Procurement - Expert Archives | Tender Consultants

What are PQQs?

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 07:00:12 +0000

What to expect from PQQs?

If you’re tendering for contracts, you most likely have come across PQQs. You may be wondering what they are and what’s required. You can find them in both private and public sector procurement.

What are PQQs?

PQQs are pre-qualification questionnaires. They are most commonly used as an initial stage of qualification assessment for tendering. It is mostly a box-ticking exercise to ensure you meet the minimum eligibility criteria for a contract.

PQQs are now also known as SQs (selection questionnaires). This is a more updated system introduced by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

They cover the status of your business, including relevant policies and procedures, finances and quality control measures. Essentially, PQQs are used to ensure that you’re capable of delivering and compliance with specific regulations.

What is the difference between PQQs and SQs?

There are only a few differences between PQQs and SQs. Mainly that the exclusion grounds in the modernised selection questionnaire relates to the latest version of Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

When are PQQs likely to be used?

PQQs are often used when a buyer is procuring more complex goods. This is because buyers need to be sure prospective suppliers are qualified to deliver the contract. In order to do this, they set initial qualification questions to establish they meet the minimum eligibility criteria. PQQs are used for two-stage restricted tendering procedures.

Restricted procurement procedure

A restricted procedure, sometimes called selective tendering, may be used if a buyer is procuring more complex commodities. They want to create a shortlist of potential suppliers to ensure they can deliver the contract. Their capabilities will be assessed. The process typically looks like this:

The PQQ process

PQQs are released and interested, and prospective suppliers can complete them. At this stage, anyone can fill out the questionnaire.

Once the buyer has assessed the questionnaire responses, they’ll shortlist eligible businesses for the contract. These companies would then receive their invitation to tender (ITT) documents.

Next, the suppliers would complete their tender responses on how they plan to deliver the contract. They would complete the quality sections and price their services or goods.

The buyer will then evaluate the ITT responses and award the contract to the most suitable buyer. If you’re bidding for public sector contracts, the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) would win. The same can’t be said for private contracts as they can be awarded however the buyer likes, be it on price or quality.

What can I expect from a PQQ?

You can expect to detail the following information when completing a PQQ:

Company information

This includes your registration and VAT number, company address and contact information.

Economic and financial standing

In the economic and financial standing section, you will be assessed on three things. They are annual turnover, financial ratios and insurance.

Legal compliance

Modern slavery

Equality and diversity

Health and safety regulations

A buyer will want to be assured that you operate to the highest health and safety authority. This could include Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Environmental standards

Project-specific questions
Quality management systems

These could be quality management systems such as ISO 9001, for example.

Relevant policies and procedures

Staff and subcontract information (if applicable)
Any grounds for mandatory exemption

A simple yes/no response to various statements.

Case studies/testimonials

It’s likely that you will need to submit two or three case studies when compiling your response for PQQs. These need to be relevant and similar in scope and complexity to the contracts you’re applying for. Buyers often ask for case studies that have been completed within the last three to five years.

Sometimes you can be asked to include testimonials from previous clients. Bear in mind that you’ll likely need to include their contact information. This is because buyers want to ensure that you’re telling the truth and not fabricating any information.

What sectors use PQQs?

Most sectors use either PQQs or SQs, this includes facilities, logistics and technology. Below are a couple of examples that use a similar PQQ-style system:

PAS91

The construction sector also uses PQQs, however, they are known as PAS91s. It was developed by the British Standard Institute to save construction companies from filling out multiple PQQs. Although it’s slightly longer than a PQQ or SQ, it has the same mentality. Once you’ve completed it, you no longer have to complete core sections if you have certain accreditations. You are also able to develop a standardised response to the standardised questions which saves you time.

PCS-Tenders

Another system that uses a type of PQQ is PCS-Tenders. PCS-Tenders is a type of eTendering system used by the Scottish Government. PCS stands for Public Contracts Scotland. One of the main advantages of this is that there are standardised SPD (Single Procurement Document) templates. Buyers can use standardised ITT templates allowing buyers to create consistent tender documentation.

Suppliers can then complete their profile on the system allowing them to answer these questions ahead of time. They then don’t need to complete it every time when bidding for a new contract. They simply need to update it as time goes on. This, again, saves them time when it comes to the procurement process.

Where can I find contracts for my business?

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:

What makes Hudson Discover different?

We don’t use unreliable CPV codes to track opportunities. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload unique, public and private sector opportunities. You can find them on one centralised and easy-to-navigate portal. This can save you a lot of time when search for new business contract opportunities, streamlining the process.

Need assistance with your next PQQ?

Although you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you might still be looking for some support with PQQs. 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 bid written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that.

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.

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:

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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

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.

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:

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Public sector procurement after Brexit

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 07:30:12 +0000

Tendering after Brexit – what do we know so far?

[Last modified: July 2021]

Public sector procurement after Brexit has caused much concern for UK businesses. However, the government has recently released some information that might put your mind at ease when tendering for contracts.

The recent announcement informed that British businesses can continue bidding for £1.3 trillion worth of public sector contracts, globally. This declaration comes following extensive engagements with WTO members.

Previously the UK participated in global procurement via our membership to the EU. However, the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) Committee confirmed that the UK can join the GPA as an independent nation. This will come into effect from the 1^st of January 2021.

How does this benefit UK businesses?

This agreement might have you breathing a sigh of relief. It means that UK businesses can compete fairly for overseas contracts, covered by the GPA, on the same terms as they do now. Some organisations rely heavily on their global client base. The deal will provide businesses with the certainty they need to continue bidding for public sector contracts outside the UK.

Deputy Director of Policy & Regulation at The Advertising Association, Konrad Shek, said:

“We believe independent membership of the GPA is a crucial part of the UK’s future trade policy. It is important for the UK to have continued fair and competitive access to the estimated annual USD 1.7 trillion public procurement market that has been opened up under the GPA and have a voice in shaping the rules that underpin the system.

For our sector, these rules can affect the competitiveness of ad agencies that bid for branding, tourism, education and inward investment promotion work. For UK market and social research, which is the largest per capita research business in the world a third of the value of which is based upon export, it is essential that UK research businesses can continue to access market, opinion and social research government contracts and public procurement opportunities via the GPA.”

How will this benefit businesses overseas?

This deal means that companies overseas can continue to bid for UK public sector procurement contracts, covered by the GPA. This will help to deliver better value for the taxpayer.

The agreement will also continue to support vital services such as the NHS. Although it does not and will not cover healthcare services, it will enable continued access to vital resources such as;

Medical equipment;
Cleaning services, and;
Building management services.

International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss said:

“Today’s announcement will provide British businesses with the certainty they need to continue bidding for £1.3 trillion worth of government contracts overseas, which will ultimately help deliver the growth and jobs we need to recover from the economic challenges of coronavirus.

It is another significant step towards re-establishing Britain as a major force in global trade and a truly independent trading nation.”

Submitting tenders before 2021?

Until the agreement comes into effect in January 2021, public sector procurement will remain in line with EU regulations.

If you need support with finding and winning public sector tenders, get in touch for a free consultation. Our suite of bid writing services ensures that we can support businesses of all sizes with varying levels of experience. Our Bid Writers are trusted by over 700 businesses, globally, and they proudly hold an 87% bid success rate. They know how to win a tender.

Alternatively, visit Tender VLE to learn more about the tendering process. The platform consists of free masterclasses, designed to increase your knowledge of the procurement world.

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

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Changes to social value in procurement will create more opportunities for SMEs

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 07:30:13 +0000

Social value in procurement – driving positive change

[Last modified: July 2021]

Social value in procurement refers to the way that your business positively impacts the community and environment. When tendering for public sector contracts, it is imperative to demonstrate how you provide social value.

A new social value model has recently been launched with the aim of;

Creating new jobs and promoting skills;
Encouraging economic growth;
Tackling climate change, and;
Levelling up the UK.

The changes mean that central government will be required to go beyond the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. These new measures will come into effect on the 1^st of January 2021.

How will the new model be used?

The new social value in procurement model will be used by government bodies to assess the social impact of suppliers. From January 2021, a 10% weighting will be placed on social value in your quality responses, when bidding for central government contracts.

When evaluating your bid writing, government departments will use the new model to score potential suppliers. This scoring will focus on the wider, positive impact that your business will provide whilst delivering the contract.

The new model also means more value for money for the UK taxpayer.

The Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barren said:

“This hugely positive change will ensure taxpayers’ money supports levelling up across the country, encouraging businesses to give back to their communities and offering more opportunities for our dedicated charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups. This way we can ensure government contracts are helping to tackle economic inequality and support our recovery.”

Social value in tender responses will be assessed based on;

How your organisation supports COVID-19 recovery;
How you are creating new businesses, jobs and skills to tackle economic inequality;
The environmental considerations you take to help fight climate change and reduce waste, and;
The equal opportunity policies you implement and adhere to within your organisation.

Levelling the playing field

This new social value in procurement model will help to level the playing field between large corporations and SMEs. The new system will apply tests that all bidders are capable of meeting, regardless of their size.

Cabinet Minister, Julia Lopez, said:

“Government has tremendous buying power, spending £49bn each year on vital public services. Value to the taxpayer should lie at the heart of our procurement decisions.

Too often, however, ‘value’ has been narrowly defined by price without taking into account other important factors such as the number of local jobs or apprenticeships a contractor will provide, the care they show the environment in their business practices or the number of SMEs involved in their wider supply chain.

We want to see a greater variety of companies deliver government contracts, from every corner of our country – not just because that benefits local economies and communities but because it helps diversify our risk, create a more resilient supplier base and deliver some of our critical priorities.

If we can use government’s buying power to drive that broader value, the better our chances of levelling up our country and investing in our people as part of our COVID recovery.”

Consistency across public sector organisations

With a vast number of government departments across the UK, consistency is vital for ensuring equal opportunities for all suppliers. Therefore, commercial teams, working within these departments, will be expected to complete specific training. This training will focus on implementing the new model and deriving the maximum social value from contracts.

Chair of the Social Value Policy Unit at the Federation of Small Businesses, Arnab Dutt, said:

“I welcome the announcement of social value procurement as an important step forward for public sector supply chains. Its focus on addressing economic inequality, the climate emergency and societal wellbeing is a 21^st century agenda.

Social value has the potential to be transformational in bringing opportunity to all parts of our county and the many small businesses that are the lifeblood of our communities.

The Federation of Small Businesses continues to help shape the policy of a dynamic ecosystem for our UK SMEs in collaboration with the public sector, acknowledging that the government’s SME growth agenda and social value policy go hand in hand.”

In summary

The new social value in procurement model will challenge and encourage suppliers to think beyond their own, internal objectives. In the future, suppliers will need to consider the impact of their organisation on the wider community and environment. The actions they then implement will need to be demonstrable in order to be successful when tendering for contracts.

The model will also challenge government authorities to choose the best supplier based on more than just price. They will need to assess the positive impacts of their chosen supplier and ensure that they maximise taxpayers’ money. In turn, this also means that suppliers of different sizes can be compared more fairly. Large corporations and SMEs alike will be measured against the same initiatives.

Further support

Do you need support with tendering process or how to win a tender? Get in touch with our team for a free consultation. Simply call, email or upload your tender specification.

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

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A Guide to Tender Training Courses

Katherine Kane — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:00:04 +0000

Tender training courses can offer lots of guidance, hints, tips and tricks. How do you choose which course is right for you?

Last updated: Feb 20, 2023 @ 12:19 pm

For anyone seeking to learn about the tendering process, the resources available online might seem overwhelming. There is a huge variety of free, useful information which you can draw from. So where do you even start, without feeling overwhelmed?

Let’s start from the basics – what do you want to learn?

Many training courses unrelated to tendering cover the core essential skills crucial to tendering for contracts. That is not to say that tendering is simple. However, if you develop the following core skills below, your overall tendering efforts can be more effective.

1. Excellent time management.

This is an absolutely crucial skill for writing winning bids. The tendering process is always filled with deadlines, which are using held tight and don’t alter. This means you must be able to keep track of your time and dedicate the right amount of time to certain sections of a bid/tender.

Relevant course topics here can include:

Effective time management
Project management
Strategic thinking
Decision making in the workplace
Prioritisation and planning

2. Effective communication skills.

You must be able to communicate well with a range of stakeholders on any given project. Effective communication also involves different approaches to communication, depending on the situation. This also connects to time management.

Relevant course topics here can include:

Business communication
Conflict management
Interpersonal communication
Non-verbal communication
Presentation skills

3. A good eye for detail.

The success of a tender can hang in the balance of ensuring you have read all the relevant information. Ensuring that you have covered essential information will also help you to tailor your bid responses. Effective research skills will enable you to be selective. Effectively choosing relevant information and discarding irrelevant information will ultimately support your bid.

Relevant course topics here can include:

Positive mindsets
Attitudes to business
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules, specific to your organisation

Writing skills.

You must be able to write for a range of audiences, in a range of styles. No two bids are the same – so you must adapt your writing approach. Writing skills link to time management, communication and attention to detail skillsets. Writing creative tenders can offer more space for enthusiasm and flair. On the other hand, technical tenders need to be to-the-point. You must be able to produce high-quality copy which is free of grammar and punctuation errors. All writing must read well and be engaging.

Relevant course topics here can include:

Business writing
Writing for SEO and social media
Creative writing
Report writing
Grammar and punctuation

Write out what you want to improve or learn. Using a mind map, list, or diagram can help. It will allow you to visualise what skills you need to prioritise and which skills require less work. Planning your learning approach now can save you time and effort in the future.

Each bid writer has their own method and style of working. However, they must also develop these essential skills in the process. This is in addition to tender specific training.

These key skills form the backbone of tendering. They will complement any tender training courses you may find and help you immensely.

Understanding your sector is just as essential as specific tender training courses

You must fully understand your sector. This sounds obvious, but lack of knowledge in specific areas can cause trip-ups during the tendering process.

Understanding your sector includes understanding sector-specific ‘jargon’, or terminology. For example, if you are based in the construction industry, you must be familiar with terms including:

RIBA Stages of Work;
Passivhaus;
ISO 9001; ISO 45001 and ISO 14001
CHAS

Whilst you may have delivered work for years, consider if your ideal tender requires ISO 14001 accreditation. What if you don’t have this in place?

On the other, if you work in the care sector, you must be familiar with the following:

The Care Act 2014;
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);
The Care Quality Commission; and
Care and Support Plans.

Fully understanding all associated terminology within your sector will benefit your tender writing by:

Giving you a head-start with any future requirements
Enabling you to respond swiftly with the right information
Deliver the work more effectively to the specification

Understanding your industry’s terminology inside and out is crucial. It will enable you to write about it in the best possible way.

Tailor learning to your needs

You can find lots of tender training courses online, however, these skills don’t exist in a vacuum. You must be able to apply them effectively, in context. So tailor your learning to your needs. This will greatly benefit your work, productivity and motivation.

Of course, there is always time to research your interests. However – focused, purposeful learning will make your tendering efforts more productive. Consider what motivates you to learn. Use this to your advantage, through increasing your sector-specific knowledge.

Go back to basics

Consider your writing from a buyer’s perspective. The purpose of developing the above skills is enabling you to respond appropriately and effectively to the specification.

You must respond to what they ask for – not what you wanted them to ask.

When selecting any tender training courses, consider your learning style. Use this to your advantage. Whilst bid writers use a specific type of core strengths, they may approach a task in different ways. Therefore, reflect on your learning and writing style. Do you need to modify it, or develop a new skill set? Often changing the approach to a problem can provide new inspiration and motivation.

For example, what about if you love writing, but don’t know how to structure it? Then focus on this. You can write pages and pages of content. However, if it is not relevant, is cluttered, and unfocused, this can damage your tendering efforts. Consider points which you may have overlooked previously.

Reflect on strengths and weaknesses within your skillset. Are there any issues you have been ignoring? Tackle these first – in a few months, consider how your tendering efforts have improved.

So what about specific tender training courses?

Whether you are a business who tenders or a tender writer – there is a lot to know. A useful starting point is to understand tender specific terminology. It will arise time and time again.

For example:

You need to understand the difference between a PQQ, an ITT and a DPS.
It’s important to understand how to navigate and use different tendering portals.
You need to know how to complete a Selection Questionnaire correctly.
You also need to know how to correctly provide documentary evidence to accompany your tenders.

Applying training in context

So where do you begin to learn tender specific content? One option is Tender VLE. This is Hudson’s free, online video training platform. It offers a huge range of tendering resources for beginners to tendering professionals.

Tender VLE is guided by experts in their field –

Jill Hudson, Growth Director
John Hudson, Group CEO
Daniel Hall, Head of Bid Management
Kathryn Johansen, Head of Creative

They discuss tendering in context, to help you really understand essential tendering information. We offer are incredible video tutorials suited to all learning levels. Whether you have tendered before, or are completely new to tendering, there is relevant content for you.

Our bid writers break down key tendering points. They explain exactly why and how these key points are relevant. In addition to this, we also offer useful links, tips and tricks to accompany the video. Our Tender VLE resource contains a full suite of learning videos. This will ensure that all your learning bases are covered.

Hudson Helpline

What if you only need support with a specific query, and Google can’t provide the answer? Hudson Helpline offers 20 minutes of free tendering support. Our consultants are on hand to support you with your tendering efforts. The team has multi-disciplinary experience across a range of sectors to help you in your learning journey.

Our experts have a wealth of tendering knowledge to share with you, to help you succeed in your tendering efforts. We offer services like:

Tender Ready: This service will support your organisation in becoming ready to tender. It includes case study and policy development.
Tender Mentor: This service will help you to fully master your tender responses. Our bid writing professionals will review your completed tender with a fine-tooth comb. We will ensure that the specification is fully covered. We will also support you in presenting your tender in the best possible way to the buyer.
Tender Improvement: This service will support you in maximising your bidding potential. We review your current bid resources and optimise them.

How about specific tendering training bespoke to you and your organisation?

Our dedicated consultancy team can ask you some questions and devise a training programme that is suitable for you and your team today!

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

The post A Guide to Tender Training Courses appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Approaching Different Tender Proposal Formats

Emma Nelson — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 08:00:09 +0000

How many different tender proposal formats can there be?

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 10:53 am

I’m glad you asked. The short answer can be summed up with the well-known phrase ‘how long is a piece of string?’. There are several tender proposal formats which you are more likely to encounter. However, there are still many other ways you can be asked to present a tender, and these can be affected by the sector you are bidding in as well.

The key thing is to make sure that you read the tender instructions thoroughly. This will ensure that your tender proposal format is compliant with the criteria laid down by the Buyer.

As a general guide, here are some of the tender proposal formats you can expect to come across whilst tendering:

Selection Questionnaire / Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (SQ / PQQ)

The SQ and PQQ tender proposal format is usually a very simple one. This consists of the following:

A set questionnaire concerning your company information
Financial position
3 contract examples and in most cases a small selection of quality questions.

The questionnaire element itself will always be presented in a set format, either through the use of a word document, excel sheet or as an online form on the relevant tender portal. Any additional quality questions will most likely be within the same pre-formatted tender document, or within text boxes on the online portal.

Occasionally you may have the option to submit the quality questions separately in a non-buyer document. This is an excellent opportunity to brand your responses and really make them stand out (more on this further down!).

Invitation to Tender (ITT)

In most cases, the ITT is the second stage of a procurement process and your company information will have been submitted at the first stage, meaning that your tender proposal format at ITT will usually consist of quality questions, commercial response/pricing schedule and supporting attachments.

It is entirely dependent upon each buyer (or contract authority) as to how an ITT is laid out and the format you are expected to respond within. ITTs typically fall into two camps:

Pre-designed buyer documents with clearly marked response areas, usually with strict instructions for font size, font type and wordcounts.
Free-format responses, where the ITT instruction layout any guidance points (like word counts or page numbers, font type or size and likewise) but give you the freedom to submit the quality responses in your own documents. (Sometimes, there is no guidance provided at all and you are free to format and develop your tender as you see fit).

If you have the chance to create your own response document, then this is a fantastic opportunity to make your tender stand out. So long as you adhere to whatever instructions are provided (for example, it is usually that the font must be Arial and a size 11) then you can take the chance to ensure the Buyer remembers your proposal.

Some things you might consider doing are to:

Use your company logo to create a simple branding image that you can place on each page of the document, using your company colours to accentuate any further design elements.
Think about putting together a title/cover page and a back page to place at the end of the document. You don’t have to be a design wizard to make these look good; a bold colour for a background which allows for your logo to be displayed nicely will look just fine if you take the time to match everything up properly.

Unfettered tender proposal formats really do give you a great opportunity to showcase the professionalism of your business. In theory, it shouldn’t matter at all if you upload a plain document or a professionally designed one; you’re not being marked on the design work, just the content.

However, creating an eye-catching document when given the chance will improve your odds of catching the buyers eye. Look at it this way; if you were reviewing 20 tender submissions and 19 of them were plain, you would definitely remember the branded one and appreciate the extra effort given.

Request for Proposal / Request for Tender (RFP / RFT)

Request for tender or proposal formats are nearly always free-format. RFPs are particularly common in the creative sector, where the buyer will provide a specification or a creative concept (for example, the basic premise and requirements for a website) and a creative agency will develop an RFP based upon that.

RFPs usually don’t come with wordcounts or stringent restrictions, but always read the instructions to make sure you haven’t missed anything. In procurement, just because something isn’t the norm doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

If you work in the creative industry, then you will know all about how best to display your brand. Don’t make the mistake of assuming tenders or proposals need to be plain documents; take the opportunity an RFP offers to get dynamic with your tender proposal format. This is especially the case if you are tendering for something like website development or film production. White space may help. However, you want to make sure that the buyer remembers you and your brand above all else.

Attachments and supporting evidence

If you are submitting a tender with a pre-designed buyer document that prohibits you from showcasing your beautifully branded documents, don’t despair! If you are permitted to submit supporting evidence with your bid (and in most cases, you will be) make the most of it. Have your company policies, organograms, CVs and case studies designed so that they a) look professional and b) wow the buyer in a way that the tender proposal format restrictions put a stop to.

Tips for a successful submission

Submitting a tender proposal is perhaps the most important part of the tendering process.

Web-based tender submissions have become normal in recent years and is the preferred way for buyers and suppliers to complete the tender process.

What this means is that if you are interested in submitting a tender proposal, you need to be confident using web-based submission portals.

The requirements for submitting a tender proposal have not fundamentally changed. However, the way you as a supplier interacts with the buyer has changed. It is now more streamlined for your company to submit your tender.

Benefits of web-based portals

Modern procurement is completed online and there are a number of ways that this is beneficial:

Web-based tender portals were introduced to speed up the procurement process and make it more transparent for all parties.
Using portals makes it easy for the companies submitting tender proposals to communicate with the buyer to clarify any questions they may have.
It means that the rules must be adhered to by suppliers. It is easy for the buyers to check that you have uploaded the required tender documents before the deadline times
Using web-based portals means your tender proposal information can be stored online. This can save you time and effort if you tender regularly!

Our top 5 tips are:

1. Take your Time

Make sure you have understood all the documentation that needs to be submitted. You should also make time to learn how the tender portals work if you are unfamiliar with them. One of the easiest mistakes to make when submitting a tender online is failing to understand all the submission requirements:

What you need to complete in terms of any additional attachments,
How to complete the correct sections,
And generally ensuring the correct boxes are ticked.

2. Don’t be put off

At first glance, many of the tender portals can seem very confusing. Don’t worry however, it is a lot easier than the old methods of printing out and posting or delivering a hard copy!

3. Learn what works for you

For example, the tender expert writing this blog prefers work in a Word document. They then transpose the proposal text into the relevant online response sections when it is finalised. This is because it is not always easy to work directly with the online boxes.

4. Communicate

The online tender proposal submission portals allows for a much simpler communication process. Any clarification questions, notifications and important correspondence can be completed via the portal.

This is a lot easier and more transparent for all parties. Online portals also create a central location for working on your proposal. This is especially helpful when working with other contributors.

You can all work on the same submission easily. However, you need to make sure you communicate who is doing what to prevent any errors or duplicate content.

5. Strive to stand out

Online proposals can sometimes remove the need for design, formatting and branding of a tender. This might save you time, but most importantly, it increases the need for your bid to stand out from the competition.

You should take the time to make sure your tender proposal is of the highest quality possible. Naturally, at the same time, you need to make sure that it matches the contract criteria and specification. See our Tender Design series on Tender VLE for more information.

Common problems with web-based tender proposals

Although online tender proposals save the time and costs of printing and delivering a hard copy bid, the submission portals are known for being confusing and difficult to navigate.

The main problem with online tender submission portals is that there are several portals that you might use. These are all different and unique in their own special ways.

What this means for you as a supplier is that you need to become familiar with how each portal works. This is especially important if you use different systems regularly.

Another issue often encountered with online portals is on submission day.

Everyone can relate to the fact that although technology saves a lot of time, it can also create major problems when it doesn’t work! Right before the deadline for a tender proposal, the portal is likely to experience a lot of traffic and occasionally the system can crash.

To counter this, make sure your tender proposal is written in plenty of time. This will give you the breathing space you (might) need to upload your proposal in plenty of time before the deadline.

Don’t submit your proposal at the last minute as you run the risk of the portal crashing right at the vital moment. (Trust us, it happens!) If you miss the submission deadline, even by one minute, the tendering window will be closed and the authority will decline your submission.

Stay up to date

Ensure that you read all tender notifications and portal messages from the buyer throughout the tender process.

There may be important updates or additional actions required which may impact your proposal. Normally, these will be notified to all tenderers on the portal, with an (often) automatic email sent to all tenderers.

Tender proposals can demand a lot of your time and resources…

For particularly large tender proposals, there is usually a significant amount of supporting text, attachments, additional documents and financial information provided with each tender.

What this means for you is that you have a lot of reading and understanding to do before you even write your response. This can require a significant investment in terms of time and resource.

It is important to invest that time to fully understand the requirements of the proposal. If you cannot commit to this investment all the time, why not let Hudson’s tendering experts take this burden for you. Our range of tender services mean that we can support your tendering and proposal submission requirements.

Bid proposal support from Hudson

At Hudson Succeed, bid proposal support comes in the form of our most popular service, Tender Writing.

The Italian-based organisation, Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale, approached the team at Hudson Succeed to support them with expanding their services internationally. Formed in 2007, the company has strengthened its role as a multi-service cooperative. They provide services such as town cleaning, environmental hygiene and cemetery management. Their main goal is to provide employment opportunities in the facilities sector to vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

“The collaboration with Hudson has been interestingly fruitful for Barbara B as we were entering a new market and we needed more insight and somebody who would be able to help us in letting our long experience in the Italian market emerge in the UK tendering process. In Hudson we found very responsive and professional support, in particular given the difficulties of transferring/translating the value of our Italian social cooperative work into the bid writing process: language sometimes can a be a limit, but Hudson’s flexibility and creativity helped support our business.” – Filippo Enseki, Operations Manager at Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale.

Tasks and challenges

Research into the UK market

To assist Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale with their expansion goals, we provided them with both our Succeed and Procure services. In addition to supporting them with their bid proposal, our team also carried out research via our Hudson Procure division. This involved undergoing a thorough investigation by liaising with UK councils. Our findings were compiled into a detailed report, within the necessary timescales.

The bid proposal

As well as this insight, Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale also required support with their bid proposal. Their tender of choice was for grounds maintenance services, to be delivered across the UK.

When tackling the bid proposal, the team had to overcome translation issues. As with all clients, the first step for our bid writers is to extract information. This information then builds the foundations upon which the tender responses are crafted. Therefore, it is vital that these details are accurate.

Opportunity tracking

In order to help Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale futureproof their UK market strategy, we also assisted with opportunity tracking. Utilising our research findings, we were able to help the organisation identify the right opportunities for their business. This means that the company was able to prepare for future tender proposals, eliminating the risk of unexpected, reactive work.

Activities

Our bid writers begin every Tender Writing project by creating a bid plan. The plan clearly outlines what they will need from the client and what the client can expect from them. This helps us to set expectations from the outset. It means that both parties have a clear understanding of the project timeline and how we will deliver the work required. In this case, the bid plan was particularly important. Extra time had to be factored in for translating any documents required from Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale.

The Succeed team underwent detailed, industry-specific research throughout the project. This ensured that their tender responses were developed to the highest possible quality. Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale is an experienced provider of grounds maintenance services. It was crucial that the bid responses accurately represented the client’s capabilities.

With the bid plan in progress, the team were able to effectively communicate with the organisation throughout the project. This led to the timely submission of the grounds maintenance bid proposal.

As for the procurement research, the team developed and designed a detailed and intuitive report. As the client was new to tendering for work in the UK, the report outlined the best strategy for them.

Results

Due to the success of the first submission, where a 97% quality score was achieved, we continued to work with Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale. We have since helped the organisation to streamline their understanding of and approach towards procurement in the UK.

Our second tender submission was also a success, securing a four-year contract, totalling a value of c.£350,000.

Find more information about our work with Barbara B Cooperativa Sociale.

Find your perfect service

Writing a tender proposal for the first time?
Needing a second pair of eyes?
Never tendered before?
Need some advice and guidance through the tender process?
Having burning questions?
Don’t have the time to tender?

Don’t worry, it’s Hudson to the rescue!

No matter your question or query about writing a tender proposal, we have a service that is ideal for you. Whilst lots more information on our tendering and procurement advice and writing services can be found in our blogs, read ahead for a snapshot of each of our services, what they involve and the benefits they can bring to your business.

How we work

We maintain a client-first approach in everything we do. Communication and transparency are vital to our service delivery.

Clients utilise our services for many different reasons, such as:

Support with an ad-hoc bid proposal;
Help to get started with their first tender;
Help to improve their internal bid success rate;
Simply because they need a second pair of eyes before they submit a bid.

No matter the reason, their goal remains the same – to grow their business. That’s why we developed our four service offerings; to ensure that we can support businesses of all sizes.

Tender VLE

Tender VLE is the UK’s first, online, tendering and virtual learning environment. The platform is dedicated to answering your questions about writing a tender proposal. Our team of procurement specialists regularly update the site with videos, accompanying blogs and downloadable attachments. These resources provide guidance, advice and helpful hints and tips regarding the tendering and procurement process. The site caters to beginners, intermediates and advanced level businesses. It is free to use and many clients find this service extremely helpful in terms of its clarity, ease of use and the answers it provided to commonly asked questions.

Lots of our videos are designed to provide specific tender support to those who have never tendered before or have lots of questions about the process including:

If you’re interested in learning more about how to make the most of formatting your tenders, then check out our upcoming instructor on Tender VLE, Kathryn Johansen. In her introductory video, Kathryn has some excellent advice to give on the importance of your brand and how to use it to greatest effect when tendering.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service provides businesses with a vital, second pair of eyes to make sure that their submission is the best it can be. It is predominantly a guide, review and advice service which involves our team critiquing your prospective tender responses whilst mentoring your team on ways in which they can continuously improve their submissions.

Tender Mentor is perfect for businesses who need a helping hand writing a tender proposal; our team of procurement professionals will pay attention to the details of your submission and the particulars of the specification. They will ensure that your response flows well and answers the question, whilst optimising the effectiveness in relation to the buyer’s requirements.

Tender Ready

Since launching the Tender Ready programme, we have helped numerous clients to take the first step on their tendering journey. We know that the tendering process can seem daunting. The programme was designed to help businesses who are exploring this avenue for the first time.

The package includes:

The creation of the corporate literature you will need to tender for contracts;
Three days of bid writing consultancy to develop your first bid proposal response;
12-months access to the Hudson Discover tendering portal of your choice so that you can continue to identify opportunities after the programme.

Call or email us to book a free consultation.

Tender Improvement

This programme is designed for businesses who are currently tendering for work but are perhaps not seeing success. Our bid team will provide tailored, one to one support to critique clients’ past responses. Knowledge and guidance is offered that can help improve future responses.

In order to help you increase your win rate, the package includes:

A full analysis of your previous tender responses and the identification of areas for improvement;
The creation/redevelopment of your corporate literature to help you impress buyers;
Three days of bid consultancy to either write your next tender response or guide you through the process yourself;
A 12-month subscription to the Hudson Discover portal of your choice.

Simply call or email the team for more information.

Tender Writing

This is our ad-hoc writing service, primarily aimed at businesses who know how to tender but struggle to find the time and resources to do so. Our team will take tender management, writing the bids and the submission process off clients’ hands completely.

Our team will work closely with the client throughout the process. They will ascertain the level of technical input and specific examples required to make the submission stand out from the crowd. And on top of all of that, we will battle with those pesky submission portals on our clients’ behalf. This makes the process of writing a tender proposal as stress-free as possible.

Further support

Still got questions? For more information about tendering and how to approach it, contact our Tender Writing Consultants for a free chat about your tendering queries and needs.

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

The post Approaching Different Tender Proposal Formats appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Why do Businesses Tender for Work? – How Tendering Works

Emma Nelson — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 08:00:15 +0000

How Tendering Works – Our Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: Jul 11, 2022 @ 2:38 pm

You may be wondering how tendring works and you’re not alone. Some common questions we get are: “So, how does tendering work?”

“Why does it matter to my business?”

“Would an SME stand a chance?”

“Isn’t it just for the big players?”

“Would tendering benefit my business?”

These are all common questions that, as tender writing consultants, we have been asked by businesses who are unsure about: a) how tendering works and b) if tendering is suitable for them. If these are questions that you have asked yourself before, then read on for a clear and comprehensive response (without going too deep into the whys and wherefores of tendering) to these queries:

How does tendering work?

In short, tendering is an opportunity for Suppliers to ‘bid’ on a contract, by submitting a combination of pricing and responses to quality questions. Ordinarily, the Buyer will construct their tender by:

Developing a specification or general requirement.
Setting out Supplier requirements (e.g. the minimum Economic and Financial threshold, mandatory accreditations or required experience).
Developing a set of quality questions to be answered by Suppliers as part of their tender response.
Establish specific rules, or instructions (e.g. where / how the tender must be submitted, how the tender should be formatted etc).
Setting down the evaluation criteria (e.g. it will be assessed through 60% quality and 40% price). This is commonly referred to as souring the MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender). For a full explanation of MEAT and how it works, have a look at this short tutorial video.
Deciding the contract type (i.e. one-off, term or framework).
Agreeing the tender procurement process, which can include:
- PQQ/SQ stage (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire / Selection Questionnaire)
- Shortlist to ITT (Invitation to Tender).
- Site Visits (where appropriate for the sector).
- ITT Submission.
- Presentation.
- Contract Award.

Once the Buyer has finalised all the details of their tender, they will release it out into the public domain, through a tendering portal such as ProContract, Intend or Delta eSourcing (this applies to the Public Tendering domain, for information on how things work a little differently in private sector tendering, check out our video on the subject).

It’s at this point that tendering starts to matter to your business.

What happens next?

Once the contract notice has been published and you see that a contract would be perfect for your company, you have a (usually small!) window of opportunity to respond. There are a lot of things you can do to make absolutely sure your business is capable and ready to try and win a particular tender. But for the purpose of this exercise, let us assume that you know that your company has the experience and meets the economic and financial threshold. Why wouldn’t you take this opportunity?

It’s a good question, and one we at Hudson find ourselves asking quite a lot of the time. There are thousands of SME businesses who could be tapping into the valuable market of tendering and who simply aren’t. We think that’s madness. The matter of fact is, many are still wondering how tendering works. This is an excellent way to win contracts with big companies and public bodies, meaning you have the potential to increase your company’s turnover and profit year on year.

So, why are so many SMEs doing themselves out of this golden opportunity?

Well, we have a few theories:

Misconceptions

A lot of SME businesses seem to think that tendering is just for the ‘Big Players’, i.e. companies with turnovers in excess of £5M+. Whilst it is true that these companies definitely tender (pretty successfully too, we can assume) it simply isn’t true that tendering is set up for these companies and nobody else.

The UK Government is trying to encourage SME businesses to get into tendering, to help UK small business grow and to help improve the quality of businesses on offer for Buyers. The Government is committed to delivering a third of all public procurement spending to small and medium companies by 2022. That’s £1 in every £3 going to small companies through direct and indirect procurement.

Lack of know-how

Unsurprisingly, a lot of SME businesses just don’t know how tendering works, which isn’t in and of itself that surprising. How tendering works isn’t a topic covered very much in general media or news. Plus, once people do learn about tendering, it can look pretty dense and unwelcoming to the uninitiated, which must be off-putting to even the most ambitious of small businesses. (If this is the case for you, check out our online learning resource, Tender VLE, for some guidance).

Limited resources

This is one area in which, admittedly, the big companies have a clear and distinct advantage. Whereas a large outfit will almost definitely have their own internal bid writing resource, smaller companies don’t tend to have that luxury. Companies trying to get started in bid writing are trying to balance it against their daily tasks and duties. This can be stressful and ultimately not very conducive to success.

All of the above applies to my business! How do I overcome these problems?

The good news is that you’re definitely not alone in wanting to figure out how tendering works. The great news is that there are some very simple things you can do to overcome those three road-blocks to success.

Fix your misconceptions

If you have a good think about it, you’ll probably find that most of what you think you know about tendering is not very substantial at all.

Do your reading and research and you’ll find that there is a whole Government Initiative with the sole purpose of improving opportunities for SMEs in the UK, and that tendering is a significant part of that. The Government is a great client to work for. They are constantly providing tendering opportunities for businesses like yours no matter what business you do. As an added bonus their payment terms are often more flexible and accommodating for small businesses. They have incentives that are making more and more SMEs looking for the answer to how tendering works.

As of 2015, the Government mandates that companies within its supply chain must pay contractors and sub-contractors within 30 days. Governments also regulate themselves to ensure this, making public their payment rates four times per year. This ethical business practice means less risk to you throughout the contract.

Tendering is definitely not just for enormous companies with glass-walled conference rooms and beanbags in a riot of colours. (Though we concede that those things are very nice, and who knows? They may even be a happy consequence of learning to tender successfully).

Work on your knowledge on how tendering works

Diving into tendering head-first would not be a good idea. But, setting aside some time to educate yourself on how tendering works and how you can best prepare yourself is a worthy use of your time. A Google search of ‘how tendering works’ will bring up more results than you could ever look at. A good place to start is right here, on our Tender VLE site, where you can watch short (free!) instructional videos on the basics of tendering.

Many people see tendering as an impenetrable, expensive exercise in bureaucracy. So, we’re very proud to be the first company in the UK to offer a free learning resource to help demystify procurement and show people just how tendering works (we promise it’s probably not quite as impossible as you might think it is).

Outsource if you don’t have the resource

Now, it might be that between you and your other team members, you can pull together a tender in a reasonable amount of time, without too much stress and not too much risk of missing anything vital.

However, this is where you have to ask yourself; “Is that is the best use of the resources that I have?” The answer is very likely, “Not really”. Putting a high-quality tender together is a time-consuming task (even for those of us that do it full-time). So, how much of your teams’ intended delivery-output compromised by trying to win more work through writing a lengthy tender response?

So how can SMEs bid for, and win tendering opportunities?

Tendering for business is a lot more simple than it used to be. This is thanks to the Public Contracts Regulations which came into effect in February 2015.

This means two things:

The changes enable buyers to run tender opportunities faster, with less red tape. There’s a greater focus on getting the right company and best tender in accordance with sound commercial practice.
The buyer must follow the procedures laid down in the Public Contracts Regulations before awarding a contract to suppliers when they are tendering for a contract to provide supplies, services or works for government departments or bodies.

Both of these are great for you because:

It means there are more tender opportunities available more of the time.
Every tender has to be unbiased, which means a fair fight across quality and price tender assessments.
The tender process is similar no matter which governmental client you bid for. This means that once you know how it works, you can tender for business across every government department, body and business area.

Finding tenders

Having plenty of tender opportunities out there is a great thing. You can search for public tenders using the Contract Finder service on the central Government’s website. However, Hudson appreciates that sometimes finding the right tender for your business can feel like a waste of time.

We offer ways to avoid that hassle.

Hudson Discover has a range of tender databases designed to support SMEs to start the tendering process. We help you achieve business growth and begin to tender.

We have 11 sector-specific tender databases which our expert team manually update daily with new opportunities to ensure you can find the right tender to drive your business growth. These are:

Applying for government tenders

Making the decision to tender can lead to securing business growth, and this is good news for your company. But it does mean you’re going up against other companies.

To give your business the best chance of winning every time you tender, here are a few tips:

Sign up to receive regular tender opportunities.

It can be hugely disappointing to hear your competitors have secured a contract you could have tendered for; if you were aware it was available.

Understand the tender terminology

Knowing how tendering works and the tendering language can help you develop your skills. Hudson’s expertise is available to help you understand what the different tender documents are for, and what buyers are expecting.

Get Tender Ready

Creating your own collection of tender documents will help your business get ready for tendering in the future. Hudson Succeed’s Tender Ready service is designed to help businesses understand how to tender for public and private tender opportunities. We can create a suite of documents for your business to build your tendering ability and increase your success rate.

Develop your writing ability

Writing bids can be a daunting experience. There are word limits, page limits, attachments and declarations to consider as part of each tender. But don’t worry, there are ways to practice, learn and develop your tendering skills.

Hudson are the first company to offer a completely free to use resource dedicated to developing your skills. We launched Tender VLE to offer FREE high-quality video resources at a range of levels to support your ability.

Don’t be afraid of learning how tendering works, embrace the potential for growth it offers.

Invest in long term growth

One mistake that SMEs make is thinking short term. Making the decision to tender is not a short term commitment. It can take weeks to write a tender, months to get the contract, and years to deliver the works and see benefits.

If you decide to tender for opportunities you need to make it a core part of your business plan in the long term and commit resources to make the most out of it.

Don’t give up

In truth, you will more than likely not succeed at your first tendering attempt. Do not give up! Ask for feedback from every tender you submit. Clients will be happy to provide this to help you improve.

Conclusion

As always, there is no ‘one size fits all’ response. Every business is different, and you have to weigh up the pros and cons and decide what is best for your business. If you are able to accommodate tender writing within your team, then it would be worth your while to get professional feedback on the first few tenders that you write to make sure that you’re using your time wisely (our Tender Ready and Tender Mentor packages could come in handy for you here).

Further Support

If you can’t see a way to write your tenders internally at all, then don’t despair.

Contact our Hudson Succeed team via phone for email for a free consultation; we promise there is no such thing as a silly question and we’ll never tell you to pursue a tendering strategy that simply won’t work for your business.

Our Bid Writers can help you when tendering for contracts. They can advise you on writing winning bids and give you more information about the tendering process in general.

We’ll do our best to help you understand all of the ins and outs of how tendering works and, if Tender Writing is what you’re interested in, we’ll do everything we can to help you succeed.

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

The post Why do Businesses Tender for Work? – How Tendering Works appeared first on Tender Consultants.

The Benefits of Tendering for Government Contracts – Government Tenders UK

Emma Nelson — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 08:00:47 +0000

Government Tenders UK

Although the procurement market is vast, government tenders (or ‘public’ tenders) in particular are often in high demand. There are several reasons for this. The UK Government is keen to encourage SMEs into government supply chains in order to improve value for money within the public sector.

Although tendering for government tenders is highly regulated, the advantage is that no matter how small your business, there is always an opportunity to supply the government. Their remit extends across all major industries and sectors.

Additionally, the Government has to be transparent in the way they are spending public money. This means there are no grey areas during both the tendering process and any time spent under contract.

Most importantly, public sector bodies have to pay accounts within 30-days of receiving a valid invoice / bill. This makes for positive Buyer/Supplier relationships.

What comes under ‘Government Tenders’?

Broadly speaking, ‘government tenders’ includes work within the following:

Central civil government departments and agencies.
The NHS and its local trusts.
The MOD (Ministry of Defence).
Local Authorities / Local Government.
Universities and Colleges.
State-run Schools.

All of these sectors are funded by public money, which therefore makes them part of government expenditure.

Where can you find UK Government Tenders?

Government bids and tenders (UK) can be found in several places. Within the UK there are multiple procurement portals and many departments have their own websites for department-specific tender opportunities.

Primarily, government tenders can be found on such places as:

Contract Finder
Sell2Wales
Public Contracts Scotland
ProContract

There are quite literally thousands of procurement portals. Knowing where to find tenders that suit your service offering can be impossible.

If you are looking for an accurate, time-saving tool then we recommend investigating our Hudson Discover offering. We source and collate thousands of public and private tender opportunities for our 10 sector-specific portals:

Where is a good place to start?

If you are starting out on your tendering journey and are interested in government tenders within the UK, then investigating public sector Frameworks is a really good place to start.

Frameworks provide the Buyer with an approved list of Suppliers. They can draw upon this list for individual services over a period of time. For example:

Framework Title: Construction Consultancy Services

Buyer: HPO (Hypothetical Procurement Organisation)

Contract Length: 4-years

Framework Value: £10,000,000

Framework Description: HPO are seeking 25 suppliers to deliver on the construction consultancy framework between 2020 and 2024 across 4 Lots:

1: Project Management
2: Building Surveying
3: Quantity Surveying
4: Contract Administration

In the above example, if you were a construction consultancy SME who offered two of the requested services, you could apply for two of the Lots. Likewise, if your company offers all of the required services, you can apply for all Lots.

Individual Frameworks work slightly different. Broadly speaking you can expect to go through a tender process to be considered for the Framework. If successful you become one of the approved Suppliers.

Once you are on there, you will have the opportunity to apply for individual jobs/mini-tenders.

Many Local Authorities offer Frameworks, as well as other public sector members. Here are just a few that are worth investigating:

ESPO

East Shires Purchasing Organisation is a public sector owned professional buying organisation (PBO). It offers over 120 Frameworks and provides procurement services for six-member authority councils:

Leicestershire County Council
Lincolnshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Norfolk County Council
Warwickshire County Council
Peterborough City Council.
YPO

Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation is a publicly owned central purchasing body based in Wakefield, Yorkshire. It is owned and governed by a consortium of county, metropolitan and borough councils in Yorkshire and the North West England. It offers over 100 Frameworks and has partnerships with such organisations as:

BESAA
EduBuy
Crown Commercial Service
iNetwork
Institute of Customer Service
LACA
Institute of School Business Leadership
North Yorkshire Procurement Service
SUPC

Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium comprises of dozens of member Universities and other Higher Education bodies across the South of England. Together, the members have a considerable non-pay expenditure of over £3 billion. As a supplier to SUPC, companies have direct access to unique opportunities across a whole range of sectors.

NWUPC

North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium is a not-for-profit organisation owned by its Full members consisting of 23 Universities within the North West Region.

Framework Agreements are not mandated. Members make purchasing decisions based on their individual requirements and University guidelines. Frameworks currently cover:

Administration
Professional Services
Audio Visual
Catering
Computer
Domestic Supplies and Services
Estates
Furniture and Soft Furnishings
Laboratory Supplies
Stationary and Office Equipment
Telecommunications
NEUPC

North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium Ltd. (NEUPC) is one of six UK Higher Education purchasing consortia established to deliver and manage a wide range of collaborative framework agreements. These were designed to maximise third-party expenditure within the higher education sector.

Some of their members include:

University of Bradford
University of Derby
University of Leeds
Leeds Trinity University
Teesside University
York St John University
LUPC

London Universities Purchasing Consortium has over 100 members. This has resulted in multiple, diverse Framework opportunities across London and the surrounding environs.

Current Framework opportunities cover:
Audio Visual
Catering
Estates and Facilities Management
Furniture and Furnishing
ICT and Telecoms
Library
Office Supplies and Equipment
Professional Services
STEMED and Laboratories
Travel and Accommodation
Utilities

What next?

If you are dedicated to pursuing government tenders, then investigating which public sector Frameworks are suitable for you to apply for is certainly an advisable place to start.

It is important to remember that if you are tendering in the public sector, the buyers you will be dealing with will need to prove beyond doubt that they are spending public money in a responsible manner. Consequently, you will need to be prepared to evidence the following:

Relevant experience
Strong financial and economic standing
Appropriate insurance levels
An economically advantageous approach

For more information on how to go about this, check out our free, online learning resource Tender VLE where you will find short masterclasses on different tendering subjects.

Further Support

For more information on how to tackle government tenders, contact our bid management team at Hudson Succeed for a free consultation on how best to tackle your tendering ambitions.

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

The post The Benefits of Tendering for Government Contracts – Government Tenders UK appeared first on Tender Consultants.

The Tender Ready Programme

John Hudson — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:06:17 +0000

The Tender Ready Programme

Tendering can be quite daunting, especially if you have never responded or even seen what a tender looks like.

The first stages of tendering are crucial in ensuring that you get it right, and this is part of what we call being “Tender Ready”.

Indeed, before you even decide on a contract to bid for, there are a few things that you can have prepared in advance that will make your life much easier when it comes to developing tenders.

We have provided our Top 4 things that you need to consider when being Tender Ready:

1 – Experience & Technical Capabilities

Firstly, buyers need to see the past experience of your delivery.

To provide the buyer with confidence in your ability to undergo the work involved, you need to demonstrate you can actually deliver the work you’re bidding for, by providing thorough, detailed and robust examples of where you have delivered similar work in the past.

Be organised and prepare at least three good case studies for each service you offer, detailing the timescale and value, achievements, outcomes, challenges and lessons learned.

For more information about writing a great case study, click here to see our “Case studies” video via Tender VLE.

2 – Policies & Procedures

Secondly, make sure your organisation possesses the relevant policies and procedures, in which you actively implement and use every single day. This may vary depending on the sector, but the most important ones consist of the following:

Health and Safety policy
Equality and Diversity policy
Quality Policy
Environmental Policy
Customer Service / Complaints policy etc.

For more information about policies and procedures, click here to visit Tender VLE.

3 – Organisational Structure

Thirdly, we recommend you have a clear team structure with a chain of command, clearly defined roles and responsibilities and deputising and reporting procedures.

Using an organogram, or organisation chart can be a useful, simple and visually appealing way of presenting your organisational structure to the buyer that lets them see who does what and who manages each area.

Such information can be backed up by detailed and clear team profiles and CVs. Click here for more information.

4 – Boilerplate Responses & Generic Content

Fourthly, it is a great idea to have a bank of pre-prepared “boilerplate responses” – templates for responses to questions or topics which often come up, or which can be reasonably anticipated.

These save you precious time and resources, meaning your work on a given response might only be a few tweaks here and there to tailor it to the question being asked, allowing you to divert your energies to more specific, technical and in-depth questions.

Being Tender Ready involves demonstrating to buyers that you understand how your organisation operates, what it is you offer, your resources, experience and your ethos.

It’s hard to convince a buyer to choose you if it looks like you yourself don’t know what you’re talking about and you have multiple inconsistencies across your brand, as well as having little to no evidence of previous delivery.

Getting the necessary information together and producing high-quality literature that is detailed and clear is a mammoth task, but an important first step.

Here at Tender Consultants, we are here to help you SUCCEED.

If you’re feeling confused by the tendering process, daunted, or are needing that all important first step in the right direction, then our Tender Ready service is the one for you!

What is the Tender Ready programme?

Our Tender Ready service ensures that you have winning resources in place when you begin bidding for contracts.

The service includes:

Professional Tender Portfolio development.
Basic tender knowledge support.
Expert advice regarding the opportunities that you should be bidding for based on your companies economic financial standing.
Content production of the most frequently requested tender documentation including company policies, team profiles and internal procedures.
Case study development and tender response advice.
Once this content is developed you are ready to tender! But our bid support doesn’t end there. As part of the Tender Ready service, you will also be entitled to a review of your first two bids OR our tender experts will write your first bid on your behalf, using the documents we have created.

Get in touch today and start your tender journey.

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

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INSURANCE WHEN TENDERING – CONTRACTORS INSURANCE

John Hudson — Mon, 21 May 2018 07:30:39 +0000

INSURANCE WHEN TENDERING – CONTRACTORS INSURANCE

Last updated: Jan 10, 2022 @ 7:39 am

Contractors insurance when tendering – what you need to know!

Insurance is a big thing, required in many aspects of your life.

Home Insurance. Car Insurance. Mortgage Protection. The list goes on.

Business Insurance is, of course, a part of this list and if you are a business owner, you’ll know some of the complexities attached with Insurance – unless you are an Insurance Business Owner, we take it this will be quite easy for you guys to grasp.

When tendering, information regarding your contractors insurance is heavily sought as part of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) process, ensuring you have the basic levels of insurance to deliver the contract at hand.

The types of insurance you require are usually defined as:

Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance – this is the insurance which will enable you to meet the cost of compensation for your employees’ injuries or illness whether they are caused on or off-site. You automatically need £5M minimum here.
Public Liability Insurance – this is the insurance that protects you if a member of the public sues your business.
Professional Indemnity Insurance – this insurance covers legal costs/expenses if you are alleged to have provided inadequate advice, services or designs that cause your client to lose money.
Product Liability Insurance – this insurance protects you against claims of personal injury or property damage caused by products sold or supplied through your business.

As per a typical pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or invitation to tender (ITT), buyers are encouraged with the following, as per Public Contract Regulations:

“You should allow potential suppliers to self-certify that they have, or will have in place, any required insurance in the event that they are awarded the contract. It is not appropriate at this point to insist on evidence that cover already exists. You should specify the level of cover required on a case by case basis. This should be proportionate and reflective of the nature of the work and the risk involved. Any reason for requiring insurance above that required by law should be justifiable.”

Insurance is one of the key things that you can either pass or fail on as part of the exclusion grounds within a PQQ. This assesses you economically and financially, which assures you have the necessary financial means to commit to the contract specification.

You can find out more about Economic & Financial Standing by CLICKING HERE

It is normally laid out as follows:

Contractors Insurance

Even if you don’t have the correct insurance currently, the buyer tends to ask if you or your organisation is in a position to easily obtain this prior to the commencement of the contract through self-certification (as above). The buyer will usually allow suppliers to ‘commit to obtaining this’, as many suppliers may not have the exact level of insurances needed.

However, in specific industry sectors, suppliers may already need the insurance before applying, with the evidence needed. For example, a lot of tenders/PQQs in Technology & Digital tenders, we’ve noticed that suppliers need to attach copies of their insurance policies in order to make it to the next stage.

You’ll find your market-sector wields specific levels of insurance which is heavily recommended for you to maintain and some buyers may require proof of this initially. Make sure you understand the recommended amounts of contractors insurance you need to operate competitively in your market sector, so this doesn’t pose an issue when tendering for contracts.

A lot of suppliers will undoubtedly give this section minimal thought and just tick YES to whatever insurance is being requested. Remember to read this – you may find insurance may be way too excessive – which could possibly pose further clarification questions to why.

For further information, or if you have any questions regarding insurance when tendering, join the discussion on our LinkedIn forum.

Get in touch with one of our bid management consultants if you have any further questions on how our Bid Writers can help you write winning bids.

We’re here to help you understand and succeed.

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

The post INSURANCE WHEN TENDERING – CONTRACTORS INSURANCE appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Procurement - Expert Archives | Tender Consultants

What are PQQs?

What to expect from PQQs?

What are PQQs?

What is the difference between PQQs and SQs?

When are PQQs likely to be used?

Restricted procurement procedure

The PQQ process

What can I expect from a PQQ?

What sectors use PQQs?

PAS91

PCS-Tenders

Where can I find contracts for my business?

What makes Hudson Discover different?

Need assistance with your next PQQ?

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

Additional support

Discover Elite

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

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

A Guide to Crown Commercial Service Frameworks

Crown Commercial Service Framework FAQs

What is purchased via Crown Commercial Service frameworks?

Buildings

Corporate Solutions

People

Technology

How to respond to Crown Commercial Service frameworks

What are Crown Commercial Service frameworks?

Further competitions

3 key things to note

Timing

Sub-contracting

The Government eMarketplace

Where can I find Crown Commercial Service Frameworks?

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

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

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Discover Elite

Public sector procurement after Brexit

Tendering after Brexit – what do we know so far?

How does this benefit UK businesses?

How will this benefit businesses overseas?

Submitting tenders before 2021?

Changes to social value in procurement will create more opportunities for SMEs

Social value in procurement – driving positive change

How will the new model be used?

Social value in tender responses will be assessed based on;

Levelling the playing field

Consistency across public sector organisations

In summary

Further support

A Guide to Tender Training Courses

Tender training courses can offer lots of guidance, hints, tips and tricks. How do you choose which course is right for you?

Let’s start from the basics – what do you want to learn?

1. Excellent time management.

2. Effective communication skills.

3. A good eye for detail.

Writing skills.

Understanding your sector is just as essential as specific tender training courses

Tailor learning to your needs

Go back to basics

So what about specific tender training courses?

Applying training in context

Hudson Helpline

How about specific tendering training bespoke to you and your organisation?

Approaching Different Tender Proposal Formats

How many different tender proposal formats can there be?

Selection Questionnaire / Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (SQ / PQQ)

Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Some things you might consider doing are to:

Request for Proposal / Request for Tender (RFP / RFT)