Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the Building Safety Act was introduced by parliament. The aim of this Bill is to improve the safety of buildings. It also has a particular emphasis on ‘higher risk buildings’, which are over a specified height.

The Building Safety Act was put in place to give residents more power to hold builders and developers accountable. It will also mean tougher sanctions against those that are jeopardising the safety of residents. The Bill passed Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and will apply to both current and future ‘high-risk’ buildings.

Those working in construction and procurement may wonder how the Building Safety Act will impact the industry. Keep reading to learn the answers!

What are the key changes to the Building Safety Act?

Here are some of the main points of change within the Building Safety Act:

1.     The creation of the role of a Building Safety Regulator

A Building Safety Regulator will be responsible for overseeing the new regime. Initially, however, the Health and Safety Executive will assume this role. They will have to ensure that they manage any building safety risks.

2.     An overhaul of parts of the Building Act 1984

Many of the Building Safety Act’s elements from 1984 will be revised to be more up to date.

3.     The creation of specific provisions in relation to ‘higher-risk buildings’

This will be for new and existing high-rise residential buildings of 18m and above (seven storeys or more).

4.     The introduction of a New Home Ombudsman

The New Home Ombudsman scheme aims to provide methods of resolutions for complaints and disputes. These disputes are those issued by buyers of new build homes against the developers.

5.     Reform of the regulation of architects, construction products and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Given the fire damage at Grenfell, the materials used in construction will now be under heavy scrutiny. It is vital that materials and products are considered for all possible incidents.

6.     Extending limitation periods relating to the Defective Premises Act 1972 and The Building Act 1984

Due to the outdated Bill, the government is extending time periods in which landlords and developers can be held accountable. This offers residents more of an opportunity to hold them accountable for issues from before the Building Safety Act’s revision.

7.     The introduction of new gateways during the planning and construction process

The introduction of further key decision points (gateways) will enhance development management.

What impact will the Building Safety Act changes have on tendering in the construction industry?

As the Building Safety Act comes into force, there will be a range of changes within the construction industry. These changes will also affect the way tendering is conducted. Some of the impacts we expect are as follows…

Due to the changes within the Building Safety Act, we suspect that quality questions will become the focus. There will likely be a far greater emphasis on the health and safety aspects of tenders.

Suppliers will be expected to give evidence to support their claims. Plus, they’ll need to show how these are carried out and put in place for years to come. The longevity of safety is a key part of the Building Safety Act. Buyers will want to know that suitable building materials will be used. As well as the methods and the various precautions in place to safeguard residents.

Summary

Here’s a summary of what we covered:

What are the key changes to the Building Safety Act?

• The creation of the role of a Building Safety Regulator
• An overhaul of parts of the Building Act 1984
• The creation of specific provisions in relation to ‘higher-risk buildings’
• The introduction of a New Home Ombudsman
• Reform of the regulation of architects, construction products and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
• Extending limitation periods relating to the Defective Premises Act 1972 and The Building Act 1984
• The introduction of new gateways during the planning and construction process.

What impact will the Building Safety Act changes have on tendering in the construction industry?

There will likely be more emphasis on quality questions in tenders and bid proposals. Health and safety will be the primary focus.

Need help searching for tenders?

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

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

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

Discover Elite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Tender Writing

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

• Tender Mentor

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

• Tender Ready

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

• Tender Improvement

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

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

Vocal

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

At Vocal, our team are never afraid to be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

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

• Copywriting
• Marketing
• Branding
• Websites
• Design
• Illustration.

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

Contact us today to find out more.

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

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Building Safety Act: Here’s How the New Bill Will Affect Tendering appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Are you familiar with the different types of tender procedures?

The tendering process can be incredibly complex and time-consuming. If you’re new to tendering for contracts, you might not know where to start!

However, you’re in luck! In this blog, we’ll outline the different types of tender procedures. So, when you start tendering for work, you’ll be more than ready to tackle the bid!

What are the different types of tender procedures?

Open tendering

One of the most common types of tender procedures is open tendering. With this method, the buyer is allowing any business to bid for the contract.

A typical open tendering process would include the following:

• ITT

Typically, the process will begin when the buyer releases an invitation to tender (ITT). Once this document is published, any business can respond and bid for the work.

To be successful, prospective suppliers are expected to submit a tender response that sells their business to the buyer.

• Evaluation and award

The next stage is for buyers to evaluate the tender responses and award the contract to their chosen supplier. Usually, the buyer will award the contract to the most economically advantageous tender, or the MEAT.

It’s also common for buyers to disclose a price vs quality weighting in the tender documents. For example, they will evaluate tenders on the basis of 30% quality and 70% price.

Restricted tendering 

As well as open tendering, there are other types of tender procedures out there, such as restricted tendering. This is also known as selective tendering.

This service is more likely to be used when the buyer wishes to acquire complex or specialist services. With restricted tendering, only suppliers that have been invited directly by the buyer can tender for the work. As a result, the buyer can shortlist the suppliers to filter through any that don’t meet their requirements.

This type of tendering procedure could include the following steps:

• The buyer releases a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ)
• An ITT is issued to eligible businesses
• The contract is awarded to the successful supplier.

Negotiated tendering  

One of the types of tender procedures that you might come across is negotiated tendering. As the name suggests, this process involves a negotiation between the buyer and prospective suppliers.

This process might include the following stages:

• Pre-qualifying stage

This type of tender will usually start with a pre-qualifying stage. For example, the buyer might ask suppliers to complete a PQQ or SQ.

• Negotiation

Once the suppliers have been shortlisted, they receive an invitation to negotiate. Unlike the other types of tender procedures, there are no set guidelines for this process. In some cases, negotiations can continue until after the preferred supplier is appointed.

Remember, these are just some of the different types of tender processes out there. This list is not exhaustive – you could be faced with many more on your tendering journey!

What are the different types of tender documents?

During our exploration of different tender processes, we briefly touched on ITTs, PQQs and more. You might have heard these terms before, but do you know what they mean?

Understanding the different types of tender documents is just as important as understanding the different tender processes. So, let’s look at each term in more detail…

• PQQ

PQQ stands for pre-qualification questionnaire. Generally, this document is used to pre-qualify suppliers before they submit a formal bid.

Typically, PQQs will cover the status of your organisation, finances, how you manage quality, your company’s policies, and case studies.

• SQ

SQ stands for selection questionnaire. This document is very similar to a PQQ, however, there are some key differences.

For example, with PQQs, the buyer will generally expect evidence of your qualifications and certificates. However, this is not always the case with an SQ. Instead, the buyer might ask for evidence of this at the ITT stage of the tendering process.

• ITT

As we’ve already established, ITT stands for invitation to tender. This is one of the most common types of tender documents that you’ll face during the process.

An ITT is a formal document issued by a buyer, outlining the scope of their project. This document is used to invite organisations or individuals to submit a formal tender for the work.

In summary

Now you know some of the different types of tender processes out there. You could be faced with open tendering, restricted tendering or negotiated tendering. But remember, this list is not exhaustive – there are many types of tender procedures out there.

It’s also important to remember the different types of tender documents you might come across. Buyers might ask you to complete a PQQ or SQ. This helps them to filter through prospective suppliers before they’re formally invited to tender – which brings us to another document! More than likely, the buyer will ask you to respond to an ITT. This allows them to evaluate suppliers and choose the right one for their project.

How Hudson Succeed can help

Still have questions about the types of tender processes and procedures? Why not call our Bid Writing Consultants? We’re always happy to help!

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

• Tender Writing

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

• Tender Mentor

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

• Tender Ready

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

• Tender Improvement

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

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

Need help searching for tenders?

Now you know about the different tendering procedures, it’s time to find a contract opportunity for your company.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vocal

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

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

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

Our team specialise in six areas, including:

• Copywriting
• Marketing
• Branding
• Websites
• Design
• Illustration.

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

Contact us to find out more!

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

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Types of Tender Procedures Explained appeared first on Tender Consultants.

If you’re tendering for contracts, you might be wondering how to be the most economically advantageous tender. Or, if you’re new to the tendering process, you might be wondering what it means.

Luckily for you, our technical Bid Writers are on hand to help. This blog will tell you everything you need to know to be the most economically advantageous tender.

What does it mean?

First thing first, what do we mean by most economically advantageous tender?

Also known as the MEAT, the most economically advantageous tender is a common evaluation method used by buyers. The MEAT was introduced by the European Parliament to increase the fairness and transparency of the procurement process.

With MEAT evaluation, the buyer evaluates other aspects of the service, not just the price. As a result, the contract is awarded to the supplier that offers the best value for money. Other factors that the buyer could consider include:

• Quality
• Technical ability
• The proposed design
• Accessibility
• Social value
• Environmental benefits
• Innovation
• Customer service or ongoing support
• Ability to deliver on time.

How does the buyer source the MEAT?

How does the buyer find the most economically advantageous tender? Typically, there are four steps to the process, including:

1. The requirements are set

The first step of finding the most economically advantageous tender is for the buyer to outline their requirements. This includes developing the scope of the work, as well as producing the relevant documentation.

There’s a good chance that the buyer won’t know exactly what is required for the work to be completed. To overcome this, the buyer might use a Soft Market Testing exercise to find out more information about their requirements. This means that suppliers would give the buyer information to support them in developing a tender. 

2. The tender instructions are released

Once the buyer has completed all relevant documentation, they will release the documents to suppliers. This is usually through an electronic portal.

Depending on the buyer and the project, there could be several stages to the tendering process. For example, a typical tendering process involves two stages: a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and an invitation to tender (ITT).

A PQQ is used to filter through suppliers, so only suitable suppliers are invited to tender for the work. Suppliers that pass the PQQ stage are then able to submit a tender response, outlining how they’ll deliver the project.

No matter what instructions are used, they will be clearly outlined by the buyer in the tender documentation. 

3. Suppliers respond to the ITT

The next stage of finding the most economically advantageous tender is for suppliers to respond to the ITT. For suppliers, this is the most crucial part of the tendering process.

It’s important for suppliers to demonstrate how they’ll deliver the contract. Simply telling the buyer what you’re going to do isn’t enough. You need to show them how you’ll do it and support your claims with evidence. 

4. The evaluation process

For the final stage of the process, the buyer will evaluate all of the tender responses. To do this, they’ll assess each response against their evaluation criteria. Then, they’ll award the contract to the supplier who scores the highest mark.

Remember, when trying to source the MEAT, buyers are looking for the highest value for the lowest price. However, you won’t win on low price alone. You shouldn’t price your goods and services at a low rate just to win the contract. The buyer will consider a range of factors when trying to source the most economically advantageous tender, not just price.

How will you be scored?

Now you know what the most economically advantageous tender is, it’s time for the next stage. How will your tender response be scored?

The buyer will tell suppliers how their submissions will be scored in the ITT. Typically, each question will be evaluated individually and will be awarded a score between 0 and 10. The more you meet the buyer’s expectations, the higher your answer will be scored.

During the evaluation process, the buyer is likely to reject tenders that don’t meet the minimum evaluation standards. For example, it’s common for tenders with a score of less than 5/10 to be rejected immediately.

Tips for being the MEAT

So, how can you increase your chances of submitting the most economically advantageous tender?

1. Price your services fairly

To be the MEAT, you need to price your goods and services fairly. If your pricing is too high, you’re unlikely to win the bid. Similarly, you’re unlikely to secure the contract if your pricing is too low. If you do win the contract, you are obligated to deliver the work for that price. So, pricing the work too low could result in a loss for your business.

2. Research your competitors

If possible, research your competitors and see how much they’re charging for similar work. This will give you a good idea as to whether you’re charging too much or too little for your services.

3. Read the buyer’s specification

To fully understand how much you should be charging, it’s important that you thoroughly read the specification. By doing this, you can ensure that all aspects of the project are considered in your budget.

In summary

When sourcing the MEAT, the buyer isn’t assessing suppliers on price alone. Instead, they’re evaluating a variety of factors, such as quality, added value and innovation. To be the most economically advantageous tender, you need to offer the buyer the highest value for the lowest price.

Do you want to submit the most economically advantageous tender?

To increase your chances of submitting the MEAT, you might be looking for some support with your tender. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing to bid writing specialists can help you secure that next contract and grow your business.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience.

We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole tender written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that.

Our services

Tender Writing

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

Tender Ready

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

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

Tender Improvement

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

Tender Mentor

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

Additional support

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

Discover Elite

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

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

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

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

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

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

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

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post What is the Most Economically Advantageous Tender? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 11:58 am

Tendering is a proactive way to grow your business, but how should you source tender opportunities that are right for your business?

There are hundreds of buildings owned by the public sector nationally. The public sector relies on private sector companies like yours to provide facilities management services to maintain these properties.

Public sector organisations are turning to the use of Frameworks to secure contractors to provide these services. Often this is through preferred supplier lists.

Focus on Facilities Management 

Taking Facilities Management as an example, recent research across the UK shows that since 2015:

• Over 400 Facilities Management frameworks were created
• More than 250 buyers were involved
• Not one company is named on more than 30 of these frameworks

What this means is that there are multiple opportunities being missed by every facilities management company.

So how do you stop missing these tender opportunities?

With such a wide range of public sector opportunities available across the UK, companies need a better way of targeting these opportunities.

That’s where Hudson comes in. We have a range of 10 sector-specific portals which tailor contract opportunities to your business and bring you relevant tenders on a daily basis. Our Hudson Discover strand helps businesses access the right tendering opportunities for them and their specific offering.

Case in point, let’s stick with the Facilities Management company. If that was your company, and you were to use Hudson Discover’s Facilities Tender portal; you would have access to over 400 tenders right now.

That’s over 400 opportunities to engage with and deliver new clients and drive your business growth.

How does Hudson’s service mean an end to missed tender opportunities?

The team here at Hudson scrape hundreds of websites, portals and social media daily to source opportunities for our clients. Each opportunity found it checked and collated into the appropriate portals. We then match our clients with the found opportunities, sense checking against their criteria such as:

• Financial thresholds
• Regions of interest
• Technical capabilities
• Scope of works
• Framework or Spot bid
• Buyer profiles

Clock’s ticking…

2018 saw over 120 Facilities Management framework opportunities created by clients hungry to get the best service possible. So ask yourself:

• How many of these were you successful in winning?
• How many of these opportunities did you submit a tender for?
• How many of these opportunities did you even know about?

And one final question to consider… Did you know that there has been over 20 Framework opportunities published in 2019 so far?

Hudson knew; that meant our customers knew.

Geography 

We appreciate that if you’re an SME based in the North East, for example, you might not be in a position to tender for all the opportunities available nationally. We agree that tendering for a facilities management Framework in London is always going to be a long-shot, and at Hudson, we have those sensible discussions with our clients.

However, do not be put off by your size, business reach and tendering opportunities. If we stick with the Framework example, research conducted by independent procurement companies in 2019 shows that nationally, 250 buyers have tendered for Frameworks since 2015. This breaks down into the following geographies:

• London – 39 buyers
• South East – 13 buyers
• South West – 16 buyers
• West Midlands – 20 buyers
• East of England – 13 buyers
• East Midlands – 14 buyers
• Wales – 13 buyers
• Yorkshire and the Humber – 22 buyers
• North West – 41 buyers
• North East – 16 buyers
• Northern Ireland – 11 buyers

And

• Scotland – 32 buyers

So what this means for you, wherever you are reading this blog, is that there are opportunities out there, on your doorstep, for you to win!

Greed is NOT a sin in procurement

You might be thinking that if your Facilities Management company hasn’t secured a place on a Framework yet then you’ll never muscle in on them when the opportunities are released. You may worry that your competitors have more experience and will snap up Framework contracts above you.

Worry not.

It is a fact that only 1%  of the 2626 Facilities Management companies in the UK (in 2019) have secured multiple contracts of over 10 framework places. In fact, the vast majority of FM companies (nearly 70%) have secured only 1 contract.

This links me back to my earlier point. There is so much public sector money being missed by companies like yours.

There is nothing stopping companies tendering for and winning multiple framework contract opportunities nationally. In fact, it is a great way of building steady company growth.

The team at Hudson Succeed have nearly 40 years tendering experience, and in that time, we’ve seen several iterations of the same Frameworks open, close and be awarded. We’ve worked with the same companies over this time and have seen them grow. From having no tendering experience we’ve helped them win multiple contracts across several regions, growing to accommodate their ever-increasing reputation.

The cherry on top of the Fat Facilities Management Framework pie

If you’re still reading this, you’re interested in knowing more. Well, there’s one more piece of information you need to know about Facilities Management Frameworks…

In 2020, there are at least 70 facility management framework opportunities available. Either currently open or with contracts expiring this year, buyers are busy this year procuring companies just like yours to provide FM services.

Can you afford to miss a piece of that pie?

Still not convinced?

Maybe you’re not sure about how to go about tendering for upcoming opportunities, or maybe you just don’t have the time.

Get in touch with the team at Hudson Succeed bid management today and we will have a sensible, open discussion on how we can best help your company. We have a range of services tailored to suit you, whatever stage you’re at with tendering.

Whether you’re an experienced company that just don’t have the time to tender for that perfect opportunity; our Tender Writing Service can help

Or if you’ve never heard of Frameworks and tendering before, but it all sounds like a great business opportunity (it is!) – our Tender Ready service would be perfect for you.

Maybe you’ve tried tendering before, won a few bids, lost a few bids and are fed up of repeating the tender process with marginal results. Our Bid Writers can help.

Our Tender Mentor and Tender Improvement services offer you a way to get the best results from the opportunities you know are out there…being missed.

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

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Are You Missing New Business Opportunities? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Here we go again – another term which is not well known in all industry sectors across the UK – a Dynamic Purchasing System.

As always, we are here to help you understand all these ‘niggly’ bits to tendering, to ensure you are prepared to undergo some serious business development planning across your sector and beyond!

You can see the different bidding terminologies applicable in our ‘Tendering doesn’t have to be complicated’ blog. 

In a nutshell – a Dynamic Purchasing System (or DPS for short) is basically a supply chain list where tenders or other bidding opportunities are published to specific members that have been successful in maintaining a position on that list.

As quoted in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, “[a] DPS should be set up for identified types of requirement, which may be divided into categories of products, works or services.”

This could be any organisation or group of organisations, who wants to outsource work in either one or more service areas [or LOTs] and rather than having 50-100 applications come through for the [potentially many] tenders they publish, they start by narrowing down a set-list of applicants onto their own DPS.

Differences between Dynamic Purchasing Systems & general tender processes

The main differences from the typical tender process are that a Dynamic Purchasing System is to:

• Be run as a completely electronic process (no paper or posting required here)
• Allow new suppliers to join at any time (meaning that if you have been unsuccessful at securing a place – you can always try again in the future)
• Show longevity in its run (we’ve come across DPS’s which are open for 10 or more years).

All that suppliers would need to do, is register their company onto this DPS online, click which service area they are interested in delivering and undergo a Stage 1 submission in order to secure a place. Once secured, Stage 2 is the actual tendering of the works in question.

For example – A Housing Association could create a DPS for their outsourced Creative activity, which includes a range of service areas/LOTs – i.e. Branding, Printing, Website Hosting etc. They would publish this DPS opportunity to all and then undergo multiple stages to narrow down the process of awarding the work via the ‘most economically advantageous tender’ (MEAT).

Stage 1

In the average UK tender process, a lot of suppliers may be asked to complete a Pre-qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) to help the buyer narrow down their list of Invitations to Tender (ITT). This is now being taking over by a ‘Selection Questionnaire’ on many portals. It’s similar with a Dynamic Purchasing System – the supplier has to get onto the DPS in order to be Invited to Tender for works and they do this by completing a Stage 1 application process that heavily resembles a PQQ, with maybe a few additional questions thrown in.

Like a typical PQQ-to-ITT process, securing access to the DPS reflects a ‘weed-out’ procedure, with the buyer ensuring they progress all applicants who demonstrate greater strengths in their financial, technical and professional capabilities.

Stage 2

Once you are successful and Stage 1 is complete – it is complete. You do not have to re-do any capability and competency-based questions. Every time a tender is published in relation to your service area, as part of this Dynamic Purchasing System, you are automatically invited to tender and answer all questions specific to that service!

Once on the DPS then a range of tenders will then ensue (as and when required), allowing the buyer to streamline a more technically-focused evaluation on the responses collated.

Where we stand in all of this!

Our Discover platform has many traits of a Dynamic Purchasing System, in that a buyer, let’s, for example, say a design agency on our Creative Tenders portal, seeks a professional company who can support their financial/accountancy needs. All that the design agency would do is:

• Log on to Hudson Discover
• View a list of our Finance Tenders subscribers, which encapsulates a large list of accountancy firms
• Publish their ‘private opportunity brief’ to a filtered list of suppliers
• Receive responses, evaluate and award.

The reason we filter this list is to avoid publishing opportunities that bear minimal relevance to our suppliers and streamline the process for our buyers, helping them publish specific competitive opportunities to the most competent suppliers.

Writing winning bids can take a lot of time. If you don’t have that to spare, but still want to tender for contracts we can help. Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective experience.

So, if you ever come across a DPS that contains services specific to your offering – get on board.

Our Consultants can help you succeed!

Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?

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

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

Tender Writing

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

Tender Ready

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

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

Tender Improvement

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

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar, or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

Discover Elite

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.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

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

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

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