Hudson Succeed Archives - Tender Consultants

How to Become a Government Supplier in the UK

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 07:00:21 +0000

How to become a government supplier in the UK…if you’re an SME

Many SMEs wonder how to become a government supplier. They recognise the advantages and prospects of listing government bodies as clients and climbing the contract ladder.

It’s true that listing previous contract experience with government clients will help you to secure larger contracts. However, this is a bit of a chicken and egg situation, isn’t it? How can you win a contract in the first place to gain the experience you need? We all remember struggling to land our first job straight out of education, without that all-important experience. Well, this is similar.

In this blog, we’ll explain how to become a government supplier if you’re a small business. We’ll cover:

How to find the opportunities.
How to prepare and ensure you’re tender ready.
3 ways to make sure you meet the brief and have a good chance of winning.
How the government helps small businesses bid for work.
Social value – what is it and how to prepare in advance.
Our top 9 tips for how to become a government supplier.

Firstly, how do you find opportunities in the first place?

We’re not going to get very far without identifying an opportunity, are we! In the UK, there are hundreds of websites that publish new tendering opportunities, including the government’s own website, Contracts Finder. The problem is that these websites are not that easy to navigate and they’re not efficient to use.

Why? The main culprit is CPV codes (common procurement vocabulary). An eight-digit code, used for categorising opportunities into ‘subject matter’…in theory.

CPV codes are often used incorrectly by buyers due to the vast number of codes available. A study by the European Commission sampled 405 contract notices. They found that 23% had the wrong code associated with the scope of work tendered. This results in an inefficient sourcing process for you, the prospective supplier.

That’s why we created our own tendering portals, housed under Hudson Discover. We removed the use of CPV codes or algorithms and replaced them with manual opportunity tracking. Not only that, but the portals are also sector-specific, making them even more tailored to the user. More information about our portals can be found here:

How to make sure you’re tender ready before you begin

If tendering is new to you, becoming tender ready is an important step. In any tender, you will be required to provide certain documents and evidence. The savvier tenderers will spot that the same, or similar, documents are required by each buyer. Therefore, you can get a step ahead by preparing these documents in advance.

From our experience, the most commonly requested documents are:

Company CVs
Case studies – usually three from the last five years
Policies and procedures
Methodologies.

For help with getting tender ready, visit our dedicated Tender Ready service page.

3 ways to make sure you meet the brief

Before you jump into writing your tender responses and working out your pricing, we recommend:

Checking your economic financial standing

As a general rule of thumb, we advise against bidding for contracts with a value greater than half your turnover. This is your economic financial standing. For example, if a contract has a value of £50,000, you should be turning over at least £100,000. This is because you may struggle to prove that your resources meet the requirements. Often, buyers will ask to see your financial accounts during the tendering process.

Making sure you can evidence your experience

As we mentioned above, government buyers will often ask to see three case studies. They should be from contracts you have delivered within the last five years, in a similar field to this scope. If you can get testimonials from your previous clients, this will help to further demonstrate your capabilities.

Thinking about how you can evidence value for money

Government buyers are accountable for their spending. They have to demonstrate how they have delivered the best value for money because they’re spending public purse. This means that to become a government supplier, you need to evidence added value. It’s not just pricing that buyers consider to be good value. It’s a combination of quality and price throughout the life of the contract. So, make sure you highlight how and why your approach is cost-effective and helps the government make savings.

How to become a government supplier if you’re an SME…will the government help?

Becoming a government supplier is beneficial for both you and the government. The UK government is targeted with spending £1 in every £3 with small businesses. So, how are they helping small businesses secure contracts?

Lower value contracts

Since leaving the EU, there is more flexibility for lower value government contracts to be reserved for SME bidders. There is also more flexibility for Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

Introducing the prompt payment code

The prompt payment code offers suppliers peace of mind. It states that public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in their contracts. They also need to ensure that this is passed down the supply chain. If this is not happening, businesses are encouraged to raise this directly with the Public Procurement Review Service.

If this was the case, interest becomes liable as set out in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. This means that businesses can claim interest on any late invoices.

The Small Business Commissioner

The Small Business Commissioner is a free service that ensures fair payment practices for all small businesses in Britain. The body supports businesses to resolve payment disputes with larger businesses.

Social value – what is it and how can you prepare?

When SMEs research how to become a government supplier, they sometimes overlook social value. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 became law on 8^th March 2012. It requires public sector organisations to consider the supplier’s potential to deliver services that benefit the local area and people.

In January 2021, new measures came into effect. Any public sector organisation procuring goods/services with a value of over £180,000 is obliged to ask bidders about social value. A 10% weighting has been placed on these questions in tenders and PQQs. Therefore, it’s worth considering how your business aligns with the aims of the social value measures, which are:

Creating new jobs and promoting skills
Encouraging economic growth
Supporting Covid-19 recovery
Tackling climate change
Levelling up the UK.

Our top 9 tips when tendering for work

If you’re wondering how to become a government supplier, read our top 10 tips:

Invest in the sourcing process

Allocate someone in your team to keep on top of new tendering opportunities. If you’re using the government’s website, they should allocate at least 15-30minutes per day to check for new tenders. If you’re using our Hudson Discover tendering portals, they’ll just need to keep an eye on their inbox. Either way, they need to take action immediately when they identify an opportunity. The rest of your team needs plenty of time to read the documents and write the responses.

Don’t rush in, weigh up the opportunity

Check our top three tips above and answer those questions before diving in. You should also assess the competition and how the new business would impact your current workload. Make sure that you have experience, and that the bid is realistic for you to win.

Familiarise yourself with the buyer’s portal

The portal will be used to:

Register your interest and download the tender documents
Ask clarification questions
Submit the final bid.

Make sure you know your way around and don’t leave it until the last minute to submit your bid. If you miss the deadline, the buyer doesn’t have to grant you an extension or even look at your bid. Even if you missed it because of technical difficulties – the buyer doesn’t have to make allowances. Don’t take the risk!

Make a bid plan

Break down the bid requirements and assign people in your team to take charge. This could be collating your policies, answering specific questions, or keeping your time management in line. Give each team member a clear role and deadlines for any input they will have.

Research the buying organisation

To make an impression on the buyer, it’s important that you understand them and their core values. This will help you demonstrate how your values align with theirs in your responses. If there is an incumbent supplier, you can try to find out who they are and how they are performing. Then, structure your responses around what the buyer is looking for.

Always refer back to the question and provide evidence

When you start writing your responses, always refer back to the question and make sure you’ve answered it. Use the buyer’s exact wording from the question to directly address their requirements.

Avoid empty or cliché statements such as ‘our people are at the heart of everything we do’. Fluffy statements like this are fine for marketing, but not bidding! Make sure you have evidence to back up every claim you make and demonstrate added value throughout.

Avoid jargon

The evaluator is most likely not an expert in your field. Using overly complicated jargon will only make your bid difficult to understand, and in turn, to evaluate. Keep the language simple and the sentences short – around 20 words per sentence is enough.

Don’t skip the proofing! Check for grammatical and spelling errors – they raise red flags with buyers for a lack of attention to detail.

Use clear formatting and design (where appropriate)

Some bids will follow a more rigid approach. The buyer will stipulate the font and point size for your responses and/or provide boxes for you to fill in. Others will follow a free-flowing proposal layout where you are given creative freedom to present the information. If this is the case, we always recommend having your bid professionally designed. It’s a great way to stand out amongst your competitors and make your bid easy to follow.

For help with Bid Design, see our sister company, Vocal.

Get feedback and carry on!

Unfortunately, you won’t always be successful in every tender. It’s important to not be too disheartened and use this as a learning opportunity. Ask the buyer for feedback if it hasn’t been provided and review it with your team.

If you’re losing multiple bids, it might be time to bring in a professional to assess how you could improve. See our Tender Improvement service for more information.

Summary

We’ve reached the end of our blog on how to become a government supplier. We hope our information was helpful. If you need a quick recap, here you go:

Choose an easy-to-use platform to help you identify opportunities quickly and make sure you never miss out.
Spend some time getting ready to tender for work before you dive straight in. Get your company CVs, case studies and policies in order and file them away so they’re ready to go.
Make sure you meet the brief. Check your economic financial standing, ensure you have evidence and that you can offer value for money.
The government needs to work with smaller businesses to meet their targets. They offer support through:

The prompt payment code
Making interest liable if the terms aren’t met
Offering free support through The Small Business Commissioner.

Do your social value research and make sure you can provide examples of how you meet the aims.
Review our top 9 tips for how to become a government supplier:

Invest in the sourcing process
Don’t rush in
Familiarise yourself with the buyer’s portal
Make a bid plan
Research the buying organisation
Refer back to the question and provide evidence to back up your claims
Avoid jargon
Make your bid easy to read through formatting and design
Get feedback and carry on!

Need help with becoming a government supplier?

Our team of consultants are here to help you.

They have a thorough understanding of the tender process and government contracts, knowing exactly how to respond.

By outsourcing to professionals, you could improve your chances of winning contracts.

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

Tender Writing

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

Tender Mentor

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

Tender Ready

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

Tender Improvement

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

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

Need help with searching for tenders?

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

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

Discover Elite

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

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

The post How to Become a Government Supplier in the UK appeared first on Tender Consultants.

MOD Tenders Explained

Millie Newbold — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 07:00:15 +0000

MOD tenders: Everything you need to know and more

Do you want to know how to win MOD tenders for your business? Or perhaps you’d like to know how to actually find them. No matter what you’re looking for, the team at Hudson Succeed are on hand to help.

In this blog, we’ll tell you everything there is to know about MOD tenders. From sourcing the contracts to writing a winning bid, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to find out more!

What are MOD tenders?

MOD tenders are also known as Ministry of Defence tenders. In the UK, the Ministry of Defence is one of the largest buyers. As a result, there are plenty of opportunities for SMEs to win work.

The types of tenders available from the Ministry of Defence are vast. They cover a range of products and services, from ammunition and vehicles to ICT and manufacturing services.

How to win MOD tenders

Plan ahead

To win MOD tenders for your business, you need to plan ahead. After all, a winning tender response is all in the planning!

It’s easy to tell the difference between a well-thought-out response and a rushed, last minute one. It will be obvious to the buyer, and that won’t do your business any favours.

Once the ITT (invitation to tender) has been released, you could work backwards from the submission deadline. You could try setting internal deadlines for each step of the tendering process. That way, everyone in your team will be prepared for every stage, well ahead of the deadline.

Use relevant evidence

Our next piece of advice is important for any and all tenders you submit – including MOD tenders. To showcase your experience to the buyer, you need to include relevant case studies in your tender response.

Typically, the buyer will expect to see two to three case studies from the past three to five years. It’s also important that your contract examples are similar in size, scope and complexity to the contract you’re bidding for. If it doesn’t demonstrate your relevant experience to the buyer, then it’ll do nothing for you. In fact, it could actually work against you.

Make sure you have the correct qualifications and accreditations

When you’re tendering for contracts, the buyer might ask you to provide evidence of your relevant qualifications and accreditations. These can vary from contract to contract, but if they’re included in the specifications, they’re crucial to your success.

To ensure you don’t fail at this hurdle, check your qualifications and accreditations before proceeding with the bid. If you don’t meet these criteria points, you should find another tender for your business.

Show added value

Another way to increase your chances of success when bidding for MOD tenders is to show added value.

In the public sector, contracts are awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, or the MEAT. Therefore, when producing your tender response, you need to show how you’re going to add value to the buyer. What can you offer that your competition don’t? This could include anything from innovation to sustainability.

Proofread your response

Finally, you need to proofread your response before submitting it to the buyer for review. This is crucial – if you submit a response full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, the buyer won’t be impressed.

However, we know it can be difficult to proofread your own work, especially when you’re producing lengthy documents. To combat this, you could try the following:

Proofread your tender response in stages, leaving gaps between each one
Asking someone else to proofread your response for you
Outsourcing the work to professional Bid Writers.

Where to find MOD tenders

Now you know how to win MOD tenders for your business. But how do you actually find them?

With our sister company, Hudson Discover, it’s easy to find new contract opportunities for your business!

There are 11 sector-specific tendering portals to choose from. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

These consist of:

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector. Finding MOD tenders for your business has never been so easy!

In summary

So, now you know all about MOD tenders! When you produce your next tender response, remember our tips for success:

Plan ahead, leaving plenty of time to complete the bid before the submission deadline
Include relevant case studies and contract examples
Make sure you have the correct qualifications and accreditations
Show added value in your tender response
Proofread your response before submitting it for review.

How Hudson Succeed can help

Have you considered bid management consultancy? Enter Hudson Succeed, and our team of Bid Writers. We’re always happy to help!

Tender Writing

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

Tender Mentor

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

Tender Ready

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

Tender Improvement

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

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

Need help searching for tenders?

Now you know about MOD tenders, it’s time to find a contract opportunity for your company.

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vocal

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

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

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

Our team specialise in six areas, including:

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

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

The post MOD Tenders Explained appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How Can Bid Training Benefit Your Business?

Kathryn Wright — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 16:23:05 +0000

Are you wondering how bid training can help your business? Here’s how!

You may be wondering what benefits you can get from bid training. As a business owner, you may have heard of or have experience in tendering for work. The tendering process can be hard work and extremely time-consuming. However, the rewards can outweigh the difficulties faced beforehand. Hudson Succeed are here to tell you all about how bid training can benefit your business.

What is bid training?

For those unfamiliar, bid training is a way of educating you on how best to approach and handle a tender. Most businesses will turn to bid writing services to handle this for them. There are many reasons for this, mainly that Bid Writers produce proposals of the highest standard. They also save the business a lot of time and resources by taking the pressure off their shoulders.

If you would prefer to write your own bids though, you may worry you do not have the skills. Completing a winning tender can be difficult, so bid training is essential for helping you get there.

How can bid training benefit your business?

Many people may look to complete tender writing training if they are bidding but not seeing success. Improving and developing skills is always a great thing. Especially if you’re doing it to help grow your business.

By completing bid training, you’re doing just that. You’ll gain an insight into how to approach bids through bid management. You’ll also learn the importance of writing and communication skills. Plus, you will learn how to anticipate how the buyer will evaluate your bid. There is a lot of work that goes into writing a winning bid. Bid training can help you get to the winning standard. Once you know how to write a bid to a high standard, you’ll likely start seeing the results you desire.

Essential bid training: Tender VLE

For bid training from experts with an 87% success rate and over 60 years of experience, look to Tender VLE. Our Tender Writing Consultants will take you through ‘what is a tender’ to how to win them. We have tender training courses suitable for beginners and all levels above.

Summary

So, in summary, bid training is a way of preparing yourself to complete future bids for your business. There are so many advantages of tendering for work, so bid training can help you secure those opportunities.

By completing bid training, you’ll be prepared to write winning bids by learning the following:

Bid management
Importance of writing and communication skills
Understanding the evaluation process.

For accredited bid training brought to you by expert consultants, you can turn to Tender VLE. Our training starts with the basics right up to expert level skills.

Still have questions about bid training? Why not call our Bid Management Consultants? We are always happy to help!

Need help searching for tenders?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now you know how to accurately perform a tender search, you may be wondering how to write a bid. Well, luckily for you, we are experts in bid writing.

Tender Writing

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

Tender Mentor

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

Tender Ready

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

Tender Improvement

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

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

Vocal

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

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

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

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

The post How Can Bid Training Benefit Your Business? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

What to Expect From a Procurement Tender

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:03:26 +0000

5 ways to win a procurement tender

When writing a response to a procurement tender, you want to make it stand out from the crowd. There may be tens of other applicants competing for one tender.

You want to persuade and demonstrate to the buyer that you’re the best business for the job. Producing a winning bid takes time. You don’t want to be rushed or leave it last minute.

The average bid takes 23 hours to complete end-to-end. Therefore, it’s best that you get on the case as soon as possible. This can help you avoid unnecessary stress and account for any unexpected delays. Working back from the submission date can help you form a timeline. Remember to consider time for proofreading and revisions.

If you don’t have this time to hand, there are options. You can outsource it to a bid writing professional who will also have a better win rate.

5 ways to win a procurement tender

Quality assessing questions

When you complete a procurement tender, you can expect to be asked quality questions. The actual weighting of evaluation will likely be split between price, quality and social value (for government tenders).

Quality questions will be assessing your competence. For these, you can expect to demonstrate your capabilities and experience. You should break the question down into subheadings to make sure you’re answering every aspect of the question.

Include any relevant qualifications or accreditations that you and your staff hold. How much combined experience do you have? What other contracts have you fulfilled that’s similar in scope and style.

Address the specification

Each procurement tender is different. There is no winning formula that will work across the board. This is because each buyer has different needs. You should be tailoring your tender response to the specification and the buyer’s needs.

Reading the tender documents can help you gain a better understanding of what the buyer is expecting and wanting. Within them, it will detail certain things you need to include. It will give you a better idea of the aim of the contract and what the buyer is trying to achieve. It’s up to you to write the best answer including this information to win the contract.

Demonstrate previous contract experience

Every procurement tender will require you to have a bank of experience ready to show. Buyers will require up to three case studies of past contracts you have delivered. These will likely need to be within the last three to five years.

They should be similar in scope, scale and complexity to the one you’re applying for. Including key challenges you encountered can strengthen your bid. This shows your flexibility and problem-solving skills. Both of which are essential to tendering for work.

Keep up to date with changing legislation

It shouldn’t be surprising when I say that a winning bid from three years ago may score poorly now. Procurement legislation is always changing and it’s essential that you keep up to date with best practice.

You should be reviewing your approach to responding to procurement tenders to stay ahead of the curve. Due to the changing nature and priorities with government procurement, it’s best to pay attention. For example, social value wasn’t compulsory before 1st January 2021 – but for public sector tenders, it now is. If you submit a procurement tender for the public sector without addressing social value, you will lose marks.

Demonstrate added value

When tendering for contracts, continuously ask yourself how you’re going to add value to the buyer. It’s not enough to just say how you meet the requirements. You need to state how your goods/services/business will benefit the buyer.

This may be via reducing carbon emission targets or using eco-friendly cleaning products. Including added value can help you write a winning bid. Government buyers have certain targets and initiatives they need to meet. Do your research and say how you can help them meet these.

For public sector contracts, the tender will be awarded to the MEAT. This stands for the most economically advantageous tender. It’s when a buyer will assess tender responses on more than just price. You should consider:

Quality
Technical ability
Sustainability
Price
Innovation
Customer service
Accessibility
Ability to deliver on time.

Where can I find a procurement tender?

Half the battle is finding the right procurement tender for your business. There are hundreds of websites posting multi-sector contracts opportunities. Filtering them out can be a challenge and relying simply on CPV codes can lead to missed opportunities.

Ideally, you should be looking for a sector-specific portal that posts all tendering leads from your industry. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals.

What makes it unique, is that you’re able to filter search results by location, keyword, budget and more. This helps you find the right procurement tender for your business – streamlining the process and saving you time. They also host public, private and unique tendering opportunities, giving you more choice.

Our portals cover the following industries:

Once you’ve found the right bid for your business, you should ask yourself the following before you progress:

Am I eligible?
Do I have the necessary qualifications/accreditations?
Can I actually deliver the work?
Do I have the necessary experience?
Do I meet the economic-financial standing?
Can I write a winning bid by the submission deadline?

If you’ve answered yes to all the above questions, then it sounds like the right opportunity for your business.

In summary

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what to expect from a procurement tender. You want to ensure that you make your tender stand out from the crowd. Demonstrating your business capabilities is essential to success. Think about how you can present added value to the buyer and read the tender documents carefully.

Keeping up to date with the ever-changing procurement legislation can help. Remember how things might differ with private buyers over the public sector. When looking for sector-specific tendering opportunities, one of our 11 portals can ensure you find the right tender.

Need help writing your next procurement tender?

If you don’t have the resources in house to submit a winning tender, we can help. Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being procurement tender writing experts. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience and an 87% success rate.

You may not need the whole bid written for you. You may simply need it proofread before you submit it. We offer four bid writing support services:

Our services

Tender Writing

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

Tender Ready

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

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

Tender Improvement

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

Tender Mentor

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

Additional support

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

Discover Elite

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

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

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

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

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

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

The post What to Expect From a Procurement Tender appeared first on Tender Consultants.

We’ve Rebranded

Georgie Morgan — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 11:03:45 +0000

You may have noticed we have a slightly different look here at Hudson Succeed. Although we may look a little different, our promise remains the same. We are a global family of innovators on a mission to help businesses grow far and wide.

As our business has continued to grow, we thought it was time to update our appearance. We have a new name, a new website and a slightly different look. However, this doesn’t mean that our service has changed. We still pride ourselves on being bid writing experts and put our all into winning contracts for our clients. We still have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bidding experience. Our mission is still to help businesses grow far and wide.

Hudson Succeed is now one of six Divisions offered at Hudson Outsourcing. Our other Divisions include:

They have been designed to provide a central outsourcing solution for businesses across the globe.

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to respond to, we can offer you support through our four services:

Once you send us the details of the tender, we will provide you with a quote within four working hours. Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

The post We’ve Rebranded appeared first on Tender Consultants.

7 Ways to Make Your Tender for Business Stand Out

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 07:00:35 +0000

How to tender for business

Are you wondering how to tender for business? If you haven’t considered tendering for contracts as a viable way to grow your business, you should. It’s highly competitive, so you want to make sure your bid is the best it can be. You want to stand out from your competitors.

Here are our top seven tips to help your tender for business stand out…

Plan your response

A winning bid response is all in the planning. A buyer can tell straight away if a response has been meticulously planned over those that are rushed.

Once an ITT (invitation to tender) is released, it’s a good idea to work backwards from the submission date. If it’s a DPS or framework, it could be a good idea to set yourself your own submission deadline. This can help you stay focused and motivated.

A lot of businesses think due to the rolling deadline that they can submit it whenever. Then, before you know it, the deadline comes around and everyone rushes their response.

Do your research on the buyer

When you tender for business, you should do your research on the buyer. This can help you plan your tender response. The commissioner may have certain targets or objectives they need to meet each year when doing business. This gives you an advantage as a small business. This is because many businesses and public entities have targets to work with SMEs.

Additionally, smaller businesses are likely to be more sustainable. You may be using environmentally friendly cleaning products or working towards being carbon neutral/negative. Working with businesses that do this is a big bonus for bigger businesses or public entities. A technical Bid Writer can do this for you, knowing how to best covey it to the buyer.

Tailor your case studies and testimonials

It’s common for buyers to ask for up to three case studies when you tender for business. These should be within the last three to five years. They must be similar in scope and style to the contract that you’re going for.

Including a positive testimonial from a past client can help build your reputation. However, bear in mind the word count. If you do this, you may also need to include the contact details of the client. This is because a buyer will likely want to check you aren’t fabricating this.

Another way to strengthen your case studies is by including how you overcame any challenges. This will demonstrate your problem-solving skills and flexibility. Both of these are essential to fulfilling a business contract.

Make sure you have the relevant qualifications and accreditations

When bidding on contracts, it’s important to include the relevant qualifications and accreditations. You should check you have these before you even consider applying for an opportunity. Reading the specification thoroughly can help as it will detail what you will need. Even if it’s 80 pages.

Sticking to the format doesn’t have to be boring

One of the biggest challenges you may face when you tender for business is standing out from your competitors. Due to the competitive nature of tendering, it’s only natural. You may have stellar responses, but sometimes that isn’t enough. The way you convey and display it can make a big difference.

This is where formatting comes in. The way your format your tender for business, there are multiple ways you can get into the buyers’ good books.

You can:

Use bullet points and subheadings. This can break up blocks of text and this can really help, and a buyer will thank you for that. They’re likely to subconsciously favour a response that’s broken up than one that’s block text.
Stick to the format. The formatting guidelines will be outlined in the specification. It’s important that you stick to these. They’ll likely state the font type and size. Make sure you adhere to the formatting rules on tables. Buyers can be particularly pernickety about these.
Think about design. Although buyers are strict about formatting, that doesn’t mean that it has to look boring. You should consider including your brand colours and logo in your proposal. This can help your response stand out from others.

Present added value

Another way you can improve your response when you tender for business is by presenting added value. Buyers are always keeping an eye out for responses that demonstrate added value. This is because they are wanting to get the most value for money.

In the public sector, contracts are awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This is when the bid is assessed on more than just price. Innovation, ability to deliver on time and sustainability could be key factors considered in your response. Added value builds on this.

You should ask yourself how you’re going to add value to the buyer. It’s not enough to just meet the requirements. You need to state how you as a business as a whole can benefit them.

Be united when it comes to company CVs

When you tender for business, you may be required to include company CVs in your response. It really shows attention to detail to present them uniformly. Imagine you’re the buyer. You’re faced with a tender response from a business that contains 10 different CVs, and they all look different.

Then, the next response has 10 uniformly formatted CVs. You’re going to think the latter has put more effort into consistency. Taking the time to do this can really strengthen your bid when you tender for business.

Remember to keep them personable. It’s always a nice touch to include a professional yet friendly-looking photo of the team member. This way they can put a face to the name. Include all the key and relevant experience and qualifications and their role in this project. This can help you gain a buyers trust by showing their capabilities.

In conclusion

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of how to stand out from the crowd when you tender for business. You should be looking to create a uniform approach in the way you represent your brand. Just because you have to adhere to formatting doesn’t mean your response has to be boring. You can jazz it up with brand colours.

Presenting added value will never go amiss with any buyer. If they can get more value for their money, they’ll favour you over your competitors.

Need assistance with your next tender?

Although you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you might still be looking for some support with your tender. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing to bid writing specialists can help you secure that next contract and grow your business.

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 tender written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Additional support

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

Discover Elite

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 7 Ways to Make Your Tender for Business Stand Out appeared first on Tender Consultants.

3 Tips to Win PCS Tenders

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 07:00:41 +0000

What is PCS-Tenders?

If you’re tendering for contracts in Scotland, you may have come across PCS-Tenders and wondered what it is. There’s a whole lot of confusing procurement terminology to wrap your head around if you’re new to tendering. There’s a never-ending stream of acronyms, so keeping track of what’s what can be hard.

Luckily for you, we’re here to help. This blog will explain everything there is to know about PCS-Tenders, what they are, and how to win.

So, what exactly is PCS-Tenders?

PCS stands for Public Contracts Scotland. PCS-Tenders is the national eTendering system centrally funded by the Scottish Government. The system is used by both buyers and suppliers to manage their tender exercises online.

What’s the benefit of the PCS-Tenders system?

One of the main advantages of the eTendering system is that there are standard SPD (Single Procurement Document) templates used. Buyers can use standardised ITT (invitation to tender) templates that enable buyers to easily create consistent tender documentation.

What can you do as a supplier?

Once you have registered in the system as a supplier, you will be sent a password via email. You will then be able to gain secure access to the site. You’ll then be able to express interest in any advertised PCS tenders that take your fancy.

You’re able to complete your supplier profile and apply for PCS tenders. If a buyer is using the standard questions, your responses will be automatically completed with the responses you have provided.

Why is this eTendering system better?

Many suppliers, and particularly SMEs, communicated to the Scottish government that the process of bidding was confusing. Particularly for public sector contracts, being time-consuming, expensive, and unnecessarily complicated.

In response to this, the Scottish government decided to standardise and simplify the tendering process for suppliers.

How can the PCS-Tenders system help SMEs?

PCS-Tenders has an inbuilt standard PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire). It’s a simple system made up of mostly yes/no tick-boxes. Once you’ve completed it, you don’t have to do it again, streamlining the process and saving you time. It includes things like:

Company registration details
Your profile
Contact details
Accompanying certificates
Health & Safety policies
Insurance
Environmental certificates
Economic and Financial Standing
Exclusion grounds.

3 tips to win your next PCS tenders

So, now you know what PCS tenders are and how they can benefit you as an SME supplier. Bidding for Scottish government public sector contracts can have its advantages. Securing contracts can help your business grow and tendering should be seen as a viable way to grow your business.

Here are our three tips to help you see success when writing your response for PCS tenders.

Promote social value

The Scottish government are looking for bids that promote sustainability, community benefits and working with and supporting small suppliers. Buyers will be looking to how you will do this while delivering the contract at hand. Here are some examples of the type of things you could include in this aspect of your PCS tenders:

Job creation
Work experience opportunities
Money going back into the local economy
Supporting COVID-19 recovery
Reducing carbon emissions
Tackling climate change
Encouraging sustainability
Reducing waste.

Remember that what you include in a bid is contractually binding. Therefore, you should be making promises that you can actually keep. If this is what gives you an edge over your competitors and you don’t deliver, buyer’s will not be happy. You can easily avoid this by making reasonable and realistic promises surrounding social value that you can keep.

Keep to the formatting requirements

Buyers are very pernickety when it comes to the formatting of their bids. If you blatantly ignore instructions, it will reflect poorly on you and your business. Make sure before you submit that the font and font size is what is stated in the specification.

Moreover, you should stick to the word/character counts. It’s worth noting that most responses on PCS Tenders have a character limit of 2,000 for responses. This equates to roughly 350 words. If a buyer is wanting a longer response, they will include an additional text box.

So, it’s best if you’re writing your response in Word, for example, to check your character count with spaces. You don’t want to be writing a detailed 1000-word response to then have to cut it down.

Address what’s in the specification

One of the reasons businesses lose out on a bid is that they don’t address what buyers are asking for. Some only skim the specification. However, you should take the time to read every aspect of it (even if it’s 80-pages). This seems counter-intuitive, as it will detail exactly what the buyer is looking for.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to go off on a tangent about why they are the best company. Although you should be persuasive in your response, stay focused. This is of course unless the question is specifying you to state this. It can result in a lot of wasted words. If you are saying why, back it up with hard evidence, statistics, and facts.

Break the question down and address each point. Using subheadings and bullet points can help ensure you’re covering all bases. For PCS tenders, buyers are wanting you to demonstrate in your response that you:

Understand what they’re asking for
Have a qualified and professional team to deliver the contract
Hold evidence of a good track record in delivering similar goods/services to a similar standard.

Following these three tips can really help strengthen your bid response. They may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how often businesses ignore this advice. If you follow these, you will be well on your way to securing yourself your next Scottish government business contract.

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what PCS tenders are, why they’re used and some of the benefits. If you’re a Scottish business, the PCS-Tenders system can simplify the procurement process when bidding for public sector contracts.

However, tender writing isn’t for everyone. This shouldn’t mean you miss out on business growth opportunities or securing government contracts up for bid. If you’re struggling with your application – we can help.

Need assistance when writing your next PCS tenders?

Although you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you might still be looking for some bid writing support. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing a bid you’ve found to bid writing specialists 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

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 3 Tips to Win PCS Tenders appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to Find and Win Government Contracts Up for Bid

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 07:00:15 +0000

Government contracts up for bid: how to succeed

Securing government contracts up for bid can be a great way to grow your business. The public sector spends over £285 billion annually through public procurement. They procure a wide range of goods and services across a variety of sectors.

This means there’s plenty of opportunities for your business to become a supplier to the government. The government often outsources their needs resulting in government contracts up for bid. So, if this is something you’re interested in, here’s how to find and win government contracts up for bid.

How to find government contracts up for bid

Half the battle before you even start applying for government contracts up for bid is where to find them. There are hundreds of websites posting multi-sector contract opportunities. Filtering them out can be a challenge and relying simply on CPV codes can lead to missed opportunities.

Ideally, you should be looking for a sector-specific portal that posts all tendering leads from your industry. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. You’re able to filter the search results by location, keyword, budget and more. This helps you find the perfect bid for your business – streamlining the process and saving you time.

Our portals cover the following industries:

Once you’ve found the right bid for your business, you should ask yourself the following before you progress:

Am I eligible?
Do I have the necessary qualifications/accreditations?
Can I actually deliver the work?
Do I have the necessary experience?
Do I meet the economic financial standing?
Can I write a winning bid by the submission deadline?

Assessing your bid or no-bid strategy is good to do if you want to bid on government contracts. This can help you see if a tender opportunity is right for your business. Just because you are eligible for a bid doesn’t always mean you should go for it.

5 tips on how to win government contracts up for bid

Be the MEAT

Government contracts up for bid are always awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This means that buyers are looking for the tenders that provide the most value for money. The buyer is looking at more than just price. A buyer could be considering a range of factors including:

Quality
Technical ability
Price
Sustainability
Innovation
Customer service
Ability to deliver on time
Accessibility.

Each contract awarding body will be seeking something different depending on their needs. Therefore, you should read the specification thoroughly as what they require will be noted here. This can help you tailor your response to their specific needs. It can really help strengthen your response.

Demonstrate added value

Carrying on from the MEAT, public sector organisations will be looking for tender responses that demonstrate added value. This is because the government wants to get as much for the taxpayer’s money as possible. If you can demonstrate added value, it can give you an edge over your competitors.

For example, say you are the buyer, and you are looking at two high-scoring bids. One includes added value, and one doesn’t. You would choose the one that is offering more for the same price.

When tendering for contracts, continuously ask yourself how you’re going to add value to the buyer. It’s not enough just to say how you meet the requirements. You need to state how your services/goods will benefit the buyer. This can help you write a winning bid.

Remember social value

There’s a mandatory minimum weighting of 10% on social value for government contracts up for bid. We have even seen some with a weighting of up to 30%. This means it is not something to leave as an afterthought when writing your bid response.

Social value is the economic, social and environmental aspects that should be considered when fulfilling the contract. There are five key themes that should be addressed where possible. These are:

Supporting COVID-19 recovery
Fighting climate change
Improving equal opportunities
Tackling economic inequality
Showing commitment to health and wellbeing.

This is a chance for SMEs to shine over bigger businesses and from their competitors.

Have contract experience

Government contracts that are up for bid will require you to have a bank of contract experience. Buyers will require you to provide 2 – 3 case studies of past contracts you have delivered. These will likely need to be within the last 3 – 5 years. They should be similar in scope and complexity to the contract you’re going for.

You should include in your contract examples any challenges you encountered. Detailing how you overcame these will demonstrate your problem-solving skills and flexibility. Both of these qualities are key when going for government contacts up for bid.

You want to note the contracts that you complete on time and within budget. This will greatly strengthen your bid. It will also help instil trust in the buyer that you know what you’re doing.

Address what’s being asked in the specification

One of the main reasons businesses miss out on bids is that they don’t give the buyer what they’re asking for. Reading the specification is essential. It will detail specifically what the buyer is looking for.

A lot of businesses will go off on a tangent and just note why they are good for the job. This is useless unless you are relating it to what they are required. Stay focused on your responses. Address what they are asking for specifically.

Break the questions down and address each point within the question. Use subheadings and bullet points to ensure you are covering all bases. The buyer will want you to demonstrate in your response that you:

Understand what they’re asking for
Hold evidence of a good track record in delivering similar goods/services to a similar standard
Have a qualified and professional team to deliver the contract.

You now know where to find and how to win government contracts up for bid. If you follow this advice, you will be one step closer to securing government contracts that are up for bid. A technical Bid Writer can help you with this. They know how to coney the information that buyers want to see.

Need assistance when writing your next government contracts up for bid?

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:

The post How to Find and Win Government Contracts Up for Bid appeared first on Tender Consultants.

City of London Bids and Tenders: Everything You Need to Know

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 07:00:03 +0000

City of London bids and tenders explained

Applying for City of London bids and tenders is a great way to grow your business. Local London authorities spend approximately £9billion annually on a wide variety of goods and services.

As an SME, you shouldn’t be missing out on City of London bids and tenders. If you’re thinking that these contracts are only awarded to big companies, you’d be mistaken. As a matter of fact, 23% of government contracts up for bid are awarded to SMEs. This gives you a good chance of competing if you’re a smaller business.

The City of London bids and tenders target outcomes are:

Sustainable cost assurance guaranteed for the future
Key people across the organisation being upskilled in commercialism, contract management and procurement
Their services provide what’s needed and are easy to use
Opportunities to leverage responsible outcomes are maximised

There can be many advantages when applying for City of London bids and tenders. Below are just three ways tendering for contracts can benefit your business:

Prompt Payment

If you become a supplier to the City of London, you will have guaranteed and prompt payment. This is because The City of London takes part in the Chartered Institute of Credit Management’s (CIMC) Prompt Payment Code. That means they pledge to:

Pay suppliers on time

The City Corporation aims to pay undisputed invoices that quote a purchase number within 10 days of invoicing. This applies to the invoice arriving anywhere in the City Corporation for SMEs.

Give clear guidance to suppliers

All invoices should be attached when contacting the Accounts Payable team and include the following information:

An identifying number
The supplier’s name, address, VAT number
Time of supply
Date of issue
Type of supply (E.g. sale, hire, loan, etc.)
Description of the goods or services supplied
Customer’s name (or trading name) and address

The City of London prefers to pay their suppliers via BACS. It’s encouraged that as a supplier, you include your bank details and valid email address on all invoices for remittance.

Secure a pipeline of work

Bidding for City of London bids and tenders 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. These tendering processes are often used within an array of sectors including construction and healthcare. The benefit of these is that they can run for years at a time. Some even have the possibility of an extension.

Build experience

City of London bids and tenders are a great way to gain experience as a business. Buyers will require 2 – 3 case studies of past contracts you have delivered. They need to be within the last 3 – 5 years. They should be similar in scope and style to the one you’re applying for. Securing smaller contracts can help you build up that experience. The more experience you have, the bigger the contracts you can go for. The bigger bids you can go for, the bigger your business can grow. Securing a place on a DPS or framework is a great place to start.

Where can I find City of London bids and tenders?

So, you now know some of the advantages of City of London bids and tenders. Next, you may be wondering where to find them. As they’re offered for pretty much every sector it can be hard finding the right one for your business. This is where a sector-specific portal could help optimise your search.

Simply relying on CPV codes could result in you missing out on up to a third of relevant opportunities. This is because we researched that up to a third of them are mislabelled.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. You are able to filter the results and search by keyword, budget, location and more. This streamlines the process, making it easier to find government contracts.

These sectors consist of;

Before you apply to any tender, you should ask if your business:

Is able to deliver the work
Meets the economic and financial standing
Have the resources and time to fulfil the contract
Has the necessary experience
Is able to write a winning response before the submission deadline

Remember to be the MEAT

Like all government contracts, the contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). The buyer will be looking for bids that provide the most value for money while delivering the contract. The MEAT means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. The cheapest bid does not win here. You should consider a range of factors including, but not limited to:

Cost
Quality
Innovation
Accessibility
Sustainability
Technical ability
Customer service
Environmental benefits
Ability to deliver on time.

Each buyer will be wanting something different depending on their needs. This will be outlined in the specification. You should demonstrate added value in your response. This is because government authorities want to be assured that they are getting the most for taxpayer’s money.

Don’t skimp on social value

There is now a minimum mandatory weighting of 10% on social value for public sector contracts. In some cases, it can be as much as 30%. This means it is not something you should consider as an afterthought.

The promises you make in City of London bids and tenders are contractually binding. Therefore, you should be making promises you can keep. Social value is the social, economic and environmental aspects that you’ll consider while fulfilling the contract. It was launched with five key themes in mind that should be addressed where possible. These are:

Supporting COVID-19 recovery
Tackling economic inequality
Fighting climate change
Improving equal opportunities
Showing commitment to health and wellbeing.

Social value is an opportunity for SMEs to differentiate themselves from their competitors, adding commercial value to their bids.

So now, you should be more aware of what’s expected from City of London bids and tenders. Following this advice should help you get on the path to success and winning your next tender.

Need assistance when writing your next City of London 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 bid writing specialists can help you secure that next contract.

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. Our Global Bid Director will manage the bid strategy.

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

The post City of London Bids and Tenders: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Tender Consultants.

6 Reasons to Hire a Bid Writing Professional

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 07:00:20 +0000

What can a bid writing professional offer your business?

How can a bid writing professional benefit your business? That’s the question you may be asking yourself if you’re considering hiring a bid writing professional. The simple answer is a great deal.

If you’ve come across a tender but you don’t know where to start, a bid writing professional can help. Here’s how…

Increase your chances of success

A bid writing professional can increase your chances of success. Their expertise in bid writing is what makes them successful. They are well versed in the tendering process and what evaluators are expecting.

Their success rate will give you a good indication of whether or not they are worth using. If you’ve never tendered before, a bid writing professional can definitely increase your chances of success. They produce bids of high quality which is what a buyer is ultimately looking for.

They can save you time and resources

Outsourcing a tender to a bid writing professional can save you time and resources. You’re busy enough as it is running your business. You may not have the time or resources to spare in order to write a winning bid. This is when a Bid Writer comes in. Some tender responses require all sorts of supporting documents as well as in-depth, detailed 1,000+ word answers.

A bid writing professional can allow you to keep on with the day to day running of your business, uninterrupted. A tender, depending on the size, may need to be split up with your team. This can take them away from their usual job. Can you afford for your team to be working on the tender as opposed to their regular jobs?

Giving this responsibility over to a professional can keep you running as normal. You can relax knowing that your tender is well taken care of and in good hands. After all, most Bid Writers can write, manage, and even submit the tender on your behalf.

Ensure you answer every aspect in line with the specification

A buyer is expecting a high-quality tender response that is in line with the specification. A bid writing professional understands the requirements. They know what’s needed in order to submit a response that caters to every aspect of the specification. This is critical for a winning response.

A bid writing professional will work with you to achieve this. They are not experts in the field they will be writing about. They are experts in bid writing. Therefore, they will need your input about the running of your business to complete the tender. They can then format and apply this information catering to what a buyer is asking in the question.

A wealth of experience

Your chance of success is likely to increase with the more experience you have. This can be applicable to a lot of things, but particularly for bid writing. You can take confidence in the fact that a Bid Writer has a wealth of experience. Their experience can be in a wide array of sectors. From technology to healthcare and creative to logistics – a bid writing professional isn’t a one-trick pony.

Conduct a bid review

A bid writing professional can also help conduct a bid review. This is one of the most important stages of submitting a bid. All bid responses should be reviewed before submission. This is not the same as proofreading, which you will find more about it on the next point. All bids should be reviewed against the question, specification, and scoring criteria.

Ideally, this should be done independently or by someone not involved in writing the bid. You could even go as far as scoring the responses. This could help a bid writing professional go back and develop their responses. It can help them know where there are gaps in the content or where you ramble.

Our Tender Mentor service can help if you’re seeking to outsource your bid review. Our Bid Writers will go over your bid, ensuring that the bid you’ve produced is the best it possibly can be. This is an external guide and review service. Our service allows you to eliminate any mistakes and generally improve your final response for submission.

Submit an error-free bid

Submitting an error free bid can separate you from your competitors. If you think it comes down to two responses that are very high quality in substance. One has no grammatical or spelling errors, the other does. As an evaluator, you would award the bid to the error free bid.

A bid writing professional will proofread your bid numerous times and likely by multiple people. This ensures that your bid is the best it can be. This attention to detail may be the deciding factor in the contract award. A fresh pair of eyes can help notice mistakes if you’ve written it yourself. So, even if you don’t want them to write the whole bid, they can help you in this aspect. The best bid writing companies will offer this service.

What skills does a bid writing professional possess?

Exceptional writing and grammar skills

Following on from the last reason to hire a professional, they can offer you exceptional writing and grammar skills. They have a unique skill set that allows them to write successful bids. The way they convey information is unparalleled and great attention to detail goes hand in hand. They can use their linguistic skills to make sure your business stands out from the crowd.

Research abilities

Whenever a bid writing professional is writing your tender response, they will conduct research. First-rate research abilities are another essential skill they must possess. Being able to research both the buyer’s requirements and your business is what they’re good at.

A bid writing professional can go from writing a tender for asbestos removal to supported living. This requires extensive research skills and abilities. Being able to research and find key information in the industry they’re writing about is essential. Over time, they’ll build up a wide bank of knowledge across multiple industries.

Time management

Great time management is a skill that every bid writing professional must possess. They often have multiple deadlines on the go at one time for multiple clients. These deadlines are often final, so their time management needs to be on point. This coincides with their organisational skills as keeping track of the various submission and clarification question deadlines are essential.

Planning skills

Good planning skills are essential to any successful bid writing professional. You must manage you and your team’s time meticulously to ensure a winning response is submitted on time.

A bid writing professional can help take this time planning worry out of your hands. This is one way you can be assured that your bid will be finished ahead of the submission deadline. You’ll no longer have to wait for multiple co-workers to submit their responses to internal deadlines.

You won’t have to evaluate your workload and assess the amount of time you need to dedicate to it. A Bid Writer will take care of this all for you. This includes:

Submission deadline: date and time
Clarification questions deadline
Where to submit the response (email, hard copy, bid portal)
The amount copies of the response that need submitting
Supporting documents (cover letter, executive summary, etc.)
The number of questions that need answering and additional documents.

If you’re using a bid writing professional, they can handle this all for you. You can continue with the day-to-day running of your business.

Excellent communication

A bid writing professional needs to have excellent communication skills. They need to be able to communicate with clients to get the critical information about their business. They also need to then communicate this in line with the specification, tailoring it to the buyer’s needs.

A bid writing professional needs to be able to adjust their approach to communication too. They can switch from grant writing to tender writing and then writing for charities. These all require a different type of communication with different types of clients and buyers. A flexible communication approach does well here.

Top tip

When considering whether to use a bid writing professional, you should be looking for testimonials. These can help you decide if the outsourcing bid writing service is any good. If their website proudly posts positive testimonials from previous clients, you can be reassured that they’re good at their job.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we are a team of bid writing professionals. We can help you win your next bid. Don’t just listen to us, however, the testimonials from our clients speak for themselves:

“Daniel and the team were incredibly professional and delivered a very high level of service with our tender application.

Unfortunately, we found out about the opportunity at the last minute, which meant that we required a very tight turnaround and the team went the extra mile for us to ensure that it was ready on time within the stipulated deadline. The application proved to be successful and we are delighted with the outcome.

Could not recommend any higher.”

Nick Steiert, Managing Director

Invasion ltd

“From our first contact, Hudson were brilliant.

After a short conversation, they quickly grasped the basics of our business and sector in which we operate. Jonny and the team took the stress and hassle away from us and we are very happy to say that we were awarded the first contract that we collaborated on.

We would highly recommend Hudson and look forward to future endeavours together.”

Nick Sheehan

Sales Director – iLine Technologies

So hopefully you now have a better idea of what a bid writing professional can offer your business. There are a number of reasons why hiring one can help you succeed with your next tender. The skills they possess enable them to write winning responses on your behalf, saving you resources and time.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we proudly boast an 87% success rate. Our Bid Writing professionals have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. Our four bid writing support packages can help you when tendering for contracts. Whether you’ve never tendered before, or need your proposal proofread before you submit – we can help.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

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 6 Reasons to Hire a Bid Writing Professional appeared first on Tender Consultants.

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