Framework Agreements | Tips and Advice | Tender Consultants

Public Sector Frameworks: Everything You Need to Know Before You Apply

John Hudson — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:00:01 +0000

Applying for Public Sector Frameworks

Applying for public sector framework contracts can become a complex business, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the process or lack the expertise to execute your tender response effectively.

In this blog, we will guide you through what you need to do in order to prepare your business. We will also cover the importance of contract compliance, pricing accordingly and finally, the benefits and drawbacks of public sector framework agreements.

How to prepare your business to bid for public sector frameworks:

Research the framework landscape: Familiarise yourself with the public sector frameworks that are currently available and the ones that may be coming up. Make sure that your business is eligible to bid for the framework and that it meets the requirements outlined.
Develop a bidding strategy: Analyse the framework requirements and create a comprehensive bidding strategy that outlines how your business can provide the services or products required.
Utilise the right resources: Utilise the resources available through the framework to ensure that you have the right information to make an informed bid.
Create a compliant bid: Ensure your bid is compliant with all relevant regulations and standards, and that it meets the framework’s requirements.
Follow bidding guidelines: Familiarise yourself with the bidding guidelines in the specification and follow them exactly.
Establish relationships: Develop relationships with the relevant public sector bodies and other bidders to increase your chances of success.
Monitor the process: Monitor the process closely to ensure that your bid is progressing as expected and that you have the best chance of being successful.

What resources do I need to bid for a public sector framework contract?

Knowledge of the public sector framework: You will need to understand the terms and conditions of the framework, the requirements of the customer, and the evaluation criteria.
Knowledge of the customer’s needs: You will need to understand the customer’s requirements and how they align with the framework. Most importantly, you must make sure that you can provide the solution to their exact requirements.
Experience in the sector: Understanding the sector the customer operates in and the competition they face will help you to tailor your bid.
A track record of success: Demonstrating previous success in bidding for public sector contracts will strengthen your bid — you will need evidence, usually in the form of relevant case studies!
Access to resources: It is advised that you have access to resources such as legal expertise, financial advice, and project management expertise before choosing to bid.
An understanding of procurement processes: It is important to understand the procurement process and the different stages involved, so you can get a greater understanding of the process from the buyer’s perspective.
A compelling submission: You will need to present a compelling and well-structured submission that meets the customer’s requirements.

Compliance with the Framework:

Below is a checklist you should follow to make sure you can comply with the framework requirements:

Make sure that you are aware of the eligibility requirements for the framework and that your business meets them.
Ensure that your business is properly registered and has all the necessary licenses and permits.
Develop a clear understanding of the bid process and timeline.
Prepare all documents required for the bid, such as business plans, financial statements, and any other supporting documents.
Create a detailed pricing structure and service offering that meets the requirements outlined in the framework.
Identify key contacts and stakeholders within the public sector framework and create a plan to build relationships and secure support.
Identify any risks associated with the framework and develop strategies and processes to mitigate them.
Prepare a detailed response to the framework’s evaluation criteria and ensure that it meets the requirements.
Develop a clear statement of work and contract that outlines the services, deliverables, and payment terms.

Consequences of non-compliance with the framework:

Loss of reputation: Non-compliance with public sector framework contracts can result in damage to the reputation of the company. As a result, government agencies and other public sector entities will be less likely to do business with a company that has failed to comply with the rules stipulated in framework contracts.
Financial penalties: Companies that fail to comply with public sector framework contracts may be subject to financial penalties, including fines, damages, and other punitive measures.
Disqualification from future contracts: Companies that are found to be non-compliant may be disqualified from future public sector framework contracts, thus limiting the company’s ability to do business within the public sector.
Criminal prosecution: In some cases, companies that fail to comply with public sector framework contracts may also face criminal prosecution.

How to price accordingly and competitively for public sector framework contracts:

When pricing for a public sector framework contract, it is important to consider a variety of factors such as the current market rate for similar services, the quality of services offered, the cost of materials if any, the amount of time required to complete the project, and any additional costs associated with the project.

Additionally, research should be done to ensure your pricing is competitive with other suppliers offering the same services. It is also important to consider the cost of compliance with applicable laws and regulations (this varies sector by sector), as well as any additional costs associated with the framework.

Finally, it is important to consider the long-term cost savings that may be achieved by entering into a framework contract.

What are the benefits of securing public sector framework contracts?

Access to a larger pool of customers: Public sector frameworks, such as government-managed contracts, allow businesses to bid on and win contracts from a much larger customer base than the private sector.
More stability and predictability: Public sector frameworks offer more stability and predictability than private sector contracts, as they are often long-term contracts and the terms are fixed and predictable.
Easier to access: Public sector frameworks are also typically easier to access than private sector contracts, as they often require fewer qualifications and certifications.
Faster payment process: Public sector contracts typically have a faster payment process than private sector contracts, as the government is legally bound to pay on time and in full.
Increased visibility: By bidding for public sector frameworks, businesses can increase their visibility to potential customers, as government-managed contracts are often highly publicised and well-known.

What are the drawbacks of public sector framework contracts?

Lack of competition: Public sector framework contracts typically involve a limited number of suppliers, meaning that there can be little competition or incentive to offer the most competitive rates or services.
Lack of innovation: Framework contracts can limit the ability of public sector bodies to access the most innovative solutions or services.
Limited capacity: Public sector framework contracts can limit the capacity of public sector bodies to respond to changing needs or requirements.
Risk of corruption: Public sector framework contracts can often involve complex processes and procedures, leaving them open to abuse and corruption.

Hint: If you want to read more about public and private sector contracts, we have a blog on common misconceptions here!

How we can help!

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. 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 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 it. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

Contact us:

Additional support:

Do you only require assistance with PQQs or SQs? We can help!

Submit the relevant information regarding the work you need, and we will provide a quote for the work agreed upon.

We provide support at all levels of the bid writing process, so if you simply need it proofread before you submit it, we can also help with that!

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can optimise your tendering efforts!

Our two new time-saving tools can improve competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract:

The Ultimate Time Save Package (for those on the go!)

Five tender breakdowns per month.
Annual subscription to two sector-specific portals.
Dedicated account manager.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package

All of the above.
Seven tender breakdowns per month.
Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager (minimum five years experience). Our Global Bid Director will manage the bid strategy.

Our other divisions:

Vocal

Wanting to impress a buyer? Our creative content agency Vocal is always on hand to help!

Our Vocal team are never afraid to be heard – we’re a loud bunch!

From micro-businesses to large organisations, we provide ways to make your business stand out from the crowd. We can transform your bid into a professionally designed tender document!

Vocal specialises in:

Alpha

Our online virtual learning environment for Education, Enterprise and Home Learners is currently being used to power our platforms – Tender VLE and Procure VLE (Coming soon).

We believe in learning at your own pace, wherever you are!

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

The post Public Sector Frameworks: Everything You Need to Know Before You Apply appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to Respond to Government Contracts for Bid

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 07:00:18 +0000

Where to find government contracts up for bid

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:44 am

You may be wondering how to respond to government contracts for bid, and you wouldn’t be the only one. The public sector spends roughly £290 billion annually through public procurement. From schools to hospitals, and from universities to the police force there are plenty of opportunities to tender. It’s not surprising that as an SME you’re wanting to get in on the action.

However, if you’re new to the game, government contracts up for bid can be a confusing field to navigate. Luckily for you, we’ve contained some helpful tips on how to succeed. We’ll also detail where you can find government contracts for bid.

Advantages of tendering for government contracts

There are many advantages when responding to government contracts for bid. If you’re unsure about whether it’s worth investing the time and effort, here are some points to consider:

Guaranteed pay

One of the most significant advantages of securing a government contract for bid is you are guaranteed payment. This is because the public sector is bound by rules and regulations to ensure a fair and transparent procurement process.

Upon winning a contract, you are guaranteed payment within 60 days of invoicing. This is because the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has to comply with the Prompt Payment Code. This can give suppliers piece of mind when tendering for work in the public sector. The same can’t be said for tendering for the private sector. This is because they aren’t bound by the same rule and regulations.

Secure a pipeline of work for your business

Responding to government contracts for bid can help you secure a pipeline of work for your business. Particularly if you secure a place on a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) or framework agreement. A benefit of this is that they can run for years at a time with the possibility of extensions. It’s not unheard of some DPS’ running for 10+ years. These are two types of tender processes that are frequently used by public sector organisation. They are especially used within construction and healthcare.

Gain experience

Having a bank of experience is essential in order to secure government contracts for bid. This is because the buyer will usually ask you to prove 2 – 3 case studies of previous contracts you’ve fulfilled. They should be similar in scope and complexity to the contract you’re going for. The more case studies and experience you have, the bigger contracts you can go for. The bigger contracts you can go for, the more your business will grow. Securing a place on a DPS or framework for a government contract is a great place to start.

A third of all contracts must be awarded to SMEs

The government has a target to spend £1 in £3 with smaller businesses. This means they’re actively looking to award 23% of all government contracts for bid with SMEs. You may have thought that only bigger businesses could secure government contracts, but you’d be wrong. The government wants to invest in SMEs and secure a more local supply chain that can be relied upon.

Where to find government contracts up for bid

So, now you know some of the advantages of tendering for contracts. You now may be wondering where you can find them. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector opportunities and lead. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific portal.

If you’re just relying on CPV codes, you could be missing out on up to the third of relevant opportunities. This is because CPV codes are often mislabelled. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. You are able to filter the search results by keyword, budget, location and more. This streamlines the process, making it easier to find government contracts for bid.

These sectors consist of;

3 Tips for winning government contracts for bid

So, now you know where to find government contracts for bid and the advantages of securing one. Now, you might be wondering how to win a tender:

Make it easy to read

Put yourself in the buyer shoes, if you have 50 tender responses to read through which would you favour: the one that’s clearly laid out and broken into subheadings with bullet points? Or a 30-page document of block text?

I think we can agree that you’d pick the nicely formatted, clearly laid out response. When writing bids clearly formatting your response will earn you bonus points with the reviewer. Break the question down into subheadings. This can allow you to ensure that you’ve answered every aspect of the question. Including bullet points can allow you to include more points without going over the word count.

An example question may state: “Please provide your strategy for sourcing and recruiting subcontractors and for ensuring that you can effectively monitor, measure, and exercise executive control.”

For this, you would break the question down and respond by providing your strategy for:

Sourcing subcontractors
Recruiting subcontractors
Ensuring effective monitoring
Ensuring effective measuring
Exercising executive control

Stick to the word count

Word, page, or character counts are there for a reason. It levels out the playing field to all competitors. It also demonstrates the level of detail the buyer wants you to go into. If they are expecting a 1,000-word response, simply putting a couple of bullet points won’t suffice. They are there for a reason and it’s best to try and get as close to them as possible. Going over will not reflect well on you as you will be ignoring instructions.

Avoid rambling and overly technical jargon

A strong response to government contracts for bid will avoid rambling and overly technical jargon. You shouldn’t assume that the buyer knows anything. Leaving room for assumptions and lead to the wrong assumptions being made. This could jeopardise your response as a buyer may not understand what you’re talking about leading to a misunderstanding. However, you should be persuasive in your bid response, demonstrating your business’ capabilities.

Need assistance with writing your next government contract bid response?

It can be daunting applying for government contracts; however, we can help. We understand that writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. But this doesn’t mean you should miss out on work because of it.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and proudly hold an 87% success rate for our clients. We have four bid writing support packages to suit your needs. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or simply need a response proofread – we can help. Our services include:

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

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.

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.

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

The post How to Respond to Government Contracts for Bid appeared first on Tender Consultants.

A Beginner’s Guide to Bids and Tenders

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 07:00:51 +0000

Everything you need to know about bids and tenders

[last-modified: February 2022]

Are you interested in procurement and wondering what bids and tenders are? Well, you’ve come to the right place! This blog contains a beginner’s guide to bids and tenders. It will answer all of the frequently asked questions you may have. So, let’s get into it!

What are bids and tenders?

So, let’s start with the basics, what are bids and tenders? Well, bids and tenders mean the same thing and are used interchangeably.

They are documents that are a written request that is sent out to potential suppliers. A buyer will release an invitation to tender (ITT) when they are looking to procure a good, service or product. They are essentially looking to outsource a solution to a supplier.

A tender document is the basis of a tendering process that details certain contract criteria. This allows qualified and interested suppliers to compete for the contract. A buyer will then evaluate the responses and award the contract to their chosen supplier.

Think of them as job applications. The supplier submits a proposal as to why they are the best candidate for the contract. The buyer will review the proposals and find the best fit for the job.

What is the benefit of winning bids and tenders?

There are many advantages of securing bids and tenders, for example:

· Securing a pipeline of work

Bidding for work can help you secure a pipeline of work for your business. Particularly if you secure a place on a framework agreement or Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). These systems are frequently used in an array of sectors including healthcare and construction. The benefit of these is that they can run for years at a time, with the possibility of extension.

For example, we helped one of our clients secure a £200million contract. We also helped another increase their annual turnover by 20%! These are only two examples of what tendering can do for your business. There’s plenty more for you to discover on our tender writing testimonials page.

· Guaranteed pay (in the public sector)

If you’re responding to bids and tenders in the public sector, you will be guaranteed pay upon winning a contract. This is because public sector organisations are bound by their contractual agreements. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has to pay suppliers within 60 days of invoice. This is to comply with the Prompt Payment Code. This can give suppliers piece of mind when delivering contracts. The same can’t be said for the private sector. They aren’t bound by the same rules and regulations as the public sector. It’s something to bear in mind when tendering for private sector organisations.

· The government wants to award contracts to SMEs

If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), we’ve got good news. If you think that only the big corporations can secure public sector contracts, you’d be wrong. The British government actually has a target to spend £1 in every £3 with SMEs. This means they are actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses. Therefore, you’re in with a good chance when applying for public sector contracts.

· Gain experience

Bids and tenders will often require you to include 2 – 3 case studies of past contracts you have delivered. Securing smaller contracts can help you build up that experience. The more case studies and experience, the bigger contracts you can go for. The bigger contracts you can go for, the bigger your business will grow. Securing a place on a framework or a DPS is a great place to start.

On top of that, this experience will help you to develop skills. Perhaps you will learn something from one contract and apply that to your next one. Learning is so important, and this is an excellent way of doing just that. The more experience you have, the more you learn, and the better you’ll perform.

· Build relationships

Another great benefit from bidding is that you can build relationships through your work. Winning a tender and impressing the buyer means they are more likely to want to work with you again. They will also likely suggest your services to other businesses they know. They may even give you a glowing testimonial to help you secure future work. These successful contracts and testimonials can be used in future bids, as mentioned in our previous point. So, you will stand out to other buyers if you have a record of getting businesses the results they want.

What is the tendering procedure?

The two most common tendering procedures are the open tendering procedure and the restricted tendering procedure.

Open tendering procedure

This is essentially the simplest tendering process. An ITT is released by the buyer and any prospective supplier can submit a response. The responses are then reviewed and evaluated, and the contract is awarded. If tendering in the public sector, the contracts will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).

Restricted tendering procedure

A restricted procedure will likely be used for the procurement of more complex goods or services. They are usually used for contracts with a higher budget too. For this, a buyer will want to shortlist the bidders ensuring that they’ll be able to deliver the contract. This procedure is a two-stage process:

PQQ/SQ

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or selection questionnaire (SQ) is released. Prospective suppliers will have to meet certain eligibility criteria in order to progress. You can expect to be asked about your business:

Turnover
Insurance
Non-collusion
Qualifications and accreditations
Contact information
Relevant policies and procedures
Case studies/testimonials.

ITT

Once the buyer has assessed questionnaire responses, they will shortlist eligible businesses. These businesses will then be sent an ITT. These companies will then go onto submitting their ITT response and the contract will be awarded.

Before you begin, you should consider the following:

· How long have you been trading for?

It is common for buyers to ask to see at least two years’ worth of accounts when tendering for work. Although this is not always the case with smaller contracts, sometimes strong case studies can be used instead. In our experience, three years of trading is a strong base to start tendering for work.

· The minimum economic financial standing

When applying for bids and tenders, your economic financial standing will be assessed. This will be determined by the following:

Annual turnover
Financial ratios
Insurance[s]

· Do you have the necessary experience?

Bids and tenders will require you to include up to three case studies of past contracts you have delivered. These must be similar in scope and complexity as the one you’re bidding for. They should be within the last three to five years. A buyer wants to see that you have delivered past contracts successfully and that you’re reliable.

· Can you fulfil the contract?

Before you start writing your response to a bid, you should first ask yourself if you can fulfil the contract. You should read the specification carefully. There may be certain qualifications or accreditations you need in order to be eligible. Once you’ve established that you meet all the criteria, think again. Do you have the resources to actually deliver the contract? Are there multiple locations? Do you have enough staff? These are all things you need to consider before progressing with your bid response.

The last thing you want to do is convince a buyer you can deliver a contract that you can’t.

Where can I find bids and tenders?

So, now you know the processes and procedures of bids and tenders, you may be wondering where to find them. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific portal that posts unique, private, and public sector opportunities.

If you’re simply relying on CPV codes, you may be missing relevant opportunities. This is because CPV codes are often mislabelled. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. You are able to filter results via keyword, budget, location and more – streamlining the process.

These sectors consist of:

Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity Trackers, and we offer tender notification services. This way, you can keep up to date with all of the opportunities that may be perfect for you! Afterall, the last thing you want is to come across the perfect tender too late.

Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?

Now you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you may be looking for some writing support. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing a bid you’ve found to a bid consultant can help you secure that next contract.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that. Our services include:

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

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 is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

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 A Beginner’s Guide to Bids and Tenders appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Why the National Procurement Policy Statement is Good News for SMEs

Charlotte Jarvis — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:00:16 +0000

The National Procurement Policy Statement in a nutshell

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:46 am

The National Procurement Policy Statement was recently released to the public, following the Queen’s Speech in May 2021. The policies require contracting authorities to follow processes in accordance with the priorities of public procurement.

Why should suppliers care about the new changes?

It might not be the most thrilling read, but the National Procurement Policy Statement is crucial for suppliers. At first glance, you might think the information is only aimed at contracting authorities. You would be partially correct. However, suppliers need to also understand the procedures that buyers must adhere to. Understanding how buyers operate and what they want to see will help suppliers formulate winning tender responses.

Any business that is already tendering or looking to grow through tendering should read and understand the policy.

Tendering prior to the National Procurement Policy Statement

In the past, many businesses didn’t embark on the tendering process. They believed that they wouldn’t stand a chance against the larger businesses competing. This is a fair assumption and there are many myths surrounding tendering. But this has caused many organisations to miss out on growth opportunities.

While many tenders require a minimum financial threshold, there are also ways for SMEs to get in on the action. For example, framework agreements, DPS opportunities or even seeking smaller contracts are all methods to beginning your tender journey.

Additionally, the UK Government has a target to spend £1 in every £3 with SMEs. This means they are actively seeking to award contracts to smaller businesses. This is just one of the main advantages of tendering. There are many other reasons why organisations implement tendering in their new business strategy.

Even before the new National Procurement Policy Statement was released, buyers were encouraged to award contracts to the MEAT. The MEAT stands for the Most Economically Advantageous Tender. To decipher which supplier offered the MEAT, buyers would evaluate more than just their quote alone.

Social value and tendering

In recent years, we have seen social value become more prevalent in tendering. In 2020, the pandemic sparked new evaluation criteria which placed a 10% (or higher) weighting on social value responses.

Simply stating that your organisation complies with mandatory environmental and employment policies would no longer be sufficient. Now, public sector buyers need to look for suppliers who go above and beyond. This ensures the maximum value for money for the taxpayer.

An overview of the National Procurement Policy Statement

Who does it apply to?

All contracting authorities as defined in section 39(3) and (4) of the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. This includes:

Central government departments
Executive agencies
Non-departmental public bodies
Local authorities
NHS bodies and the wider public sector.

What will public sector bodies need to consider?

In their procurement activities, public sector contracting authorities will need to consider the following:

Creating new businesses, jobs and skills
Tackling climate change and reducing waste
Improving supplier diversity, innovation and resilience.

This is again another step to ensure that public sector buyers consider more than just pricing in their evaluation process. This helps to level the playing field between large, more established organisations and SMEs competing for contracts.

Has Brexit impacted procurement?

Public sector procurement after Brexit was a point of discussion long before the UK left the EU. After the transition period, the UK now has the opportunity to overhaul how public money is spent. To do this, the previous public procurement regulations have been revisited to create a simpler process.

Lord Agnew, Cabinet Officer Minister, said:

The public sector across the UK, from hospitals and schools to central government, police force and universities spends about £290 billion a year through public procurement.

The huge power of that expenditure must support us in tackling some of the most important issues we face today, from generating economic growth and helping out communities recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, to support the transition to net zero.

With the new statement published today, procurement teams will have to consider those issues as well as making sure they deliver top-quality services that are good value for the taxpayer.”

Need help with responding to a public sector tender?

Whether you’re brand new to tendering or a seasoned expert, we all need additional support now and then. With new regulations and considerations to make, outsourcing your bids to experts can increase your chances of winning.

How can we help?

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered for contracts before. The package includes:

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover portal.
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 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 Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect public sector contract 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.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checking 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.

Discover Elite

Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity, even when you’re busy. There are two packages to choose from.

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 Technology and Healthcare, 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 Why the National Procurement Policy Statement is Good News for SMEs appeared first on Tender Consultants.

What is Tendering in Business?

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 07:00:57 +0000

What is tendering in business and how can it help my company grow?

Last updated: Apr 18, 2023 @ 11:36 am

You may be asking yourself, what is tendering in business? It’s a common question if you’re new to the world of procurement. This blog will explain what tendering is, how it can benefit your business and the different types of tendering procedures. There are a lot of similarities across multiple industries in the way they do business in the public sector.

So, what is tendering in business?

Essentially, tendering in business is a formal process where a business is invited to bid for contracts. These tenders can be released by either public or private organisations. Potential suppliers will then complete a tender response and buyers will evaluate the responses and select a preferred supplier.

A tender response should be persuasive and convince the buyer that you’re the best company for the job. Buyers will often have a minimum eligibility criterion that hopeful suppliers will need to meet in order to progress. This varies depending on the tendering procedures selected by the buyer.

Before you begin

Before you begin tendering in business, you should set your business expectations. Being realistic about what contracts you’re going for can help optimise your chances of success. Before you begin, ask yourself:

Does my business meet or exceed the technical skills required?
Do I have the necessary experiences?
Does the contract fit into my business strategy?
Can my business afford to spend the time and resources on the application?
Do I have the time and resources to actually supply the contract?
Will this contract help my business grow?

The tendering process

There are a number of tendering processes depending on the buyer’s needs. They can choose how to procure a good or service. There are two main processes that are used. They are as follows:

Open tendering procedure

The open tendering procedure is frequently used within the public sector. It’s used to procure fairly ‘simple’ goods or services. For an open tendering procedure, buyers are allowing any business to bid for their contract. The process looks like this:

An ITT is released

A buyer would release an invitation to tender (ITT). Any prospective supplier can respond with how they intend to fulfil the contract. In their response, they are persuading the buyer that they’re the best business for the job.

Once the responses have been evaluated, the contract will be awarded. If you are tendering in the public sector, the award will go to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).

Restricted procedure

A restricted tendering procedure is used for more complex commodities. As they are usually of a higher contract worth, a buyer implements a vetted procedure. This is to ensure that prospective suppliers are qualified to carry out the work.

They set eligibility criteria that suppliers have to meet in order to qualify. This stage can be referred to as a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage. It also can be known as a selection questionnaire (SQ) or PAS91 (specifically used in the construction industry).

The PQQ/SQ stage involves a business being asked for their company:

Turnover
Insurance policies
Non-collusion
Qualifications and accreditations

After this has been passed, the supplier will then be shortlisted and progress to an ITT. Once again, they will respond in line with the specification. They’ll detail how they intend to deliver the contract and why they’re the best business for the job.

Once they’ve been evaluated, the contract is awarded.

Sector-specific requirements for tendering in business:

Depending on the sector your business is in there may be different requirements or expectations when tendering for contracts. Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) are more common in some sectors than others, for example.

Framework agreements

A framework agreement is a type of multi-supplier agreement that’s frequently used within the public sector. Frameworks can run for years at a time. They are a good way to secure a pipeline of work for your business, if successful. Some may even have the possibility of an extension. They are most frequently found within the following sectors:

They are split into lots with each lot representing a specific good, work, service or geographical location. This allows suppliers to apply to the specific lots they specialise in or the region they operate in. Depending on the tender agreement, a supplier may be eligible to apply for more than one lot. If this is the case, you’ll need to be prepared to provide evidence. You’ll have to demonstrate that your business has the capacity and resources to undertake the works across the selected lots.

Dynamic Purchasing Systems

A Dynamic Purchasing System is similar to a framework agreement in the sense that they are multi-supplier agreements. Again, DPS’ can run for multiple years at a time and are used by public sector organisations. We have seen DPS’ that have been open for 10 or more years. There are two main differences between a DPS and a framework:

Suppliers can a DPS join at any time while it’s open
It is a completely electronic process.

The following sectors often have tendering opportunities in the form of DPS’:

Healthcare
Facilities
Logistics
Technology
Creative.

The process often starts with a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or selection questionnaire (SQ). This is done to narrow down those who will be sent an invitation to tender (ITT). The PQQ and SQ stage is mainly comprised of capability and competency-based questions. Buyers will likely ask for your company’s policies and statements of non-collusion and other box-ticking exercises. This includes stating any grounds for mandatory exclusion and so on. This is the initial stage of tendering for a DPS.

Once a business has passed the first stage, it will progress onto the ITT stage. This is when your business will answer more technically focused questions on how you will carry out the contract.

Successful suppliers will receive a place on the DPS and then a range of tenders will be released. This streamlines the process for both buyers and suppliers as they don’t need to resubmit a PQQ or SQ.

Spot provider frameworks

Spot provider frameworks are used within the healthcare industry and are a great way to help your business grow. Securing a place on the framework can guarantee income, secure a pipeline of work and enable you to gain experience. These are just a few advantages of tendering.

A spot provider framework is a great way for your business to gain experience if it’s relatively new. This is important as the more experience you have as a company, the bigger the tenders you can go for. This can help your business grow. Almost every tender will require you to demonstrate your capabilities via case studies. A buyer will usually require up to three case studies within the last five years.

Such case studies should demonstrate previous contracts your business has fulfilled. They should be similar in scope, scale and complexity and location where possible. They should be relevant to the contract at hand. Depending on word count, adding a testimonial from previous happy clients will strengthen your response.

Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing Systems (PSPS) or pseudo-DPS, can be found within the healthcare sector. It is a type of online procurement tool used by NHS England. It includes a list of pre-approved GP providers that can be invited by local commissioners to deliver local GP services.

Where can I find tendering opportunities for my business?

Now you know what tendering is in business, you might wonder where you can find tendering opportunities. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific portal that posts unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Simply relying on CPV codes can result in missed opportunities as they are often mislabelled. Finding a portal that uploads and categorises tenders by keywords, location and budget and more can streamline the process. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

These sectors consist of;

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

The benefits of tendering for work

Now you know what tendering is in business, you may be wondering what the benefits of tendering are. There are a number of advantages for your business. These can include:

Securing a pipeline of work. If you secure a place on a DPS or framework as mentioned above, you can secure a pipeline of work. This will ensure that you have business opportunities.
Guaranteed pay (in the public sector). The Crown Commercial Service must pay contractors within 60-days of invoicing to comply with the Prompt Payment Code. This gives suppliers peace of mind, especially for first-time winners.
Increased experience. The more contracts you win, the more experience you have. The more experience you have, the bigger contracts you can go for. The bigger contracts you go for, the bigger you can grow your business.

Need help when tendering for work?

No matter the sector you’re in, buyers care about the quality of your tender response. If writing isn’t your forte, then outsourcing to bid writing experts can help get you on the path to success. Not everyone has the time, resources or experience to write a winning response. Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts.

We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They know how to win a tender. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or need a response proofread before you submit – we can help. The services on offer include:

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

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:

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A Guide to Crown Commercial Service Frameworks

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 07:00:31 +0000

Crown Commercial Service Framework FAQs

[Last modified: July 2021]

The Crown Commercial Service frameworks help the UK’s public sector save money when buying common goods and services. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is the biggest public procurement organisation in the UK.

They help buyers in the central government, public and third sectors to purchase a wide range of services and goods. From building materials to police cars and networks to nursing staff – they cover a wide and varied range. Crown Commercial Service frameworks are also referred to as Crown Commercial Service (CCS) commercial agreements.

Crown Commercial Service frameworks allow their buyers to get the best commercial deals in the interests of taxpayers. Being a supplier on Crown Commercial Service frameworks can be a lucrative opportunity for your business. Tendering for contracts has many advantages, particularly for SMEs.

If you’re wondering how Crown Commercial Service frameworks work, read our guide below.

What is purchased via Crown Commercial Service frameworks?

There are four main categories and a number of sub-categories of Crown Commercial Service framework agreements. They are as following:

Buildings

Construction
Energy
Workplace

Corporate Solutions

Document Management & Logistics
Financial Services
Fleet
Marcomms & Research
Office and Travel

People

Contract Centres
People Services
Professional Services
Workforce Health & Education
PSR & Permanent Recruitment

Technology

Digital Future
Network Services
Software & Cyber
Technology Products & Services

How to respond to Crown Commercial Service frameworks

In order to respond to tender opportunities, you will need to be registered on the CCS eSourcing tool. To register, you will need to provide the following information:

The full legal name of your organisation.
Your DUNS number (a unique nine-digit number provided to your organisation by Dun & Bradstreet).
Profile information describing your organisation and the size of your business.

What are Crown Commercial Service frameworks?

Buyers are able to purchase everyday goods and services such as office supplies from the CCS catalogue. The CCS publishes commercial agreements for more complex procurements. For example, if one is looking to buy a fleet of vehicles, they would be procured via a framework.

A framework comprises a description of common public sector requirements. They are multi-supplier agreements and these suppliers have been evaluated and deemed capable of delivering the requirements and contract. Frameworks are typically divided into lots, often by product, service type or location. There are various tendering procedures used by a buyer to purchase something. Businesses looking to buy from a framework can directly award a supplier or run a further mini competition among suppliers.

Further competitions

Further competitions enable the purchase on high-value or complex goods or services. Anything from stationary to complex facility management. These Crown Commercial Service frameworks can run from a few weeks, to several months depending on the complexity of requirements. Further competitions allow an open and fair procurement process for potential suppliers.

3 key things to note

Here are some things to consider when writing bids:

Timing

Once a framework has been awarded, additional suppliers can’t be added – unlike a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). If this is the case, you will need to wait until the next opening arises. As mentioned above, the length of Crown Commercial Service frameworks can vary from a couple of months to years.

New procurements often start several months in advance of the active arrangement’s expiry date. This is because the procurement process can take a number of months to complete. It all depends on the complexity of the goods or services being procured.

Sub-contracting

Sometimes there may not be tendering opportunities available in your area of business. If this is the case, you may be able to sub-contract your services to suppliers on existing arrangements. For this to happen, you should directly contact the relevant supplier. Suppliers can be found on the CCS website.

The Government eMarketplace

Registering on the Government eMarketplace will enable you to advertise your capability to supply products or services. The eMarketplace is an online marketplace providing customers with a request for quote (RFQ) service for low-value, less complex purchases. This enables you to supply on a national or regional basis without the need of going through the tendering process.

Any supplier can register for the marketplace. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that registering on this marketplace does not mean you’re a CCS supplier. You will not be listed on the Crown Commercial Service website as a supplier. This shouldn’t dishearten you as it is still a great way to secure a pipeline of work.

Where can I find Crown Commercial Service Frameworks?

You’re able to find Crown Commercial Service frameworks by registering with the government’s Contract Finder and Tenders Electronic Daily (TED). These two services can be used for finding tender opportunities relevant to your business area.

TED is the online version of the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Contracts Finder shows the longer term and wider government pipeline. You are able to find all public sector tenders over £10,000 here. It’s automatically updated every weekday night with new notices published on TED.

Both sites will give you information about both CCS and wider government tender opportunities. You will need to constantly monitor the procurement pipeline for new opportunities. This can all take quite a lot of time out of your day or night.

What if we told you, there’s an easier way to go about this that streamlines the process, saving you time?

Enter…Hudson Discover!

Hudson Discover gives you access to all the Crown Commercial Service frameworks, unique and public sector opportunities in your industry. Find them all in one, easy-to-use, central portal.

At Hudson Discover, we house 11 sector-specific tendering portals. These consist of:

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

Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industries portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible. You’ll have access to all unique, public and private tendering opportunities in one place.
A daily email bulletin. Receive email alerts when new tenders are uploaded, straight to your inbox.
Filter results. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes. You are able to filter and search results by keyword, location budget and more. This allows you to find the perfect opportunity for your business.
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 for 20-minutes about anything tender-related. They can recommend all the tender searching options that are available to you.

Need assistance securing a place on a Crown Commercial Service framework?

If being a supplier on a CCS framework is something your business is interested in, we can help. It’s understandable if you don’t have the necessary resources or time to complete an application in-house. Our dedicated Hudson Succeed team have over 60 years bid writing experience, boasting an 87% success rate. We have secured direct contract wins totalling over £300million for our clients. We offer four bid writing support services.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect Crown Commercial Service framework for your business, why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf. The tendering process is time-consuming which is why we are here to help with writing bids.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. The Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

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 make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one of our Hudson Discover portals.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies.
Additional flexible benefit options.

Tender Improvement

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.

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 Facilities, 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
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 A Guide to Crown Commercial Service Frameworks appeared first on Tender Consultants.

9 Things You’ll Wish You Knew Earlier About Writing Tenders

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 07:00:33 +0000

Top Tips for Writing Tenders

[Last modified: July 2021]

Writing tenders can be a great way to grow your business. However, it can be time-consuming and a rather daunting process if you’re new to it. This blog is here to remind you about some key things to take into consideration before you start writing bids.

Here’s our writing tips when it comes to tendering for contracts:

Time Management

When writing a tender, it’s important to take into account time management. It’s one that’s not to be underestimated. Tenders can range in size depending on the industry or sector. Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) and framework agreements, in particular, can be considerably lengthy. So, you want to make sure you’ve planned enough time.

Deadlines are final and there are no exceptions or extensions – so managing your time is key. You will want to note down the time and date of the submission and plan accordingly. Set yourself realistic time constraints. Plan the work and allow plenty of time to go into detailed responses, hitting the word counts required.

Before you even begin writing the tender, you need to consider if you can actually deliver the contract. You’d be surprised how often this fundamental question slips the mind of some.

Your trading length matters

In our experience, of over 40 years of bid writing, we have noticed that three is the magic number. Three years of trading is often the minimum amount of time required by buyers if applying for tenders. Buyers can sometimes ask to see at least three years of accounts. The accounts will usually need to be presented in the name that your business is currently trading under.

However, this doesn’t always apply to every tender and is a generalisation. It’s worth considering, nonetheless. Subcontracting opportunities often don’t require the same trading length or period of accounts. Moreover, the care industry, for example, has offered younger businesses a chance to start their journey on spot provider frameworks.

Clarification questions

You may come across something you’re unsure of when going over something in the tendering process. If this happens you should ask a clarifying question on the tender portal. You should ask the clarification question(s) sooner rather than later. This is because the clarification deadline may be significantly before the submission deadline.

If a significant error is brought to the buyer’s attention, it may result in them withdrawing the tender all together. They could also delay the submission deadline as a result. If this happens, you don’t want to waste time writing a response for it to then get withdrawn down the line. Therefore, it’s better to ask ASAP.

It’s also helpful to read the clarification questions from other bidders in case someone else has noted something of stature. If you do have a clarification question you want to ask, it’s probably best that you keep it anonymous.

The relevant industry-specific policies, qualifications and accreditations

Each industry is different, and when your writing tenders you may be asked for industry-specific policies, qualifications or accreditations. The policies asked for in care tenders will be different to policies asked for in construction. You want to make sure that you have the required qualifications, policies and accreditations before you apply.

It’s worth noting that public and private tenders may have different requirements for policies or accreditations. Look at the social care industry for example. 60% of public sector tenders we have worked with required suppliers to have an ISO 9001 prior to contract commencement.

Below are some examples of industry-specific policies, qualifications and accreditations that you may need when writing tenders.

Construction

Construction tenders cover a range of subsections from painting to architecture and masonry to demolition. There are some industry-specific qualifications and accreditations that are needed before you start writing your construction tenders. These could include:

PAS91
ISO 9001; 14001; 27001;
CPCS Cards (Construction Plant Competence Scheme)
Constructionline
CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme)
SAFEcontractor
OSHCR (Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register)
RICs (Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors)
BIFM (British Institute of Facilities Management)
PMP (Project Management Professional)
RIDDOR

Security

Security tenders can range from manned guarding to key holding and from CCTV to cybersecurity. The qualifications needed could be specific to the various jobs at hand which could be:

SIA (Security Industry Authority) licences
CyberEssentials
ISO 9001; 14001; 18001; 27001; 45001
CHAS
SMAS
NSI
NASDU

You will need to consider the mobilisation and service delivery aspects of a security tender. This could be formatted via Gantt Chart. What systems do you have in place to actually deliver the service? Do you have any innovative solutions that aren’t simply paper logs?

Healthcare

Depending on the area of healthcare, there are some accreditations that are needed when writing tenders. Some subsectors of healthcare range from domiciliary care to social care and medical supplies to supported living. The accreditations and qualifications that could be required within a healthcare tender are:

ISO 9001; 27001
NVQs (usually level 3 or above)
CyberEssentials

Healthcare tenders are usually in the form of framework agreements or DPS. These systems and frameworks are used to appoint multiple organisations to provide healthcare goods/services. They can run the course of several years and you can join any time they’re open. Securing a framework contract or DPS can be lucrative, placing your business in good stead for the future.

Most economically advantageous tender (MEAT)

When applying for public sector tenders, you will need to remember to be the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). You need to bear in mind that this does not mean the cheapest bid. The MEAT allows the buyer to award the contract based on aspects on the tender submission other than just price. These can include:

Technical Ability
Accessibility
Proposed design
Innovation
Customer service
Ability to deliver on time
Quality
Environmental benefits

Each aspect can be looked at by the client independently or in a mix with other considerations.

Economic Financial Standing

Your organisations economic financial standing is typically assessed on a PQQ. Buyers will do this to assess the suitability of the supplier. It reflects the multiple financial aspects of your business. These are:

Annual turnover

You typically need to attach your most recent audited and unaudited accounts.

Financial ratios

This is usually found in your full financial accounts and can include the ratio of your assets to liabilities. For example: acid-tests or quick ratios.

Insurance

You often need to attach your insurance documents. You may also need to commit to potentially increasing your insurance before the contract commencement.

It’s worth bearing the 2014 Public Procurement Directive in mind when choosing which tender to apply for. You want to aim for opportunities thar are half of your turnover or lower. For example, if you’re turning over £100,000, the most you can bid for will be £50,000. Unless there are specific circumstances that may justify it, going over this amount is extremely rare.

Case studies

Case studies are usually asked more in the PQQ stage. You will be required to include two to three past contracts of a similar nature to the job at hand. These examples must have been carried out within the last five years.

Buyers want to know that you have done work of a similar calibre and know what you’re doing. You want to make sure you’re keeping the examples relevant. For example, imagine you are writing a tender for social housing in Wolverhampton. If your only experience is a Nuclear powerplant in Japan, it’s unlikely that you’re suitable for the job at hand. Buyers want to see you demonstrate how you’ve handled similar past projects. Take geographical location into account, too.

Word counts vary but are typically around 500 words for this section. You may want to consider the following:

Do you have experience with a project of a similar scale? What is the scale of the contract?
Your management and subcontractors if applicable.
How did you mobilise and deliver the contract?
What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
Did you finish on time and within budget?

Social value

Social value is an ever-important consideration that you do not want to overlook when writing tenders. These social value responses now carry a mandatory 10% weighting within the quality section for government contracts. In some tenders, it could hold the weighting of 30%. This section will need to focus on the wider, positive impact businesses will provide when delivering the contract. Including the economic, social and environmental impact of the project and how your organisation plans to address these. Businesses could be assessed on:

How you are creating new jobs or skills to tackle economic equality.
How you are supporting COVID-19 recovery.
The environmental considerations such as reducing waste and how your organisation is tackling climate change.
The equal opportunity policies you implement within your business.

Buyers care about the quality of your writing

The quality of your writing is important no matter the sector you’re in when you’re writing bids. As mentioned above, the weightings can vary and is split between price and quality. You obviously will want to score highly on the quality response. There are a few things to bear in mind when writing tenders:

Make sure your answers are comprehensive.
Be persuasive, not descriptive.
Have attention to detail whilst being clear and concise.
Don’t allow the buyer to make assumptions.
Try and write responses that are as close to the word or page count as possible.

If you’re struggling with writing tenders and need a bit of help – we offer four tender writing services.

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 9 Things You’ll Wish You Knew Earlier About Writing Tenders appeared first on Tender Consultants.

A Guide to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires for Subcontractors

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 10:20:18 +0000

Understanding pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors

[Last modified; July 2021]

Pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors will be issued if the contract allows for subcontracting. Especially with larger projects, buyers will permit the main supplier to recruit smaller businesses for support. This is different from a framework as the main contractor themselves are in charge of enlisting the subcontractors.

In this blog, we highlight how pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors work, depending on which side of the table you’re sitting.

Subcontracting work on your contract

Let’s start by looking at the PQQ process for the supplier who will be the main contractor. A business will be eligible to respond to this size of tender if meet certain criteria. These conditions could include:

Meeting a financial threshold

With larger contracts, buyers will often require that participating suppliers meet their financial threshold. This could be referred to as your economic and financial standing. You can predict whether or not you meet the threshold. As a general rule, you probably won’t be eligible for contracts with a value of more than half your turnover.

Demonstrating relevant experience

You wouldn’t apply for a job that you don’t have any experience in. Tendering for contracts is the same. Buyers want to see how you have delivered similar contracts and overcame challenges. Typically, most buyers will ask to see at least three recent, relevant contract examples when writing bids. Therefore, preparing case studies in advance is recommended.

Case studies should:

Be relevant
Demonstrate how you mobilised and delivered the contract
Detail your experience of a project of a similar scale and scope
Note whether you completed the contract on time and within budget
Include challenges you encountered and overcame, demonstrating flexibility and problem-solving skills.

Depending on the word count, you could include positive testimonials from previous satisfied clients. Some buyers may require concrete evidence of past works. These could include before, during and after photos of work that you have carried out on past contracts. It’s best to keep documentation while carrying out work for clients. These can help you save time when it comes to your tender response. They can help you stand out from your competitors, giving the contractor confidence in your experience.

Providing evidence of accreditations and qualifications

In order to win a large contract with subcontracting opportunities, it’s likely that buyers will require relevant qualifications and accreditations. When it comes to tendering for work, you’re essentially selling your services. Treat this like any other sales pitch and fill it with facts and evidence that distinguishes you from the rest.

Qualifications and accreditations that may be relevant include:

ISO 9001; 14001
OHSAS 18001
SMAS
CIS
Managing Contractors.

Keeping up to date with Health and Safety

Health and safety are important aspects of any contracting work. Contractors want to be reassured that your business upholds best practice when it comes to health and safety. They want to ensure that both employees and members of the public will be safe while fulfilling contracts.

You will likely be asked to supply a copy of your health and safety policy. It should comply with the current legislations and be up to date. Benefits of this include:

Increasing staff morale and leadership within the workplace
Lower insurance costs
Overall reduction of health and safety risks and incidents on a daily basis
Improved staff confidence and retention in the organisation
Developing an organisation’s culture centred around health and safety.

Relevant health and safety management systems, policies and regulations could include:

ISO 45001
RIDDOR
SafeContractor
CHAS
Health and Safety at Work Act 1975
Constructionline
CDM Regulations 2015.

There could be additional criteria that you need to meet but the above represents the most common requirements.

When completing pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors, the buyer will be looking for information such as:

How you recruit and select your subcontractors.
What you look for and require from them.
How you ensure that they adhere to your company’s policies and procedures.
How you check that their declarations are accurate.
The KPIs you set to ensure high-quality performance from your subcontractors and how you collect this information.
What is the penalty if your standards are not met?

Having control over your subcontracting procedures is already part of some ISO standards such as Investors in People. If you are already ISO accredited in this way, make sure you quote this information in the PQQ.

Failure to complete the pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors, if you plan to use them, could result in penalties later on. You could also risk failing the PQQ stage. The buyer could assume that you intend to deliver the contract alone. If they can’t see supporting evidence indicating that you are capable of this, you could be disqualified.

Traditionally, there are three main types of subcontractor:

Domestic subcontractor – appointed and selected by the main contractor.
Named subcontractor – selected from a list of acceptable subcontractors provided by the client.
Nominated subcontractor – selected by the client to carry out an element of the works.

Subcontracting for the main contractor

Subcontracting on the main contract is an effective way for smaller businesses to grow and gain experience. If your business is too small or new to deliver a contract alone, subcontracting can open doors to tendering.

If you have already agreed to subcontract for the main contractor, you should be prepared to answer some questions. The main contractor will need to provide the required information to ensure they meet the criteria.

Although you are not completing the PQQ yourself, you should respond with the information they require as quickly as possible. By providing the details, you can help them win the contract. If they win, by default, they share their success with you and carry you into new marketplaces.

A few more ways to build your experience as a small business include:

Applying for places on a framework agreement.
In the healthcare industry, spot provider frameworks are a good way for new businesses to leverage themselves into tendering.
Applying to provide goods or services through a dynamic purchasing system (DPS).

Passing the PQQ stage

In the public sector, most buyers will use a prequalifying stage in order to shortlist suppliers. In construction, this could be referred to as a PAS91.

Most PQQs will be tick-box exercises but don’t get complacent. You are selling your services at every stage of the tendering process and the PQQ is just as important. Failing to pass this stage will end your tendering journey. The only way to gain access to the invitation to tender (ITT) is by impressing the buyer with your PQQ.

In order to be successful, you should ensure that:

You have fully read all the text. Sometimes questions can be embedded into the text and you don’t want to submit an incomplete response.
You are adding value. Where more text is allowed, give your answer the edge by adding value to your response. Try and offer that little bit more to really impress the buyer.
Your organisation is represented in the best light. Remember, this is likely to be your first impression on the buyer. Ensure that the required information is provided and that your answers are coherent and professional.

If you have everything in order internally, the PQQ should be a straightforward process. But sometimes, the issue isn’t the questions, it’s the time it takes to respond.

Need help with a PQQ?

If your business is struggling to respond to PQQs due to time constraints or internal resources, Hudson Succeed can help. Our team of expert Bid Writers have over 40 years’ experience with completing pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors and assisting with the tendering process.

Simply upload your PQQ documents for a free quote.

What happens after the PQQ?

After successfully completing the pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors and being accepted, you will be issued with an ITT. This is called a ‘closed tender’ as the buyer has shortlisted the suppliers of interest. If successful at this stage, you will win the contract and the subcontracting process can begin. (It’s important to note that not every tender will require a PQQ. Some buyers will jump straight to the ITT stage. This is called an ‘open tender’.)

The ITT contains the questions you must respond to. The number of types of questions will vary from tender to tender as each contract will have different requirements.

Sometimes, draft ITTs are provided alongside pre-qualification questionnaires to give you an indication of the specified requirements.

Usually, in the public sector, the ITT documents will provide you with:

A cover letter (or ITT letter).
A scope of procurement detailing the exact requirements and the important contract dates.

Now, it’s time to respond. When writing a bid, your goal is to persuade the buyer that you are the best choice. Our top three tips for successful bid writing are:

Break down the questions

Don’t just rush in and start responding to the questions. It’s likely that your answers will be unstructured and unclear. Make lists as you review the ITT documents and detail which sections need completing. You should also note if you will require any information from other departments or members of your team.

Then, break down the quality questions. Plan how you’re going to respond and structure your answers. The most important thing is to answer the question in detail. If the word count is 500 words, use them all, as long as the content is directly answering the specification.

Demonstrate your capabilities

Use hard evidence to demonstrate to the buyer why you are the most suitable supplier. This can be done through relevant case studies, accreditations, qualifications and awards. You are trying to make a compelling argument, therefore, the more facts and evidence, the better.

Be prepared for social value questions

Starting this year (2021), government bodies will be placing at least a 10% weighting on your social value responses. In most public sector tenders, social value has always been a factor. The authorities want to see how your organisation positively impacts the wider community, not just their contract.

Now, they have gone a step further. In order to ensure the taxpayer’s money goes further, they are specifically assessing these sections. The buyer wants to see how your company will/is contributing to the Covid-19 recovery. For example, are you hiring local employees to contribute to the economic recovery of your community? Are you creating jobs in your local area?

Other factors such as environmental considerations will also be assessed. Consider how you can shine here. Has your company recently gone paperless? Do you place specific emphasis on using green energy? Do you reward employees through a cycle or walk to work scheme?

Can anyone help with your ITT?

Many companies do not have internal bid writing teams. This means that time and resources can prevent them from reactively tendering as they would like to.

Our team at Hudson Succeed offer four levels of bid writing services:

An ad-hoc Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect tender for your business, why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.

A Tender Readyprogramme

Our 4-week Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one of our Hudson Discover portals.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies.
Additional flexible benefit options.

The Tender Improvementpackage

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Discover portal of your choice and additional tendering development services.

A Tender Mentor service

The team proudly holds an 87% success rate, so you can be sure that your bid is in safe hands. Get in touch for a free quote.

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

The post A Guide to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires for Subcontractors appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Is your bid management process up to scratch?

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 07:30:18 +0000

Improving your bid management process

[Last modified: July 2021]

Your bid management process and approach are crucial to achieving writing bids When entering into the tendering process, you should first consider how you will manage the work. For many industries, it isn’t simply a case of providing a quick quote and moving on. In the majority of cases, buyers will require:

High-quality written responses.
Case studies.
Evidence of accreditations and/or qualifications.
Company CVs.
Accounts.
Pricing documents.

You must craft, collate and submit the requirements to the highest possible standard. In order to do this, you need an airtight bid management process.

The 6-stage process

1. Sourcing the right opportunities for your business

Finding opportunities can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are thousands of websites that publish tendering opportunities across the UK. In order to efficiently source the right tender for your business, you must analyse your goals and eligibility. For example, ask yourself the following:

Which types of contracts do I want to deliver?
What are my service delivery capabilities? This could be geographical. How far can you travel and still make a profit?
Do I have at least three previous contract examples that demonstrate my ability to deliver similar work?
What is my economic and financial standing? Or, in other words, what threshold am I working within?

Answering these questions will help you and your team to efficiently make your bid or no-bid decision.

2. Breaking down the specification

So, you’ve found a tender that you would like to bid for. What comes next in the bid management process?

At this stage, it’s likely that you have scanned the requirements and briefly read the specification. Now, it’s time to take a much more in-depth look at the details. You need to be sure that you are eligible and that you possess the required evidence/information. On page 54 of the specification, there could be a requirement that you cannot meet, such as turnover. Failing to fully read and digest the requirements could result in wasting time in the long run.

Breaking down the specification will also allow you to establish timescales. The word count for the required responses will help you estimate how much time needs to be assigned to each question. A good benchmark would be that the average bid writer can produce around 2,000 words per day.

3. Collating information in advance

If the responses require evidence of financial accounts or case studies, you may need to liaise with other departments. If this is the case, make sure you leave plenty of time to collate the required documents. You don’t want to be rushing at the last minute because you didn’t give Fred from accounts enough time. Always set a slightly earlier deadline for yourself and others to ensure you are ready in time for the submission of bids.

4. Finalising and proofreading

Once your written responses, supporting evidence and pricing are complete, it’s time to proofread. It could be tempting to just submit the work you have done and move onto the next bid. However, you may end up submitting a tender full of errors and ultimately fail. You will then have wasted all the time spent crafting the responses for the sake of a few extra hours.

Check, check and check again. Ask someone unattached to the project to review your work. It’s likely that they will find errors you have missed.

5. Submission

Now, it’s finally time to submit your hard work. This shouldn’t be the first time you have accessed the buyer’s portal. It is good practice to make yourself familiar with the system ahead of the submission. This will eliminate last minute panics when you can’t log in or find the area for the submission.

6. The results

It’s important that your bid management process doesn’t just end with the submission. Learning from the results is crucial to continuously improve your bid writing and overall approach.

Unfortunately, you won’t win every tender that you bid for. But it doesn’t have to be a negative experience. If the buyer doesn’t provide feedback, you can ask for it. We would always recommend asking the buyer to show you where you lost marks. It could be that you won on the quality side but lost out on price. This means that you should provide a more competitive quote next time.

Top tip: In the public sector, buyers will publish details of who won each tender. It is worth reading the award notice because the winning price is normally published also. This will help you to see how much the winner charged so that you can be more competitive in your next bid.

Does your team have the right skills?

To make your bid management process more effective, you can also look at the skills on your team. In order to see successful results, you need access to certain strengths such as:

Time management

In bid management, meeting deadlines is an integral part of the role. If the deadline is missed, buyers do not have to evaluate your bid. Additionally, asking for extra time without a valid reason never looks good. This makes the buyer nervous about your time-keeping skills which will undoubtedly be a key factor on the contract.

In order to effectively manage your time, we recommend developing a bid plan. The plan needs to be standardised but also adaptable to accommodate work that requires a short turnaround.

Of course, you can develop a bid library of documents and responses that are often applicable to most tenders. This will save you time on some questions. However, copy and pasting won’t always work and unforeseen questions will require bespoke responses.

Technical and concise writing capabilities

You don’t need to be a bestselling author to write bids, but you do need a flair for technical, factual writing. The writers on your team must be able to produce short, sharp sentences that concisely convey the important information. It’s great to demonstrate your writing talents but evaluators are reading multiple submissions, don’t make them hunt for the information. They want to see the facts and the direct answers to their questions. If the response requires 500 words, don’t wait to start answering the question in the last 100.

Strategising and planning your moves

When tendering for work in the public sector, you need to think differently than in the private sphere. The best bid managers are able to plan their next move in advance and lay the groundwork. You want to ensure that you are attending site visits and responding to market engagements. This allows you to build a relationship with the buyer and gain further insight. The more information you have about planned procurements, the more room you have for time management.

Working smarter with these tools

Hudson Discover

Hudson Discover houses 11 sector-specific tendering portals, designed to speed up the opportunity tracking process. To effectively track hundreds if not thousands of sites, you would need a full-time employee assigned solely to this task.

As the portals are dedicated to specific industries, this helps to eliminate irrelevant tenders when tendering for contracts. However, the portals can be further tailored to only display tenders of interest to you. For example, you can filter by keywords (the services you offer), region, budget and sector.

Furthermore, each client is assigned an Account Manager to assist you. They will send an email alert when new tenders are uploaded so you don’t have to log in every day.

Visit Hudson Discover.

Bid library

We touched on bid libraries earlier, but let’s take a closer look at maximising this strategy.

Essentially, a bid library is a digital place in which you store everything you might need to bid for work. This could include your:

Policies and procedures.
Accreditations and certificates.
Company CVs.
Case studies that you anticipate will have relevance to the tenders you choose to bid for.
Responses that you frequently use in your previous tenders.

If you don’t have the above documentation, our Tender Ready service can help. Tender Ready is a four-week programme designed to help you prepare to bid for work. Our bid writers will create the documents you will need and professionally brand them. Additionally, you will also receive three days of bid writing consultancy to help you respond to a relevant tender.

The Tender Ready programme.

Tender VLE

It is important to keep learning and expanding your knowledge. Whether you are new to tendering or well-versed, increasing your understanding will only strengthen your capability.

Tender VLE is the UK’s first free, online learning platform for all things tendering related. The masterclasses are led by bid writing and bid design experts. Topics include:

Visit Tender VLE.

5 tips for improving your success rate

1. Hold regular meetings

Holding regular meetings is always a good way to ensure that your team is on track and problems are solved. However, it is especially important currently as most businesses are working remotely. There are many software platforms which host team meetings that we’re sure you’re all familiar with by now.

Many concerns would normally be expressed in general office conversation without realising the importance of the interaction. When working remotely, we have to make a more conscious effort to highlight problems and solve them.

2. Set earlier deadlines

An efficient bid management process will include setting internal deadlines. Try to plan internal deadlines before the final submission date. This will reduce stress and rushed work as the deadline approaches and ensures a smoother submission.

3. Record progress

A simple bid management progress chart will be effective to visually record timescales. Each member of your team should have access to the tracker so that they can see the work coming together. It will also help the bid manager to provide extra support to those who are not meeting the planned schedule.

4. Establish roles and responsibilities

If there are multiple team members working on a bid, it’s important to establish responsibilities from the outset. This means that each person has their assigned role to focus on. Again, this is especially important when working remotely.

5. Ensure contingency by proofreading

When a bid has been written by multiple people, it’s important to ensure contingency. When proofreading, you should already be checking for:

Spelling errors.
Grammatical errors.
Whether or not the response answers the question.
Correctly labelled supporting documents.

However, you should also assess the flow of the bid. Are the facts and statistics the same? Is the font consistent?

Further support

For more information about how Hudson Succeed can help you improve your success rate, please get in touch. We offer four services to ensure that we can support businesses of all sizes with varying levels of tendering experience. Call or email us to arrange a free consultation.

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

The post Is your bid management process up to scratch? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to keep your business moving during the next lockdown

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 07:30:24 +0000

Implement a tender procedure

[Last modified: July 2021]

“A robust tender procedure can not only help your business win contracts now but also secure work for the future. The best strategies include activities that can be executed come rain or shine. This should include thorough tender tracking, an efficient bid or no-bid decision-making process and a bid management action plan.” – Daniel Hall Head of Bid Management at Hudson Succeed.

The announcement of a second national lockdown comes as solemn news to all businesses in the UK. However, we don’t believe in simply throwing your business development plans out of the window or postponing them until 2021. If we look at what happened during the last lockdown, we can see that procurement didn’t stop. Local authorities and central government bodies still published tenders to procure services throughout the uncertain period.

Looking at the current situation, our Hudson Discover division continues to report that the number of tenders published isn’t dropping – it’s rising. With this in mind, we strongly advise implementing a robust tender procedure to help you through this time.

If you have never tendered for work before, we know that the procedure can seem like a minefield. But don’t worry! We will continue to produce helpful resources through our Hudson Insight Series. Our Hudson Helpline will also remain open and available for answering quick questions about the tendering process.

How can tendering help your business?

In the UK, hundreds of tendering contracts are published every day. These are new business opportunities just waiting to be won by you, the supplier. Tendering is very much an outbound form of business development. You have to be proactive, go out and find the opportunities. But they are there.

At Hudson Succeed, our bid writers have been helping clients with writing bids for almost two decades. We support over 700 businesses in countries across the globe. During this time, we have seen clients achieve success such as:

Winning a £200 million contract from just one tender, securing the next 5-years of income for the client;
An annual turnover increase of 20% from winning three tenders;
A successful entry into the UK market by securing a £350,000 contract.

Find more success stories and testimonials.

When tendering for work in the public sector, buyers have to be fair. The contracts are funded by public money. This means that there is a more level playing field between larger businesses and SMEs. In turn, this allows smaller, newer businesses to gain experience, deliver work in a variety of sectors and ultimately – grow.

Futureproofing your tender procedure

Once you have decided to explore the tendering route, it’s time to implement a futureproofed tender procedure. This will ensure that your process can be maintained regardless of internal staffing or external, societal changes.

In our experience, we recommend taking the following measures to ensure your tender procedure is robust.

Create an operational process

This should be an easy-to-follow guide, outlining your tendering process. This will allow other teams to support the system should you require extra resources. The guide doesn’t have to be a technical ‘how to be a bid writer’ manual. However, a member of another team should be able to read the process, understand where the support is required and how to provide it.

Internal training

Should you wish to keep the tendering process in-house, we advise training more than one member of your team. In business, we know that circumstances can change rapidly and reactively trying to train someone new could hinder your chances of success in the future. However, it is important to remember that bid writing does require a certain set of skills. If you don’t have exceptional written communication skills in-house, it makes sense to outsource the work.

Allocating budget/resources

This will depend on the decision you make after reviewing the above point. If you decide to outsource your bid writing services, it’s important to allocate a specific budget to these projects. Unless pre-informed by the buyer, it’s impossible to know when relevant tenders will be published. However, a monthly pre-allocated spend towards bid writing will help you to budget for other business development strategies.

If you can keep the tender procedure in-house, we would advise allocating time and resources for reactive work.

Which tenders should you be bidding for?

If you have read our other Insight blogs, we often talk about performing a company analysis before bidding. This will allow you to quickly assess tendering opportunities and make efficient bid or no-bid decisions.

In your company analysis, it is beneficial to assess the following;

Your goals – which buyers do you ideally want to work with, and which contracts do you want to deliver?
Your turnover – you need to have a clear understanding of your economic and financial standing before jumping into bidding.
The company’s experience – you need to consider the experience you already have under your belt. Which contracts can you easily demonstrate, and will they strengthen your bid response?
Your capabilities – be realistic and know what you can and can’t deliver. Think about regional constraints, staffing and logistical capabilities.

Once you have assessed the above, you can begin to make better decisions that won’t cost you unnecessary time and money.

In this checklist, points two and three are particularly important. Your turnover and experience will determine the type of tender you are eligible to bid for. We have provided a quick breakdown of some of the contract types you will come across and who should bid for them.

Frameworks

A framework agreement usually asks for multiple suppliers to deliver goods/services under one contract. You can think of it as a way for buyers to house large projects under one roof. Typically, a framework will be divided into multiple lots, for example:

Lot 1: Architecture
Lot 2: Joinery
Lot 3: Landscaping
Lot 4: Electrical services

For smaller businesses, bidding for work on framework agreements can be a great first step in tendering for work. Often, buyers don’t require as much experience or turnover from suppliers as they would on a single-provider contract.

DPS

DPS stands for Dynamic Purchasing System. This might sound complicated, but it simply refers to a supply chain list where tenders are published to members. In order to tender for the works, you first have to secure a place on the DPS. Buyers will either open their DPS application process every so often or leave the application open for a number of years.

Similarly to framework agreements, DPS’ offer smaller businesses the chance to start their tendering journey. Suppliers can bid for smaller contracts that arise on the DPS without as many turnover or experience constraints. For this reason, SMEs may want to consider adding dynamic purchasing systems to the tender procedure plan.

Single-provider contracts

When you have built your experience and grown your business to the next level, you can consider single-provider contracts. As a general rule of thumb, we usually advise clients to only bid for contracts worth half their turnover. For example, if a contract has a value of £500,000, you should be turning over at least £250,000.

It all starts with the right opportunity

The tender procedure begins when you identify the right opportunity for your business. But with so many portals to keep up to date with, this can seem like an impossible task. There are tendering portals that amalgamate opportunities from different systems for you. However, in our experience, these portals require a good understanding of CPV codes. Not only that, but their reliance on CPV codes means that you might still have to sift through irrelevant opportunities. When conducting research, we found that a third of tenders were incorrectly tagged.

With this in mind, we created our Hudson Discover division. Like Hudson Succeed, the aim of the division is to help your business grow by tendering for work. The difference is that the Discover Team focus on finding the right opportunities for your business. To do this, they search thousands of sources from across the UK. When new tenders are published, they upload them to our sector-specific tendering portals. The opportunities are then tagged with industry-driven keywords to make searching the portals even easier.

Our Hudson Discover portals consist of:

Need help getting started or increasing your win rate?

Do you need help with implementing your tender procedure? Are you already tendering for work but not seeing success? To help you combat these hurdles, we created our tender support packages.

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready programme has supported numerous businesses in varying industries. The programme was designed for businesses who are new to tendering and looking to take the first step. Included in the package is:

The creation and branding of the corporate literature you will need to tender for work, e.g. case studies and company CVs;
Help to identify the tenders that your business should be bidding for;
12-months access to the Hudson Discover tendering portal of your choice;
Three days of bid writing consultancy to either write your first tender or guide you through two.

Learn more about Tender Ready.

Tender Improvement

This package was designed to help you improve your bid success rate. If you are already tendering for work but not winning, we understand that this is frustrating. You are using valuable time and resources to write and submit your bids, therefore losing continuously can be infuriating. There is often a simple explanation as to why you are not seeing success. During this service, our team will:

Assess your previous tender responses and your corporate literature, providing tips for improvement;
Re-develop, where necessary, any literature that could be improved;
Grant 12-months access to the Hudson Discover tendering portal of your choice;
Provide three days of bid writing consultancy to help you successfully respond to the next tender you choose to bid for.

Learn more about Tender Improvement.

For support with a one-off tender or more information about any of our services, please get in touch. Our team of experts proudly holds an 87% bid success rate so you can be sure that your bid is in safe hands.

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

The post How to keep your business moving during the next lockdown appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Framework Agreements | Tips and Advice | Tender Consultants

Public Sector Frameworks: Everything You Need to Know Before You Apply

Applying for Public Sector Frameworks

How to prepare your business to bid for public sector frameworks:

What resources do I need to bid for a public sector framework contract?

Compliance with the Framework:

Consequences of non-compliance with the framework:

How to price accordingly and competitively for public sector framework contracts:

What are the benefits of securing public sector framework contracts?

What are the drawbacks of public sector framework contracts?

How we can help!

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Contact us:

Additional support:

Discover Elite

The Ultimate Time Save Package (for those on the go!)

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package

Our other divisions:

Vocal

Alpha

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

How to Respond to Government Contracts for Bid

Where to find government contracts up for bid

Advantages of tendering for government contracts

Guaranteed pay

Secure a pipeline of work for your business

Gain experience

A third of all contracts must be awarded to SMEs

Where to find government contracts up for bid

3 Tips for winning government contracts for bid

Make it easy to read

Stick to the word count

Avoid rambling and overly technical jargon

Need assistance with writing your next government contract bid response?

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Discover Elite

A Beginner’s Guide to Bids and Tenders

Everything you need to know about bids and tenders

What are bids and tenders?

What is the benefit of winning bids and tenders?

· Securing a pipeline of work

· Guaranteed pay (in the public sector)

· The government wants to award contracts to SMEs

· Gain experience

· Build relationships

What is the tendering procedure?

Open tendering procedure

Restricted tendering procedure

Before you begin, you should consider the following:

· How long have you been trading for?

· The minimum economic financial standing

· Do you have the necessary experience?

· Can you fulfil the contract?

Where can I find bids and tenders?

Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Discover Elite

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

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

Why the National Procurement Policy Statement is Good News for SMEs

The National Procurement Policy Statement in a nutshell

Why should suppliers care about the new changes?

Tendering prior to the National Procurement Policy Statement

Social value and tendering

An overview of the National Procurement Policy Statement

Who does it apply to?

What will public sector bodies need to consider?

Has Brexit impacted procurement?

Lord Agnew, Cabinet Officer Minister, said:

Need help with responding to a public sector tender?

How can we help?