of <15% in my very early days of tender writing to >70% just by spending the time needed to digest feedback and eliminate silly mistakes. Mistakes I seemed to be making all the time without evening realising I was doing it.”

The thing you need to realise very early on is that feedback is the route to success.

No one really likes reading the feedback of how they’ve missed the point of the tender document. The response didn’t hit the mark – at all, or you’ve forgotten to proofread and your response to a question is littered with mistakes. Queue – kick yourself under the table and put the kettle on. It’s important to get back to the ‘Tender Basics’ every time you’re writing a bid.

However, without this feedback, you will continue to make these mistakes. The most common mistake you will make is not understanding the time it takes to respond to a bid correctly. Assuming you’ll write a winning submission in 2-hours is unrealistic whilst ABC Ltd are using all their resources.

Tender Basics:

You need to quickly realise that the only way you will start to win is to get back to the tender basics:

Believe you can win it – ensuring you have the right credentials.
Do your homework – research is key.
Spend the time needed to write a winning submission.
Don’t leave it until the last minute – this is how mistakes happen. Time Management when tendering is key.
Ensure you understand the point scoring mechanisms to ensure you are maximising your answers to the questions asked.
Answer the question with the information they have requested, not the information you believe they should know about your business.

We’re sure you’ve established that our main piece of advice over the many blogs we have written, is to be sensible with your expectations. If you turnover around £100,000 per annum, you’re not going to win a £2,000,000 contract. Nor should you want to put all your eggs in one basket like that. So, if this is the course of action you’re taking you will continue to receive the rejection letters.

Tender writing is an art form. It isn’t for everyone but you will reap the rewards if you spend the time learning and assessing what you need to in order to win.

Jill states “I’m a firm believer that the only person you should ever be in competition with is yourself. That way you will always get better.”

Eliminate the noise and … focus!

The 6 most common mistakes made when tendering

Throughout our 60 years of bidding experience, we have seen many mistakes made by suppliers who don’t understand how to write a tender. We want to share these with you to ensure that you never fall into these traps.

Not answering the question that is asked

Many companies answer a question based on what information they think the tendering company should know about their business, their processes and their experience. Instead of what they’ve actually asked for. If you are being asked to submit a response to a question, double check you’ve answered what they’ve asked of you.

Not doing your research

Research is king! The tendering organisation will want to see that you’ve taken the time to do your homework. Your tender response will be stronger for it.

Not taking the time to submit your best response

If you’re not going to give it your all, it’s pointless submitting a bid. Someone else will put all of their company efforts into winning this work, and is it really the impression you want to leave for your business? We’ve all been there when we’ve seen the tender response 24 hours before its due, but sometimes it really is best to pass than to enter a response that isn’t your best work.

Missing the deadline, but sending it anyway

This shows a lack of respect for the tendering process, making it look like you can’t or won’t achieve the deadlines. Your tender response would be disregarded anyway, so if you’ve made a mistake and missed the deadline, don’t send in your response and use it as a learning experience.

Ignoring the requirements of the Invitation to Tender

Many tender documents will ask you to complete the tender documents in a specific way. Don’t ignore these requests. If the ITT asks for you to submit your response using their pre-defined questionnaire, don’t ignore this, use it. The client may fail your response for not following the guidelines provided. It’s a lot of work to get your tender dismissed.

Bidding for absolutely everything

So many businesses make the mistake of tendering for absolutely every piece for work and wonder why they don’t win anything. You’re so much better off responding to five tenders extremely well, then 15 tenders quickly and rushed. Create a tender checklist that gives you an understanding of the tenders you would like to win, can deliver well, and stick to it.

Need Support?

Using these tips and pointers, you should be well on your way to figuring out how to write a tender properly and take control of your Bid Management. If you’re struggling with writing tenders and need a bit of help – we offer four tender writing services.

Our Success

Bidding for tenders is a vital process for securing new contracts and growing your business. Depending on your industry, it is likely that your competitors are bidding for the contracts they’re securing. As well as other strategies such as marketing, tendering is one of the most effective ways to grow your organisation.

Hudson Succeed is a Durham-based business development consultancy. We were founded by husband and wife team, Jill and John Hudson. Jill has been supporting global organisations with their business growth efforts for almost two decades. Hudson was founded based on her experiences of tendering and procurement.

Across the Hudson Group, our mission is to make tendering a fairer and more transparent playing field for all businesses.

Whilst working with the 700+ businesses that we support, we noticed a common misconception from SMEs in particular. It seems that some SMEs are under the impression that they are too small to tender for work. This is not the case.

Our Head of Bid Management, Daniel Hall, said:

“You have to be realistic when making your bid/no-bid decision. You should always consider the contract value and assess the experience requirements before bidding.

However, there are advantages to being an SME when tendering for work. For example, the UK government has a target to spend £1 in £3 with SMEs. This means that public sector organisations want to work with smaller companies.

SMEs also have the advantage of not competing with industry giants on smaller projects. Larger businesses tend not to bid for contracts with smaller values, therefore increasing your chances of winning.”

Since launching our Hudson Succeed suite of bid writing services, we have been thrilled to work with businesses around the world. However, as a company with strong roots in the North East, it is always a pleasure to support local businesses.

Securing 4-years’ income for Imagine You Can UK

Imagine You Can UK is a leading provider of the National Citizen Service (NCS) in Redcar and East Cleveland. They also work across the North of England, delivering opportunities for personal development and employability skills for young people.

The company’s Director approached the Hudson Succeed team and enquired about our bid writing services. They required support with the submission of a tender for the provision of additional delivery partners to provide capacity for delivering an NCS programme.

Challenges

When bidding for tenders, there will inevitably be challenges that you didn’t foresee. With experience, these obstacles become easier to mitigate. Due to the nature of this tender, we knew that we would encounter challenges with sensitive information. The work required detailed information regarding Imagine You Can UK’s safeguarding and data management procedures.

Tight deadlines also posed an issue to our time management. As the company was a new client, we did not have a bank of information at hand, as we do with returning organisations. This meant that the team had to extract the necessary information in a short timeframe to ensure maximum quality marks.

A detailed communication procedure was therefore created to obtain the information needed. The team then underwent a thorough bid plan, outlining the necessary activity for both parties.

Due to the deadline of the tender, work was allocated across our team of bid writers. They proactively took charge of each response and produced high-quality, well-researched and detailed tender responses.

Results

Our team produced 5,000 words within a little over 24 hours of the work being commissioned.

As a result, Imagine You Can UK were successful with their endeavour and they were accepted onto the framework. This secured them sustainable, ongoing income for the next four years. Due to this success, we have developed an excellent relationship with the company, and we look forward to working with them in the future.

“Daniel and the team gave me excellent instructions on the content they needed to complete this tender. The whole process was seamless and I’m glad to say we were accepted onto the framework. It was a pleasure to work with Hudson and we look forward to collaborating in the future.” – Dave King, Director at Imagine You Can UK.

Find more case studies.

Winning a DPS place for APM Cleaning Ltd

APM Cleaning provides commercial and domestic cleaning services on a national scale. The company contacted Hudson Succeed for support after identifying a tendering opportunity. They expressed concerns with developing the quality responses and providing the evidence required to win a place on the framework.

After our initial consultation with APM Cleaning, the Hudson team found another contract opportunity using our Facilities Tenders portal. The team made the client aware of the second opening which was a Facilities Management DPS with Prosper Housing.

Once the work was agreed upon, our team began working on both tenders for the client.

Challenges

The deadlines were very close together which meant that both submissions needed to be developed in tandem, necessitating splitting the workload between two bid writers. This, combined with ongoing tenders we were already compiling for other clients, posed a challenge to our time management.

APM was also a new client with Hudson Succeed which meant that required company details needed to be extracted.

Through the creation of Hudson’s staple bid plan, a communication procedure was implemented between us and the client. The two assigned bid writers collaborated effectively to ensure no overlapping in requests for information from APM.

Once completed, the tender response underwent a thorough, internal review process. Our Head of Bid Management took the lead on all stages of content development.

Results

Both tenders were signed off and submitted four days ahead of the deadline.

As a result of our team’s combined efforts, we successfully secured APM a place on the second DPS. We were successful in all the LOTs applied to.

We are still awaiting the results of the initial tendering opportunity.

Due to this success, we are pleased to say our working relationship with APM Cleaning has continued. We have since supported the submission of four more tenders. One has been successful. We’re awaiting the results for the others. We also look forward to working with the client on a future bid, later this year.

“The Hudson team was very reactive in their ways of working and handled all communications very effectively and efficiently. This partnership is credit to the recent win for the Prosper DPS for Facilities Management, which we were successful on all LOTs applied. We would recommend Hudson to any company who require bid support of any kind!” – Samantha Reid, Director at APM Cleaning Ltd.

Find more testimonials.

Advice for SMEs

We understand that bidding for contracts can seem daunting during a pandemic. However, it is important to remember that businesses are still actively seeking suppliers.

Understandably, some SMEs don’t know how to tender for work. The practice is more prevalent in some industries than in others. In construction, for example, most businesses are either actively tendering or have been involved in the process before.

However, bidding for tenders does carry advantages. For example:

Public sector contracts guarantee pay

It might seem strange to sign a contract and not be guaranteed pay. Unfortunately, we hear of this happening in the private sector more often than we would like.

The Crown Commercial Service’s Prompt Payment Code means that this won’t happen in the public sector. The code stipulates that invoices must be paid within 60-days. This gives suppliers peace of mind, knowing that income is guaranteed, and the profit can be accounted for.

Build your experience

If you’re a relatively new business, building a portfolio of experience is crucial before you go after the big contracts. By securing smaller value projects, you can demonstrate relevant and impressive experience when the time comes to “bid bigger”.

Also, building a portfolio of experience means building a bank of contacts. Bidding for tenders helps to connect you with buyers that you may not have had access to previously.

Frameworks can help your sustainability

Winning places on long-term frameworks increase your chances of securing contracts sustainably. Some frameworks can last up to 10-years or more. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to bid for this work as the projects are published.

So, time to get cracking

Our team of experienced bid writers and managers are on-hand to provide whatever level of support you require with your qualitative submissions, from writing bids, to help with the tending process.

Call or email us for a free quote and find out how we can help your business grow.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post How to write a tender: The Complete Guide appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Domiciliary Care Tenders: How to win Domiciliary Contracts

Jonathan Worthy — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 07:00:25 +0000

Domiciliary Care Tenders: Becoming Tender Ready

As the lifespan of the average UK resident continues to grow, as does the need for domiciliary care. Over recent years the issuing of domiciliary care tenders has risen drastically. The personal care of the elderly and the disadvantaged and vulnerable is consistently and continuously being outsourced to private organisations. Providing opportunities to care providers of all statures – from small start-ups to large agencies.

Traditionally, care tenders were enormous, with contract values out of the realm of many care providers. However, The Health and Social Care Act 2012 had a huge impact on how healthcare is organised and delivered. Where once the responsibility for sourcing and delivering services belonged to the central government, these days it is up to local NHS organisations, or Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) as they are more well known.

According to recent government figures, NHS Trusts are collectively spending a staggering £9 billion per year in the procurement of goods and services, and engaging SMEs (Small, Medium and Micro businesses) is helping them to improve efficiency across the board.

In 2017, the UK private healthcare industry was valued at a whopping $11.8Billion. Experts expect this value to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 2.6% from 2017-2023. With its value expected to reach $13.8 Billion by the end of 2023.

However, this rapid growth hasn’t come without issue. According to CQC reports, between 2011-2018, serious injuries reported by private healthcare providers have risen 7-fold, from 519 to 3537. Since these findings were published, the CQC has introduced measures to ensure all private healthcare providers are suitably placed to provide the appropriate services.

When entering into domiciliary care tenders, it is crucially important to present your business as experienced, compliant and socially responsible. This blog aims to provide you with the necessary tools to achieve this, submit winning bids and enabling you to Succeed through domiciliary care tenders!

Compliance & Qualification

To be successful when tendering for contracts, you must be able to display compliance, accreditation and qualification. Otherwise, you will almost certainly fall at the first hurdle. The local authorities and organisations tendering such works, need to see evidence of your capability. The most straight forward way of demonstrating this is through satisfactory CQC ratings. There are currently four ratings that the CQC award to health and social care services:

Outstanding
Good
Requires Improvement
Inadequate

All healthcare providers must display their CQC rating, by law. CQC ratings have become clear and effective measures of domiciliary care provider’s abilities. Enabling tendering authorities to better understand the businesses bidding for their work. A CQC rating of “outstanding” or “good” will reassure buyers of your teams’ competency in care and ability to undertake the required care.

Don’t worry if you’re not CQC registered as of yet, or do not possess official audit results. Buyers do recognise this and often provide the option to demonstrate this via written responses regarding your quality of care instead.

Moreover, CQC ratings are awarded through various external audits, undertaken by CQC moderators. Therefore, in order to achieve a high rating, you must be able to demonstrate your capabilities on demand. CQC is compulsory for those who are intending to provide personal care services and they require you to demonstrate that your organisation is:

Safe

– Individuals under your care must be protected from abuse and avoidable harm. This can be achieved through effective governance, regular staff competency training and continuous internal audits.
Effective

– Individuals must benefit from your care and support services. Your services should achieve positive outcomes and ensure the keeping of quality of life for all. CQC base their ranking of this issue based upon the best available evidence. Therefore, it is key that you keep records of your service delivery. Perhaps producing case studies of past / current successful service. These case studies would be best supported through references. Whether from the individual in care or from their extended support networks.
Caring

– All staff must treat individuals with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. Involving individuals in decisions where possible is perhaps the best way to constantly practice this. Creating bespoke care plans based upon a practice of person-centred care will demonstrate this to CQC auditors. Furthermore, it is imperative that all staff are adequality trained and qualified in order to deliver the required services. Submitting staff qualifications and experience as part of your tender submission will help demonstrate competency to the tendering authority.
Responsive

– You must demonstrate that their services are organised in a manner which meets the needs of all. As a supplier, you must demonstrate your flexibility and capacity to react to change. This can be done by ensuring you have a robust, regularly updated business continuity plan. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to establish partnership links with other local care facilities. This will demonstrate your organisation’s ability to provide an all-encompassing service. Ensuring reactivity and responsiveness throughout.
Leadership

– The CQC will assess how ‘well-led’ your practice is. Ensuring effective governance of your organisation is crucial to achieving high marks in this section. Maintaining a bank of policies and procedures will demonstrate clear working practices. Such policies should include; health and safety, safeguarding and safe recruitment, to name a few. Also, it is important to show a positive attitude toward staff – ensuring the promotion of a fair and transparent culture. Encouraging learning and innovation within the practice.

Experience

When bidding for domiciliary care tenders, it is important to demonstrate your experience. Contracting authorities want to see solid evidence of your experience and competency.

Even if your business is a new startup, with little experience, you should still demonstrate the experience of your staff. This could be through mentioning previous work, roles, or outlining relevant qualifications. Tendering authorities need to know their residents are in good, steady hands. Demonstrating a reliable and quality track record is perhaps the most effective way to do so.

Without firm evidence, including numbers, dates, figures and details of specific challenges, you may struggle. Indeed, building up a bank of case studies to draw on, is a key first step toward winning domiciliary care tenders. However, to counteract lack of organisational experience, we do have Spot Provider Frameworks, which are more geared to the smaller agencies or individuals who deliver domiciliary care services on a lower-tier delivery basis.

There are many ways for start-ups to develop their experience. Tendering authorities often recognise that domiciliary needs can fluctuate wildly, or grow exponentially, so it is always worth contacting your local Council to ask if they have any second or third-tier opportunities available. These are aimed at smaller, less experienced companies who may not have the turnover or experience to tender to be the main provider on a care tender.

Also, making yourself available to subcontract work away from larger providers will also ensure you gain demonstratable experience. Getting work through sub-contracting is another excellent way for young companies to gain the experience they require to start tendering for contracts of your own. These methods of contracting work are great for start-ups looking to establish a foothold in the procurement world.

Quality Responses

As typically the case with all healthcare tenders, quality is the most important aspect of a domiciliary care tender. With cost being of secondary consideration to most tendering authorities within this sector. We at Hudson Succeed, recently submitted a bid on behalf of a care sector client, which was judged on 100% quality. Meaning price was not even considered! Tendering authorities are more interested in getting a good quality service that meets the needs of service users fully, rather than a cheap service.

Tip: If you’re struggling with what to write, how to respond to questions or showcase your experience, talk to our Hudson Succeed team today!

Risk Management

Showing Buyers that you are prepared to own the responsibility for identifying and mitigating risks is hugely important. Even if you are a start-up applying for second-tier opportunities, demonstrating a strong approach to risk management will put your tender in the spotlight when Buyers are evaluating responses.

Providing additional evidence such as past risk assessments and a competent health & safety policy alongside your submission (where allowed), will demonstrate your proactive approach to risk mitigation.

Demonstrating an active approach to risk will prove to buyers that you are a responsible company, ultimately inspiring their confidence in your ability to provide a safe, quality service.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Social Value is becoming more and more prevalent in all tenders, across all business sectors. Buyers want to see you demonstrate how you will bring value to their communities. The communities that your organisation will be working in when delivering on the terms of their tender.

Authorities tendering for domiciliary care services don’t just want to see your organisation’s commitment to your service users. They also want to see your commitment to the wider picture. Nowadays, it is very likely that you will encounter at least one question about social value or community benefits. A strong social value response can be the difference between a strong care tender and a weak one.

Typically, an organisations social value is measured by 3 categories. Their social, economic and environmental contributions to the community. We have included below some good examples of good social value within these 3 categories:

Social
- Supporting local charity initiatives;
- Supporting local community centres/clubs;
- Supporting local authority/government initiatives.

Environmental
- Making a commitment to lower your carbon footprint;
- Promoting environmental consciousness across your service provisions;
- Holding the ISO 14001 accreditation.

Economic
- Providing employment opportunities to local groups, e.g. school leavers, unemployed, etc;
- Creating volunteering opportunities;
- Investing in the local community, eg. ensuring all supply chain partners or employees reside within 15km of the contract delivery location.

Further Support

We have a dedicated tender tracking portal for the Healthcare Sector. Visit Healthcare Tenders to view all the latest contract opportunities.

If you are still unsure and require any further advice or guidance, get in touch with our Hudson Succeed division today! One of our dedicated team of bid writers can provide a free consultation and talk you through the domiciliary care tendering process further. We can help you succeed!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Domiciliary Care Tenders: How to win Domiciliary Contracts appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Sit Down With Our Bid Team

Jonathan Worthy — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 11:05:42 +0000

Single-Stage Tendering Support

When it comes to single-stage tendering, our Hudson Succeed team are experts. We hold decades of experience in sourcing, writing and bid management of projects across a diverse range of sectors.

The bid team are well versed in the single-stage tendering process. We understand what it takes to ensure a tender response scores high marks against the specification. The Succeed team always write to win, boasting an impressive 87% bid success rate.

Today we sit down with our Succeed team, gaining an insight into their roles and understanding what makes a successful tender.

So who are the Bid Team?

The Hudson Succeed team’s primary objective is to secure contracts for our various clients by creating high-level responses to tenders/ITTs, submitting PQQs, PAS91s and winning quality responses overall.

The wider division is made up of the following roles:

Head of Bid Management
Bid Coordinator team
Bid Management team
Bid Writer team
Bid Design team

What does the team do?

Daniel Hall – Head of Bid Management

Daniel heads our Hudson Succeed team – managing all incoming and ongoing tender submissions. Daniel leads client liaison across the Succeed division and is often the first point of contact for the majority of clients once their requirements have been established by our Hudson Discover Team. Dan’s role still enables him to practice his passion for writing, creating copious amounts of content for our clients.

“Having joined Hudson in January 2018, I am still presented with new and exciting challenges on a daily basis. Dealing with a wide variety of clients from a range of different industries can present challenges. However, having the support of the wider Hudson Succeed team alleviates these challenges.

I have worked with single-stage tendering for over half a decade now. I have gained vast experience in the tendering processes and an accurate understanding of what buyers look for within quality responses.

My top tip for creating winning tender submissions is to write effectively, in accordance with the buyer specification. It is important to not lose sight of the specification when creating your responses. This enables you to structure your response, ensuring that it actively reflects what the buyer is asking for.”

You can find out more from Daniel via the UK’s first FREE Virtual Learning Environment, all to do with tendering.

Amanda McCready – Bid Coordinator

Amanda supports the daily operations of the Hudson Succeed team. Daily, Amanda ensures that schedules are set for our Bid Writers and all tender submission deadlines are met. As Bid Coordinator, Amanda initiates the first stage of our tender response process. To do this, Amanda assesses the workloads of individual tenders by completing breakdowns of the work involved. Amanda will then schedule the work with the bid team and regularly update clients on the tenders’ progress.

“In my experience, the key to submitting a winning tender is in the preparation. It is crucial that you take the time to read through all the of the documents provided by the buyer. This ensures that you understand the contract and that you don’t miss key information, resulting in a failed bid submission. As part of our tender breakdowns, we extract all key information and check each item off as we find it.

This is the first step within our single-stage tendering process. Meticulous attention to detail will ensure that you are aware of all the necessary information before beginning your response.”

Alex Holt – Bid Writer

Alex works as an integral part of our bid team under the guidance of the Head of Bid Management. On a day to day basis, Alex liaises with clients, extracting information from them and informing them of our progress. Alex must effectively adapt his writing style dependant on the industry he is writing for. By doing so, he ensures each submission is completed to the highest quality, bespoke to the requirements of the specific buyer.

“Working across numerous different industries with multiple clients poses challenges to our bid team. I feel that effective, efficient and thorough communication with clients is vital in the creation of a successful response. We place their expertise in the best light on paper.

In order to create industry-specific responses, we must facilitate the effective transferring of information between ourselves and the clients. Hudson’s procedure for client communications enables us to extract all the information we need and produce high-level responses. Since joining Hudson, I have found that the level of industry-specific references has raised the quality of my written responses and has broadened my understanding of business processes in key industries.”

Katherine Kane – Bid Writer

Alongside the bid team, Katherine works with clients to produce responses which showcase them in the best possible light. Katherine ensures that our outputs are completed to the highest possible standard and within strict time frames posed by submission deadlines.

“My role at Hudson allows me to pursue my passion for creative writing and researching on a daily basis. Through working with clients across industry boundaries, I have built a bank of knowledge across a variety of interesting sectors. I have also gained insights into the inner workings of businesses and industries.

When creating quality responses, I use simple and precise language so that the buyer can easily understand the key points. This ensures that my submissions are easy to read and easy to follow, making them accessible and engaging to tender evaluators.”

Jonathan Worthy – Bid Writer

Jonathan works alongside the Hudson Succeed team, producing high-level responses for our clients. Alleviating work from clients, Jonathan handles all elements of the single-stage tendering process. Jonathan works closely with a variety of clients in disciplines ranging from Building Surveying, Grounds Maintenance and Facilities Management companies.

“In the single-stage tendering process, it is important to plan out every aspect of the bid in order to guarantee enough time for each submission and mitigate the risk of missing a deadline. Therefore, when planning bid schedules, I always overcompensate time and have the tenders ready for submission ahead of the deadline.

I am thankful that, in the event of tight deadlines, I have a supportive team around me to help guarantee the submission in line with deadlines. The wider Succeed team are capable of jumping from industry to industry to help with pressing deadlines. This is of great help when managing numerous tight deadlines during busy periods.”

Olivia Backhouse – Bid Writer

Olivia works in tandem with the rest of the bid team to develop content for our broad range of clientele. Crafting persuasive tender responses for our clients, Olivia helps them to grow their businesses and operations through single-stage tendering.

“During my time with Hudson, I have found that thorough research is key to writing bids and winning quality responses. It is important that you have a firm grasp of the company that you are writing for, the industry and the bid before beginning your response. I tend to conduct research online and fill in any gaps through liaising with the client directly.

It is important to understand the values of the company you are writing for so that it reflects in your proposal and links to the values of the buyer. Evidence is a key driver within successful submissions as it proves your ability to fulfil the contract. Research must be conducted in order to uncover this evidence and develop your responses into winning ones.

Kathryn Johnson – Head of Creative

Kathryn works alongside our Hudson Succeed team. Ensuring that the responses are creative, high-quality and bespoke to our client’s branding is imperative. Design work is only required on certain tenders, but we encourage the use of design wherever possible. High-quality, branded proposals demonstrate to buyers the effort that has been put into the submission.

“Design is an important aspect of many submissions. Seen primarily in the creative and technology sectors, designed proposals allow the buyer to instantly recognise the company providing the proposal. This also works ensures that the proposal stands out from the rest of the competition.”

You can find out more from Kathryn via the UK’s first FREE Virtual Learning Environment, all to do with tendering.

Rachael Irvine – Graphic Designer

As the resident Graphic Designer, Rachael works alongside Kathryn to create bespoke designs for our bid proposals. Rachael creates high quality, bespoke branded documents for the proposals, including:

Logos;
House Styles;
Branded Case Studies;
Content Pages

“As part of my role at Hudson, I am responsible for improving the visual appearance of many bid proposals. This task allows me to bring creative ideas and see them flourish into live brands for our clients. The bespoke designs we provide to our clients enhance their brand and image, enabling them to stand out to buyers. Therefore, I see tender design as an important aspect of proposal submission for any industry.”

What can the Bid Team do for me?

To put it simply, the Hudson Succeed team can help your organisation to:

Win public tenders;
Enhance your operation;
Increase your turnover and business performance as a result.

Tendering can help your business expand by gaining guaranteed work over a set period of time and achieve regular income.

Here at Hudson, we are experts in tender writing and our Hudson Succeed team are on hand to provide you with hints and advice regarding all things tendering, so get in touch today.

We’re here to help you Succeed!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Sit Down With Our Bid Team appeared first on Tender Consultants.

bid management companies Archives - Tender Consultants

Strategic Bid Management: Everything You NEED to Know to Succeed!

Here’s what you should know about strategic bid management

What is strategic bid management?

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

1. Check you are eligible for the opportunities you source

2. Consider exactly what the buyer requires

3. How to create your strategic bid management plan

Summary

What is strategic bid management?

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

Need help searching for tenders?

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

What we can do for you

Vocal

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

3 Benefits of Bid Management Companies You NEED to Know

Why should you work with bid management companies?

Why is bid management important?

Why should you work with a bid management company?

Produce a winning tender response

Manage the tendering process

Save you time and money

In summary

How Hudson Succeed can help

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Need help with searching for tenders?

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

Discover Elite

Vocal

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

Bid Writers Near Me: Here’s Why Closer Doesn’t Mean Better

Searching for ‘Bid Writers near me’? Here’s what you should consider…

Why do so many businesses search for ‘Bid Writers near me’?

Why can outsourcing remote Bid Writers be more beneficial?

Summary

Need help searching for tenders?

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

Vocal

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

What Can Bid Writing Companies Do for Your Business?

Here’s everything you need to know about how bid writing companies can benefit you

Bid writing companies save you time and money

Bid writing companies produce high-quality bids

Summary

We cover topics including:

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Additional support

Discover Elite

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

Where to Find Bid Writing Services in the UK

How can I find the best bid writing services in the UK?

So, where can you find bid writing services in the UK?

What are the advantages of outsourcing bid writing services in the UK?

Increased quality

More time

They can save resources

In summary

Need help writing your next tender?

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Additional support

Discover Elite

Construction Bid Management – Construction and the Environment

Everything you need to know about construction bid management

Climate change