Sector-specific insights Archives - Tender Consultants

Received a PIR CQC invitation? 5 things you should know

Charlotte Jarvis — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 08:42:50 +0000

What the PIR CQC form means for registered businesses & how to complete it

The PIR CQC form refers to a Provider Information Return. It’s issued to registered managers annually by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make sure they’re aware of:

Any changes your organisation has made
How you are making sure the service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

In this blog, we will:

Explain the timeline from receiving the PIR CQC form to submitting your response.
Detail what you should do if your registered manager has changed
Explain how the questions are divided by service
Advise how long the form could take to complete
List a few questions you’re likely to be asked
Offer a solution for support to complete your form.

When should you receive your PIR CQC form and what’s the deadline?

If you are the registered manager of a CQC registered business, you will receive an invitation to complete a PIR. This invitation will be sent annually, during the anniversary month of your first CQC inspection. Once you receive the invitation, you will have four weeks to complete and submit the PIR form.

If you miss the four-week deadline, you run the risk of your well-led rating being limited to ‘requires improvement’.

That being said, the CQC does allow you to contact them if you need more time to respond.

What if your registered manager has changed since last year?

If the registered manager in your organisation has changed, you will receive a link to update their details. It’s worth bearing in mind that the new manager will not be given extra time to complete the form. The quicker you update their details, the more time they will have to complete the PIR form. There is also a statutory notification form to complete that tells the CQC about the new manager.

How are the questions divided?

The questions will vary depending on the services your organisation provides. Service types are broken down into four categories:

Residential
Community
Shared lives
Specialist.

To help you prepare your responses, you can find the questions by service type on the CQC website.

How long does the PIR CQC form take to complete?

Depending on the services you provide and your in-house writing capabilities, the resources required will vary. The questions require a mixture of yes/no and 500-word responses (about a page of A4 each). Consider this when planning how you will use your time to write your answers. You don’t want to suddenly realise that you need to produce 8,500 words in one day!

What are you likely to be asked?

The questions will change depending on your service category, but there are a few similarities. You should expect to be asked for the following information:

Location – location number, name, address, provider number (or organisation number), provider name and organisation type.
Respondent – your name, phone number, email address and website address.
Details about your successes and barriers to good care.
Information about people who use your services – this is an extensive and detailed section.
Information regarding the services you provide, your staff and carers, commissioners, quality assurance and risk management.

While most questions are limited to 500-word responses, the inspector will contact you if they require more information.

Summary

So, to summarise, you can expect to receive a PIR form on the anniversary of your first CQC inspection.

Failing to return the completed form within four weeks could result in your well-led rating dropping to ‘requires improvement’. So it’s not worth the risk!

Has your registered manager has changed since last year or since your initial inspection (if this is your first PIR)? You will need to complete another form that gives their details to the CQC. The new manager will not be given extra time, they will still have four weeks to complete the PIR. They can’t receive the PIR form link until the additional form has been received by the CQC.

Before scheduling in your time to write the responses, take a look at the questions you have been sent. They could require 8,000+ words as many of the questions ask for 500-word responses. Don’t give yourself a few hours to produce your answers and risk the consequences.

Some of the questions will only require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. However, it’s still important to check how long your registered manager will need to complete high-quality answers.

The questions you will be asked will vary depending on the services your company provides. However, there are a few recurring questions you should be prepared for (we have listed these above).

Need help with writing your PIR CQC responses?

We understand that writing 8,000+ words can drain resources and you may not even have that resource in-house.

If you need support with writing your PIR CQC form responses, our writers are here to help. They have extensive experience in the healthcare industry, having worked with over 90 healthcare businesses.

Our writers work with you to blend your technical knowledge with their exceptional writing skills. This enhances the quality of your responses whilst alleviating the pressure on your team to produce this lengthy content.

To get a free quote simply send us your PIR form invitation link. Our consultants will take a look at the questions and provide a quote for writing the 500-word responses.

Growing your healthcare business?

If your business is growing, you will need new contracts to take the next step. But where can you access these opportunities?

Enter Healthcare Tenders!

Healthcare Tenders is a sector-specific opportunity tracking portal, compiling tenders from over 600 sources in one place.

No complicated CPV codes or algorithms! The tenders are sourced manually by a team of opportunity trackers.

The portal sources business opportunities for services including:

Take a tour and see how the portal can help your healthcare business grow. Book a free live demo.

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

The post Received a PIR CQC invitation? 5 things you should know appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Charity Bid Writing: What Not to Do

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 07:00:12 +0000

Charity bid writing: 8 mistakes to avoid

[Last modified: July 2021]

Charity bid writing can be overwhelming at the best of times. Opportunities may come around a few times a year, so it’s best to be prepared to writing bids. You want to allow plenty of time to create a winning charity bid. It can be easier said than done if you’ve never done charity bid writing before.

Ultimately, you want your bid to outshine your competitors and persuade the funder’s that you’re the best for the job. Below are eight tips on what not to do when charity bid writing.

Don’t make your project meet a funder’s needs

When writing a charity bid response, all too often applicants try and make their project meet a funder’s needs. Organisations that are trying to wedge their project to fit a funder’s priorities have less chance of being successful.

However, it should really be the other way around. You should be looking for a funding opportunity that aligns with the needs of your project. If you try to accommodate your project, you may not be able to achieve your desired outcomes. Be that either in meeting a need or securing appropriate funding.

Don’t forget to read the funding guidelines before you apply

One thing not to do when charity bid writing is apply for an opportunity without reading all the funding guidelines. Each funder will require something different and have different needs and pre-requisites that should be met. There may be a certain qualification that you need on page 30 that you don’t see. You don’t want to waste time and resources writing a response if you aren’t eligible to apply.

Avoid rambling incoherent applications that have no substantial evidence of a need

Funders want those applying for funding to have substantial evidence of a need for a project. There’s no point developing a way to tackle an issue just because you think it’s the right thing to do. Funders will see right through this and unthought out projects won’t get very far.

Moreover, if your response is rambling and unclear, a funder will be less likely to award you the funding. Your response should be clear, concise and compelling. You should be persuasive when charity bid writing. You want to convince the funder that you need their funding and that it will be well spent.

Don’t submit your application in the wrong format

Before submitting your response, be sure to check the formatting requirements. This is an obvious error that can be easily avoided. Making a checklist of important dates and information can help prevent this from happening. This checklist could include, but shouldn’t be limited to, the following:

Submission date and time
Submission format (email, online, portal, hardcopy)
Site visit deadlines
Clarification questions

Don’t ask for an unreasonable amount of funding

Many funders want you to be as honest and realistic as possible regarding how much everything is going to cost. If you ask for too little you won’t be able to complete the project, defeating the purpose. Funders want to see a positive change from the money they’re giving your business. You should take this into account when charity bid writing.

Funders want to know how every penny is going to be spent. It’s common for them to check how the money is being spent either during the project or once it’s finished. They will want to see that their money is making positive changes. They will be expecting to see the best value for money and that their funding is providing long-term solutions.

The costs the funder will cover should be outlined in the specification. Some will only pay for Capital Costs, some will only pay Core Costs, and some may only pay for salaries. You should avoid being unnecessarily flashy. For example, don’t ask for the money for a MacBook Air when any other brand or cheaper laptop will suffice.

Never assume that the funder already knows about you

When tendering for contracts, it’s important that you don’t assume the funder knows anything about your business. It’s common for a commissioner to have no knowledge of what your organisation does.

You should explain who your organisation is, what it does and why it needs the funding. Leaving room for assumptions allows for the wrong assumptions to be made. This could end up hindering your bid when it could have been avoided in the first place.

Don’t write too little or too much

Word or page counts are given for a reason. When charity bid writing, you want to avoid writing too little or too much. If a funder thinks a question deserves a 500-word response, simply writing a couple of sentences response won’t suffice. Your bid will likely suffer as a result, so it’s best to try and match the word or page counts where possible.

Never submit it late

One of the most common mistakes made by organisations is thinking that they can submit their bid late. A response will not be accepted even if it’s submitted one minute late. If you aren’t able to meet a submission deadline, a funder may think that it’s slightly unprofessional. They may not think that you are able to then carry out the project or trust you with their money. Great time management is a must when charity bid writing.

Need help with charity bid writing?

It’s worth knowing the tendering process is long and complex. If you don’t have the experience, resources or time to submit a winning charity bid in-house – we can help with writing bids.

Here at Hudson Succeed, our dedicated team have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We boast an 87% success rate 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 charity bid, why not send it over to us? Our Bid Writers will let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll take care of it all for you and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

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

Tender Ready

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

A 12-month subscription to a Discover portal for your choice
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 charity bid writing but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and supporting documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

How can I find charity bid writing opportunities?

Charity bid writing opportunities can arise in any business sector. Keeping tabs on the right opportunity for your company can turn into a bit of a headache. There are thousands of sites across the UK posting bid opportunities. Ideally, you’d want one centralised, industry-specific portal that hosts these leads and opportunities.

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 exclusive, 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 or charity bid writing.
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.

Upgrade to our new time-saving tools

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 Save 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 Hospitality 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 Account Manager to discuss viable charity bid writing

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 funding opportunities with Discover Grants

Discover Grants can help you find and write your next funding application. Get in touch for more information.

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

The post Charity Bid Writing: What Not to Do appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Office Fit Out Tenders: How to Win

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 07:00:00 +0000

7 tips for writing successful office fit out tenders

[Last modified: July 2021]

Office fit out tenders are often published by businesses that are looking to upgrade their office workspace. They could be moving to a new building, or their current space might need a bit of a facelift. Office fit out tenders can be used to procure services to create a bespoke design to suit their needs. This could include:

Office design including visualisation and finishes
Electrical work
Refurbishment
Project specifications
Works scheduling
Office fit out implementation
Contract management
Contractor accreditation
Project insurance
Project program.

Businesses that specialise in office fit outs are qualified and often comprised of experienced interior designers, architects and engineers. Office fit out tenders can be competitive and particularly daunting if you’re new to the process. You want your company to stand out from your competitors when applying for any type of tender.

You should demonstrate your business’s capabilities and persuade the buyer that you’re the right company for the job. If you follow the seven tips below, you’ll be well on your way to winning your next office fit out tenders.

Include CV’s of your experienced team

Buyers want to know that their project will be in good hands and, more importantly, the capabilities of those hands. You should provide CV’s of your employees who will be carrying out the project. You should also provide the details of any subcontractors you will be using.

CV’s must demonstrate that the staff are experienced and provide a high quality of service. You want to keep them relevant, focused and concise while still being thorough. They should include their experience, ability and any relevant qualifications they may have. It never goes a miss adding a professional-looking yet friendly photo of each team member. It’s always nice for buyers to put a face to a name.

Provide evidence of a proven track record

Evidence is always required when tendering for contracts, no matter the industry. Contractors want to be reassured that you know what you’re doing and that you’ve done it before. Within construction tendering, you’ll often be asked to provide up to three case studies from the last five years. These will need to be previous contracts that you have fulfilled similar in scope, complexity, scale and location where possible.

You want to tailor each example to showcase your capabilities and coincide with a task that’s required for this contract. Depending on the word count, you could include how you overcame and unexpected challenges. This demonstrates your problem-solving skills and flexibility, all of which are crucial to the construction industry.

Have stellar testimonials on hand

Positive testimonials will always strengthen writing bids, and that’s no different for office fit out tenders. Provide a testimonial of previous happy and satisfied customers, it’ll reinforce the buyer’s trust in your company. Buyers will likely ask you to provide their contact details to fact check your claims.

Complete site visits

The chance to complete a site visit is frequently offered within the construction industry. Site visits give prospective suppliers to visit the site and environment which they will be working on, if successful. It will state in the tender documentation or specification if it is an option.

It’s strongly encouraged that you undertake a site visit where possible. They are a great opportunity to strengthen your response for office fit out tenders. Site visits allow you to see what you will be working with, with your own eyes. It provides the opportunity to gather new information that otherwise you wouldn’t have access to. They may help you achieve more accurate pricing, gain insight into the buyer and produce better quality responses.

Health and safety

As with any construction tender, health and safety is absolutely crucial and it’s no different for office fit out tenders. You must adhere to and demonstrate your health and safety policies you have in place to carry out the contract. They must be in line with current UK government regulations. For example:

CHAS
RIDDOR
CDM Regulations 2015
The Health and Safety at Work Act.

Pay attention to social value

One thing you particularly don’t want to skip on, particularly when tendering in the public sector, is social value. Within government contracts, social value has a mandatory weighting of 10% as a minimum. The social value section should focus on the wider positive impact your business will provide when delivering the contract. They should be primarily focused on social, environmental, and economic aspects.

Buyer’s in the public sector want you to demonstrate that you’re committed to a sustainable future and practice. They want to see promises and pledges that you can actually keep. Some examples of social value policies you could include within your office fit out tenders are:

Supporting COVID-19 recovery.
The equal opportunity and diversity policies you implement.
Manage and reduce waste.
Creating new skills and jobs, tackling economic inequality.
Pay your employees the National Living Wage.
Community outreach projects.
The use of materials with a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency.

Produce a high quality written response

The quality of your written response matters if you’re wondering how to win office fit out tenders. A high-quality written response can help you stand out from your competitors. Some helpful tips to keep in mind when writing your response are:

Keep it clear and concise.
Avoid unnecessary and overly technical jargon.
Don’t allow the buyer to make any assumptions.
Try and match the word and page counts as best as possible – they’re there for a reason.
Be persuasive, not descriptive.

How can we help?

If you need additional support with the tendering process – we can help. We understand that writing isn’t everyones strong suit.

Our dedicated Hudson Succeed team boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. Whether you need a proofread on a response or have never tendered before, we offer four bid writing support packages.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect office fit out tender for your business, why don’t you send it over to us? Our Bid Writers will take a look at the specification and take care of the whole thing for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit the response on your behalf, leaving you with more time to focus on your business.

Tender Mentor

Do you need your office fit out tender response to be looked over by a fresh pair of eyes? Our Tender Mentor service can double-check your bid for any grammatical or spelling errors. Our Bid Writers will also check that it’s in line with specification before you submit.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is for businesses who have never tendered before. Our Bid Team will work with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. It’s a 4-week programme that includes creating an organisation bid library and a 12-month subscription to Construction Tenders.

Tender Improvement

Are you already tendering, but aren’t seeing the results you want? Our Tender Improvement package can help by going over your current responses and supporting documents for office fit out tenders. Our team will then give you feedback and advice on how to improve for future submissions.

Where can I find office fit out tenders?

Hudson Discover sources opportunities within the construction industry across a wide variety of subsections. It can take hours out of your workday trying to find the right office fit out tenders for your business. There are opportunities strewn across thousands of websites across the UK. Often, searching from CPV codes isn’t enough. They’re often mislabelled resulting in missed opportunities.

Luckily for you, they have a solution. Their Construction Tenders portal streamlines the tendering process saving you countless hours when tendering for work. Opportunity Trackers trawl through thousands of websites searching for construction leads and tender opportunities. You can filter the results by location, budget, keyword and more. This can help find the perfect office fit out tenders for your business requirements.

Below are previous office fit out tenders sourced on our portal:

Balbriggan Passport Office Fit Out (PPO3) – Fire & Security Engineering Consultancy

Office of Public Works (OPW)- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Office Fit Out Works for the Marine Institute

Marine Institute- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Office Fit Out Yr Egin

University of Wales Trinity Saint David- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

Office Fit Out for Ropewalks Community Centre, Heanor as Touchdown Point

Futures Housing Group Limited- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of a Supplier – Build Services for Office Fit Out

London & Partners Limited- London- Budget: Undisclosed

We source opportunities for services including;

Get in touch to book a live demo and find out how we can help your business grow.

Upgrade to Hudson Discover Elite

Upgrading to one of our two Discover Elite packages can save you even more time. They can help optimise your tendering opportunities, even when you’re busy. The Ultimate Time Saver and Become and Pre-Bid Master packages can improve your bidding competitor awareness and success rate.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

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

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

All of the above.
Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. Our Global Bid Director will manage this.

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

The post Office Fit Out Tenders: How to Win appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to Find the Right Healthcare Bid Manager

Millie Newbold — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 07:00:45 +0000

How to find the right healthcare Bid Manager for your business

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:56 am

Are you in the healthcare sector and looking for the right healthcare Bid Manager for your business? This blog will explain what you should consider when choosing a healthcare Bid Manager when tendering for contracts.

Why do you need a healthcare Bid Manager?

If you’re new to the tendering process, you might be thinking, “why do I even need a healthcare Bid Manager?”

As you probably know, securing work in the healthcare sector often requires bidding for work. This is because most healthcare work is procured by Local Authorities, Central Government and the NHS.

So, to win work, grow your business and generate a profit, your company will need to bid for tendering opportunities.

Health and social care tenders are on the rise in the UK. This is because services for the elderly and other vulnerable groups are being transferred to private sector companies.

Tendering for work can be a lengthy, time-consuming and demanding process. From actually finding the bid, to answering the buyer’s questions and submitting your responses. It takes a lot of skill and expertise to write persuasive, compelling bids every time.

And we know how challenging running your own business can be. There’s so much else for you to focus on – do you have time to write a winning tender response?

It’s possible to manage your own healthcare bids, but why not let someone else take care of it for you? It might seem like an additional cost that your company doesn’t need, but it’s actually more cost effective. It’s better to outsource the process to a professional service than waste your in-house resources. Especially if you lose bids due to a lack of expertise!

Let’s look at the key skills needed in bid management

Time management

To be successful as a healthcare Bid Manager, your time management skills need to be second to none when bid writing. Meeting deadlines is an essential part of the tendering process. If you miss the tender deadline, buyers will not evaluate your bid. And buyers won’t be impressed if you ask for extra time! It will make them wonder if your company will be able to deliver the contract on time – and within budget.

There’s no doubt about it – running your own business is time-consuming. Do you have the time to oversee the bid management process on top of your other responsibilities? Outsourcing your bid writing needs to a dedicated healthcare Bid Manager will save you time, money and resources.

Writing capabilities

To write a successful bid, you need the ability to write persuasive, compelling tender responses. It’s not just about being a talented writer – although this helps! But it’s more important to write short sentences that easily convey the information to the buyer.

Perfecting this skill takes time – even for talented writers! So why not outsource your bid writing needs to a dedicated healthcare Bid Manager? You can be sure that your tender responses are being taken care of by experts. And you can focus on other aspects of running a business!

Communication skills

A successful healthcare Bid Manager will have excellent communication skills – both written and verbal. You need to communicate with the buyer and show them that you can deliver their contract. This includes your tender responses and any communication you have with clients, suppliers or sometimes buyers in person.

If you run your own company, we’re sure that your communications skills are up to scratch. But even with top-notch communication skills, you’ll still benefit from outsourcing the work to Bid Writing Consultancy. An external Bid Manager will be skilled in communicating with you (the client) and ensure that you are kept up to date throughout the process.

Industry awareness

It goes without saying that you’ll be an expert in your sector. But what about bid writing?

A healthcare Bid Manager might not be an expert in your particular specialism – that’s where you come in. But their industry awareness is invaluable to writing a successful bid response. A successful Bid Writer will be able to read the tender’s specifications and know how to tick all the boxes.

What can a healthcare Bid Manager do for you?

As we’ve already explained, the tendering process can be lengthy, time-consuming and demanding. To write and oversee a successful bid takes a lot of skill and expertise.

If you haven’t got the time, resources or personal skill to write winning bids – then don’t worry. A healthcare Bid Manager can help you with every step of the tendering process.

Of course, it varies from tender to tender, but you can expect your dedicated Bid Manager to:

Review any documents relating to the tender and understand the scope of the contract.
Plan the bid writing process, including the time it will take to complete.
Match your company with an appropriate Bid Writer or Bid Writers.
Track the Bid Writer’s work and update you on the tender’s progress.
Advise on supporting documents and develop missing literature.
Oversee the review process.
Submit the bid on your behalf.

Think about it. Do you have time to oversee every aspect of the tendering process?

Relying on a bid manager for your tendering needs will allow you to focus on other aspects of your business.

How to find the right healthcare Bid Manager for you

So now you know why you need a healthcare Bid Manager. But how do you find the right one for your business?

When looking for a healthcare Bid Manager, it’s important to find someone that understands your company’s needs and goals. The Bid Manager you choose will be working closely with your company until the tender’s submission date. So, they have to be the right fit for your company.

Looking to apply for healthcare tenders? Here at Hudson Succeed, we can take care of it for you.

If you’re looking for a healthcare Bid Manager to start your tendering journey, our expert Senior Bid Manager can help.

With an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective experience, we are experts at bid writing. And we’re experienced in healthcare tenders! Our team of Bid Writers have worked with numerous clients across the healthcare sector, including the following services:

Domiciliary Care
Supported Living
Medical Equipment
Social Care
Mental Health.

Visit Healthcare Tenders to save time, money and resources! It’s a time-saving tool used by healthcare professionals. Don’t worry about spending hours searching for new business opportunities – our smart search solution does the work for you!

Upgrade to Discover Elite

Want to optimise your tendering efforts? Then upgrade to Discover Elite.

With Discover Elite, you can find the best tendering opportunities for your business – even when you’re busy!

Choose your Discover Elite package:

The Ultimate Time Saver package

What you’ll get:

A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
An annual subscription to two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This is a great option for businesses that overlap industries!
Pre-market and aware engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss future tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package

What you’ll get:

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

Together we can make your business grow. Contact a member of our team to find out more.

Need help with a tender response?

We offer four bid writing support packages to help your company succeed. No matter your experience level – new to tendering or a seasoned expert – Hudson Succeed has something for you.

Choose one of our services:

Tender Ready

If you’re completely new to tendering, why not try our 4-week Tender Ready package? Work closely with one of our expert Bid Writers and your business will be ready to tender for work.

Tender Improvement

Have you tendered before but are yet to see any results from your efforts? Choose our Tender Improvement package. One of our bid writing professionals will evaluate your previous tender responses and help you improve for future submissions.

Tender Mentor

Have you written your tender response but need someone to proofread it before the final submission? Try our Tender Mentor package. We’ll look over your tender responses and check for any inconsistencies or grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. We’ll also check your responses to make sure you meet the buyer’s specifications.

Tender Writing

If you’re new to tendering or don’t have the capabilities to write your own responses, choose our Tender Writing package. One of our bid writing professionals will help you with every step of the bidding process, from writing to submission.

If you’re interested in any of our services or want to learn more, contact a member of our team!

Want to learn more about tendering for work? Visit Tender VLE!

Interested in finding the right healthcare Bid Manager for your company? We want to take it one step further and teach you about the tendering process

Tender VLE – the UK’s first virtual learning environment – hosts a range of free videos all about tendering for work.

Visit Tender VLE to start your tendering journey or get in touch to find out more!

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

The post How to Find the Right Healthcare Bid Manager appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Hudson Insight Series: PQQs in Construction

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 07:00:06 +0000

Your guide to a PQQ in construction

[Last modified: July 2021]

Buyers use a PQQ in construction as the first stage of selection for potential suppliers.

This blog will cover everything that is asked for within a PQQ and how they are commonly formatted. It will also cover some frequently asked questions about PQQs in construction.

What is a PQQ in construction?

A PQQ stands for pre-qualification questionnaire. They’re used as part of the tendering process when a buyer is looking to procure works, goods or services.

Essentially, a PQQ in construction requires you to note basic company information, confirm statements of non-collusion and more. They can end up being quite a lengthy process, but there are some variations of PQQs in construction. It varies from buyer to buyer and depends on how they want to procure.

Is there any other format for a PQQ in construction?

Standard Selection Questionnaire

A PQQ in construction can also be referred to as a standard selection questionnaire (SQ). The aims of an SQ are to simplify the supplier selection process for smaller enterprises. It typically includes a self-declaration that you don’t meet any grounds for exclusion.

PAS91

A more common form of PQQ in construction is the PAS91. It is a standardised type of PQQ used in the construction industry. They are used by buyers to filter suppliers who might not be eligible, thus ensuring they’re getting top tier suppliers.

You must pass the PAS91 in order to progress onto the invitation to tender (ITT) stage. PAS91s are designed with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mind. It simplifies the PQQ process thus encouraging more SMEs to become suppliers.

The PAS91 helps buyers identify the most suitably qualified suppliers quickly. This is because by passing, you are demonstrating that your business is qualified, fitting the minimum standards for the contract.

If you are a Constructionline member, you are automatically compliant to some PAS91 questions. Although this saves you a lot of time, it doesn’t mean you can skip this stage completely. You will most likely still need to complete a few questions in the PAS91.

The 2017 amendment to PAS91 now includes new questions covering mandatory reasons for exclusion and legislation. These relate to the Immigration Act and the Minimum Wage Act.

What does a PQQ in construction ask for?

You may be wondering what exactly a PQQ in construction asks for. Typically, you will be required to add information to the following 11 sections.

Company information

The first piece of information that is required for a PQQ in construction, is your company’s information. This includes your registration and VAT number. You must also state what type of organisation you are and provide your contact details.

Grounds for mandatory rejection

This section simply required you to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to questions relating to various statements. These are often to do with conspiracy, corruption, fraud and bribery.

Grounds for discretionary rejection

The grounds for discretionary rejection are similar to the grounds for mandatory rejection. You’re required to answer a series of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions stating your business hasn’t been convicted of criminal offences.

Economic and financial standing

For the economic and financial standing section, you will typically be asked for three things:

Annual turnover

Contractors will assess your annual turnover via your latest financial accounts. You should only apply to tenders that are 40 – 50% of your annual turnover and no more. Any higher, and it’s unlikely that you will be approved.

Financial ratios

You may be asked to attach asset test ratios. These may be assessed automatically through your attached accounts as part of your tender submission. Some PQQs require you to input this separately within the document. If unsure, your accountant should be able to support you with this.

Insurance

Buyers will want you to be aligned with the requirements set for insurance. Typically, buyers will allow you to increase your levels of insurance.

If you are unsure if you meet the necessary requirements, read the full specification. It will usually note the requirements and pre-requisites needed.

Technical and professional ability

A buyer will obviously want to know that your business is qualified to carry out the job at hand. They often want to see examples of past contracts you have completed that are of a similar scope. They may ask for up to three case studies within the last five years.

A strong response will include evidence from past clients, and you may be asked to attach past client’s information on. This is so they can be contacted by the buyer to confirm the accuracy of the information you provide. Backing up these case studies with concrete evidence will get you in the buyer’s good books.

An example of a typical question asking you to demonstrate your technical ability shared across PQQs in construction is:

“Please provide details of up to three contracts from either or both the public or private sector, that are relevant to the Authority’s requirement. Contracts for the supply of services should have been performed during the past three years.”

The word count for answers can vary from as little as 150 over 1000. If this seems a little overwhelming, you could try breaking the question down into key sections. The STAR method:

Situation – an introduction.
Task – the specifics of the tasks at hand.
Actions – how you delivered the contract, including key challenges faced.
Results – detail the success of the contract and emphasise why you’re the best business for the job.

It may also be worth noting any unexpected complications you faced while fulfilling these contracts and how you overcame them. This allows you to demonstrate initiative, problem-solving skills and flexibility which are key with any construction project.

Staff and subcontractor’s information

You most likely will be required to provide the staffing and subcontractor information you intend to use if successful. You’ll likely need to demonstrate that they have the capabilities and experience to guarantee a successful project. This can include:

CVs
Summary introductions to team members
Provisions of qualification documents

You want to convey to the contractor that you know what you’re doing and can deliver the project successfully.

Project-specific questions

This includes technical capability such as any qualifications and accreditations and project-specific questions. Some examples of potentially relevant qualifications and accreditations needed for a PQQ in construction are:

ISO 9001; 14001; 18001
CSCS Card
CPCS
BIM
SSIP
IOSH
Subcontractor
CHAS
SafeContractor

Health and safety

The buyer wants to be assured that your company works to the highest health and safety authority. It is one of the most important sections of a PQQ in construction. They want to be sure potential suppliers can deliver the work as safely as possible. You need to demonstrate clear levels of accountability to ensure works are delivered in accordance with the appropriate regulations. For example:

CDN 2015
Health and Safety At Work Act 1974

If completing a PAS91 – you will be exempt from completing this section if you have:

Completed a PAS91 question set within the last 12 months.
A formally recognised management system such as OHSAS 18001;2007 or ISO 45001;2018.
A SSIP health and safety accreditation such as SafeContractor or CHAS.

If you don’t have these, then you will be asked a series of questions regarding your health and safety policies and procedures. Areas that could be covered are:

The training of staff and how you keep them up to date regarding health and safety practices.
Risk assessment and accident reporting (RIDDOR).
Reviewing policies, procedures and compliance with best practice.

Quality assurance

A PQQ in construction is likely to have a section on quality assurance. For this, suppliers will often have to answer noting their approach to performance management. This can include the likes of:

Quality assurance and training procedures.
How you manage the underperformance of employees and how you discuss this with them.
Reviews of policies, procedures and compliance with best practice.
Inspections, audits and any other means of performance management you may use.

If you’re certified with ISO 9001 and provide a certification to show this, you can be exempted from completing this. If you don’t, you can provide training records and even inspection reports to back this up.

Environmental management policy

A businesses environmental management policy is an ever increasingly important section within a construction PQQ. You will be required to provide evidence responses to the questions. This could be done with the provision of policies and procedures your company holds. They must state that you’re undertaking the appropriate due diligence to minimise your environmental impact. Areas you can cover include:

How you’re reducing waste and encouraging recycling.
Reducing carbon emissions.
Training and maximising environmental awareness.

However, if you hold an ISO 14001, you can bypass this.

Equal opportunities policy

You will need to include your company’s equality and diversity policy. This is to ensure you are maximising equal opportunities for all employees regardless of sex, relationship status or ethnicity. Your business’s equal opportunities policy needs to be in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Need help completing your PQQ for construction?

Here at Hudson Succeed, we offer four bid writing packages to suit your businesses’ needs. For more information on how we can help you complete a successful PQQ in construction, get in touch.

Are you looking for more tender contracts for your business but don’t know where to find them?

Our Construction Tenders portal can help.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually source live construction leads from thousands of sites. They then manually upload them to one, central easy-to-use industry-specific portal. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes, and you’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more. You’ll also receive a dedicated Accounts Manager to help answer any questions or queries you may have about the process.

When you sign up, you’ll also receive a daily construction tenders bulletin straight to your inbox. It’ll detail all the new construction tender opportunities that are available. This can help save you countless hours and allow you to focus on your business.

Book a Demo with Construction Tenders

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

The post Hudson Insight Series: PQQs in Construction appeared first on Tender Consultants.

The Digital Outcomes and Specialists Framework

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

What is the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework?

[Last modified: January 2022]

The Digital Outcomes and Specialists 6 framework is now open. The framework is an opportunity, hosted by the government’s Digital Marketplace.

This particular framework helps more than 1,000 suppliers to provide digital specialist services, including:

Digital outcomes

For this service, you would provide teams to deliver digital support such as creating a booking system or undertake an accessibility audit.

Digital specialists

You would provide specialists to work on specific projects, such as Product Managers or Developers.

User research studios

To deliver this service, your business would provide the facilities to deliver interviews and usability testing.

User research participants

This would require you to find participants for research such as interviews and testing.

Suppliers who are already on Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5

If your business is already registered on Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5, you must re-apply to the new framework. The previous services will be removed once the new version is live.

However, you can reuse your previous declaration and services.

Who can apply?

One of the best things about the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework is that it’s open to all businesses who are looking to tender for contracts. You don’t have to be a huge corporation to be accepted. This is great news for SMEs and more recently established companies who are looking to build their experience.

Subcontracting is allowed to help you deliver larger projects. Alternatively, you can provide services as a consortium with other suppliers. However, the buyer must agree to either of these arrangements before purchasing your services.

Suppliers are required to meet a set of minimum standards. Only those suppliers who can meet the requirements will be considered for the framework.

You must also confirm the following:

That you agree with the terms and conditions of the framework
You haven’t broken any laws in the last five years
That you will be fully accountable for the work you do on the framework
That you work in accordance with Civil Service values, the government’s digital-by-default service standard and the technology code of practice.

Digital outcomes

For digital outcomes providers, your services must fit within at least one of the following categories:

Performance analysis and data
Security
Service delivery
Software development
Support and operations
Testing an auditing
User research
User experience and design.

In order to list your services on the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework, you must:

Comply with the technology code of practice, as mentioned above
Deliver services in accordance with the government service design manual
And understand what it means to work on different phases of agile delivery.

More details regarding each of these requirements can be found on the dedicated page of the government’s website.

Digital specialists

If you wish to supply digital specialist services, you must:

Demonstrate your competence in each role, if requested
Ensure that all roles support the government service design manual’s description of what you need to build a successful service
Ensure that your specialists are employed, or subcontracted, by you.

Learn more.

The roles your specialists provide must fall under one of the following:

Agile Coach
Business Analyst
Communications Specialist
Content Designer or Copywriter
Cyber Security Specialist
Data Architect
Data Engineer
Delivery or Project Manager
Designer
Data Scientist
Developer
Performance Analyst
Portfolio Manager
Product Manager
Programme Delivery Manager
Quality Assurance Analyst.
Service Manager
Technical Architect
User Researcher
Web Operations Engineer.

User research studio providers

To list your services under the user research studio category, you must provide:

Research studio hire in the required location, on the specified dates
A safe and comfortable environment for all parties
The required space to conduct interviews, usability tests or focus groups
Where possible, the facility to watch and record participants as they engage with the research.

User research participants

In order to list your services under the user research participants section, you must be capable of:

Recruiting participants whilst considering diversity, people who are digitally excluded, those with lower literacy skills or who require digital support
Finding and recruiting participants who best reflect the users of a service.

How to apply

If you are new to the framework, you will need to create a supplier account. You can do this via the government’s website.

If you feel confident in applying to the framework, simply visit the website to proceed. However, if you require expert support, please feel free to call or email us for a quote. Our team have been supporting digital businesses, globally, for almost two decades.

Important dates

Friday 14^th January 2022 – Applications open and you can start asking clarification questions.

Friday 4^th February 2022, 3pm – Deadline for asking clarification questions.

Tuesday 15^th February 2022 – Answers to all clarification questions will be published.

Thursday 24^th February 2022, 3pm – Applications close.

Friday 17^th June 2022 – Successful suppliers will be notified.

Saturday 18^th June to Monday 27^th June 2022 – Standstill period.

Tuesday 28^th June 2022 – Framework award letters issued.

Wednesday 29^th June to Tuesday 9^th August 2022 – Framework mobilisation.

Wednesday 10^th August 2022 – Expected start date for the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 6 framework.

Receive alerts when similar opportunities are published

Our dedicated Technology Tenders portal was designed as a time-saving tool to help you find new business opportunities efficiently.

The system is suitable for both companies and consultants. Our team of manual Opportunity Trackers identify new tenders from thousands of sources and upload them to our central portal. The opportunities are then tagged and categorised using industry-led keywords.

But don’t worry if you don’t have time to log in and use the search function! The team will also send you an email alert when relevant opportunities are uploaded.

We know the tendering process is long and complex so our Bid Writers are here to help with writing bids.

Take a tour of the system, see the live tenders and understand how the portal can help your business. Simply book a free live demo to get started.

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

The post The Digital Outcomes and Specialists Framework appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to Win: Health & Social Care Tenders

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 07:00:39 +0000

Health and Social Care Tender Writers breakdown their top 5 tips

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 10:20 am

Our Health and Social Care Tender Writers support businesses of all sizes when tendering for contracts. Tenders for healthcare services are amongst the most popular types of contract opportunities we see. Due to the UK’s ageing population and the strain, caused by the pandemic, on the industry, we don’t expect to see any decrease in demand.

When the Hudson Group launched our Hudson Succeed division, we were initially focussed on the creative and technology industries. This was based on our Founder’s background in business consultancy. However, within a very short space of time, we were inundated with requests to write health and social care tenders.

We quickly turned our attention to the sector to ensure that we could support these businesses. Since then, we have supported hundreds of care organisations with their tendering efforts. We have worked with recently established businesses, helping them to secure places on frameworks. This is a great steppingstone for smaller organisations, looking to get their foot in the door with local authorities. We have also supported, larger, more experienced organisations who were looking to increase their success rates and grow.

The Care Act 2014

Our Health and Social Care Tender Writers have noticed that buyer’s requirements are ever-changing. When it comes to procuring healthcare services, buyers can ask to see various documents and evidence of compliance.

The introduction of The Care Act 2014 saw buyer’s requirements change again. The act aims to implement different areas of focus to alleviate the strain on the UK’s care industry. This means that we are now seeing more emphasis on outcomes-led care. Local authority buyers often look for support which can help the service user achieve autonomy. This has mutual benefits. While the service user can live more independently, they also have reduced reliance on the care service.

Top tips from Health and Social Care Tender Writers

Check your eligibility

The tendering process can be incredibly time-consuming. For this reason, it is very common for care companies to use external Bid Writers to help them tender for work. However, before approaching a consultancy for support, you should first establish your eligibility to bid.

When you initially identify a tender that you want to bid for, first check the budget. If the contract will have a single supplier, you can often determine your eligibility just by looking at the value. As a general rule of thumb, we never advise bidding for a contact with a value that is more than half your annual turnover.

For example, if the contract value is £50,000, we advise that you should be turning over at least £100,000. However, buyers won’t always disclose the contract value in order to invite competitive quotes. If this is the case, you will have to do some extra digging in the tender documents. The required turnover threshold will often be stipulated within the specification.

If you are bidding for a place on a framework, where multiple suppliers will be awarded, don’t worry. If the value is £5million you don’t have to turnover £10million. To determine your economic financial standing, you should thoroughly digest the tender documents and look for any threshold requirements.

But it’s not just about money…

Even if your business meets the financial thresholds, you could still be ineligible. It is always worth reading the criteria listed in the specification. The buyer may require evidence of certain accreditations or registrations such as the;

Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England;
Care Inspectorate in Scotland;
Care and Social Services Inspectorate in Wales (CSSIW) and;
Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland.

Some buyers may also ask for relevant case studies. If you are a new business, this could be difficult to adhere to. In general, buyers will ask for at least three examples of similar contracts that you have delivered. It’s important to identify these requirements before you go any further.

Demonstrate compliance accurately

If the buyer does require details of registrations and accreditations (it’s likely that they will) you must respond accurately. Healthcare tenders often require evidence of health and safety issues, safeguarding and staff recruitment, for instance.

Depending on the contract/framework you are bidding for, it is common for the buyer to stipulate a minimum rating. For example, the buyer might stipulate a minimum CQC rating of ‘Good’ for suppliers providing services in England. However, there may be some exceptions if you fall short of the minimum rating. If this is the case, buyers will sometimes ask for you to provide a plan of measures you have/are implementing to combat the issues. These allowances will be at the buyer’s discretion and will not apply in every instance.

Simply stating that you possess the required registrations won’t be substantial. The buyer wants to see evidence of compliance. It is vital that your responses accurately reflect the standards expected. Your competitors will be providing evidence to demonstrate that they are the most capable provider. Don’t lose marks due to discrepancies. You could risk being ruled out altogether.

Understand the importance of social value

If you follow our Hudson Insight Series, you will have noticed an increased emphasis on the importance of social value. We have seen this increase as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This also applies to the care industry.

Regardless of the pandemic, our Health and Social Care Tender Writers advise that social value should always be an important consideration. It is a requirement in almost every care tender we have worked on recently. The success of your tender submission could be determined by your social value evidence.

When The Public Services (Social Value) Act came into effect in 2013, it imposed a statutory responsibility on public service bodies. The aim was to ensure that public money is used to enhance and positively impact the local area.

For example, if your employees are local, the money from the contract will be used to pay their wages and boost the local economy.

However, in order to demonstrate your social value to a buyer, you should think in broader terms than simply economics. Other ways of demonstrating your positive impact on the community include;

Community outreach projects

For example, volunteering or working with education providers to offer placements.

Good practice

Simply demonstrating good business practice through maintaining positive working relationships with other organisations or evidencing how you respect the work-life balance of your employees.

The environment

Environmental considerations are also a common way of demonstrating non-monetary social value. For example, using energy-efficient equipment in your workplace or encouraging reducing business travel by car.

Plan, then tailor your method statements

In order to prepare for future tendering activities, our Health and Social Care Tender Writers advise creating a bank of method statements. Based on your services and the contracts you want to deliver; it is possible to pre-empt the required content.

For tenders with heavier weightings on quality rather than price, your method statements offer opportunities to pick up considerable marks. To achieve the best results our Consultants recommend;

Breaking down the specification and getting to know the buyer

What do we mean by this? The specification contains information to help you paint a picture of the buyer’s ideal service provider. Read and digest the documents thoroughly to ensure that your responses address their exact requirements. You can even use their own lingo to demonstrate your understanding of their criteria.

Structure your responses

Most of the time, the responses will have word counts. There is no room for waffle. To avoid including unnecessary information, make a note of the key points you need to address for each response. This will help you stay on track when you begin writing. When planning the responses in this way, don’t forget to refer back to the specification. Ensure that your key points answer the buyer’s queries directly. Don’t make them search for the information.

Create boilerplate responses

To save time, you can create boilerplate responses. Think about the contracts you will want to bid for and draft ready-to-go method statements. If you do decide to create a library of content, ensure that you tailor each response when applying them to a live bid. Don’t lose marks by leaving in the wrong buyer’s name or referring to a different contract.

Write concisely and keep it simple

Buyers don’t want to read through reams and reams of irrelevant content or technical jargon. It is important to demonstrate your understanding and expertise in your industry but don’t lose the buyer’s attention. Keep each response concise by using short sentences and directly addressing the key information.

Be realistic and start small

When searching for new business opportunities, it’s easy to get carried away in the contracts you would like to deliver. However, it’s important to remain realistic and focus on the contracts you can deliver. In this blog, we have already discussed how to identify the projects you are eligible for. It’s important to keep this in mind and start small.

Is this your first time tendering for work? Are you a fairly new business? We would recommend looking for framework agreements and spot provider packages. Buyers are less likely to ask for a high turnover or a long trading length. Securing work in this way is a great first step to securing bigger contracts once you have a portfolio of experience.

How can we help?

At Hudson, we our bid writers support you when writing bids.

Step 1: Find health and social care tenders

Our Healthcare Tenders portal is dedicated specifically to the industry. Our team of Opportunity Trackers manually search for tenders from thousands of sources, daily. They then upload them to one central system where they are categorised with industry-led keywords. We also send our clients a daily bulletin, alerting them to newly uploaded opportunities that are relevant to their business.

Book a free live demo to tour the Healthcare Tenders portal. Browse the tenders and see how the system can help your business grow.

Step 2: Win the contracts you find on the system

Simply request a quote directly from the system or contact our consultants directly. Our team of health and social care Tender Writers hold an 87% bid success rate. They are trusted by over 700 businesses, globally, so you can rest assured that your bid is in safe hands.

Simply call or email us for a free consultation.

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

The post How to Win: Health & Social Care Tenders appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Pre-Qualification Questionnaires in Construction and the Rise of the PAS91

Alex Holt — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:56:21 +0000

Pre-Qualification Questionnaires in the Construction Industry

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 11:05 am

The term ‘standard selection questionnaire’ is rather self-explanatory – these questionnaires, therefore, are often standard sets of questions buyers pose to potential suppliers as part of the tender process.

So what is a pre-qualification questionnaire in construction?

Pre-qualification questionnaires in construction are used by buyers as the first stage of selection. Typically, this is a box-ticking exercise, in which you put down basic company information and check statements of non-collusion.

How do they evaluate my business?

Pre-qualification questionnaires are designed to act as the first stage of vetting, to ensure that your business:

Are financially stable
Meets the buyer’s due diligence requirements
Possesses the appropriate experience and technical capability to deliver the works

Pre-qualification questionnaires in construction can vary from buyer to buyer. They may utilise different names such as SQ (selection questionnaire) or SSQ (standard selection questionnaire).

Pre-qualification questionnaires are often marked using the pass/fail scoring methodology. They have clear yes/no answers or minimum scores for each section to be considered for the next stage.

Depending on whether the process follows the open or closed procedure, the PQQ and initial tender may be required to be completed at the same time. For the latter, closed procedure, you must first pass this first stage of vetting prior to completing the main tender exercise.

Technical and professional ability

This is one of the few sections on a typical PQQ where your responses are marked with scores, often with a minimum threshold that you are required to pass to the next stage. The typical question, shared across lots of pre-qualification questionnaires in construction is:

Please provide details of up to three contracts, in any combination from either the public or private sector; voluntary, charity or social enterprise (VCSE) that are relevant to our requirement. VCSEs may include samples of grant-funded work. Contracts for supplies or services should have been performed during the past three years. Works contracts may be from the past five years.

The underlined sections are the key parts of the question we need to consider. Word counts can vary from buyer to buyer – some requiring from as little as 200 words to larger, 1000+ word responses. Regardless, you should break the case study down into key sections, detailing:

The situation: An introduction
The task: The specifics of what we were tasked to do, such as conducting boiler services and repairs across 1000+ plus properties
The actions: How we delivered the contract, including key challenges or issues we faced
The results: A final ‘why us’ summary point – detail the successes of the contract

We call this our STAR approach and has played an invaluable role in winning over 87% of PQQ submissions for our clients.

You still have to sell your business

Although this is still very much a simple, factual recall of what you have done, you want to still make sure that what you’re saying is:

Relevant to the scope of works for the contract your bidding for
Demonstrates how this performance/experience makes you a suitable provider

So, for example, let’s say you’re bidding to provide void property repairs for a local council. You will want to, if you can, utilise three examples of where you have done this previously.

Simply put, we will want to draw as many parallels in our case studies with the scope of works we’re bidding for as possible. Talk about key challenges and lessons learnt that have had a direct impact on how you work today, and how these lessons learnt will prevent the same problem occurring for the buyer.

The dreaded PAS-91…

PAS-91s are becoming increasingly popular in the construction industry, which has been developed by the British Standards Institute to save companies from filling out several different PQQs. Basically, a PAS91 is a type of pre-qualification questionnaire that is slightly elongated but has the same basic ‘what you have done’ approach.

The main benefits of completing a PAS-91 are:

Exemption is granted from some core sections should you hold the required accreditations
For the core modules, questions are standardised, and as such, you can develop standard responses to use every time
The above examples will allow you to save time in the long run

Great news for those with accreditations

If you’ve spent company time to gain Constructionline – especially the Gold certificate – you will automatically be exempt from completing the most time-consuming parts of PAS91 questionnaires, such as quality management, health and safety, environment and equality and diversity sections. As long as the appropriate procedures are in place for all, anyone can apply for Constructionline, an invaluable tool should you find yourself bidding for a lot of construction contracts. There may be occasions where the buyer still requires to see this, but we find this extremely rare and maintaining the ConstructionLine status, definitely gives you that advantage over those who don’t possess this.

Exemption from individual categories can also be granted through holding certain accreditations – such as an ISO 9001 quality management certificate for the performance management section. This is typically standard, however, there are sometimes slight variations from buyer to buyer – so check carefully.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, as those without such accreditations can, in some cases, still pass, it just means more work. As such, depending on where you’re lacking in accreditations, you will have to answer questions in the optional and core modules, such as:

Health and safety
Quality management
Environmental management
Equality and diversity

These sections will go into detail regarding your approach to the above, with evidence requested to back up what you’re saying.

Health and safety

It goes without saying that any buyer will need their suppliers to deliver the works as safely and responsibly as possible, with clear levels of accountability and responsibility to ensure the works are delivered in accordance with the appropriate regulations, such as CDM 2015 and the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974.

In typical PAS91s, you are exempt from completing this section if:

You’ve completed a PAS-91 question set within the past 12 months
You hold SSIP health and safety accreditation such as CHAS or SafeContractor
You have a formally recognised management system such as OHSAS 18001:2007 or ISO 45001:2018

If not, you will be asked a series of questions regarding your health and safety policies and procedures, and you will be required to evidence your approach through the provision of policies and training materials. Areas covered include:

Training and keeping staff up to date regarding health and safety practices
Reviewing policies and procedures and compliance with best practice
Risk assessment and accident reporting

Quality

This section will present a series of questions that suppliers will have to answer regarding their approach to performance management. Typically, this includes the likes of:

Audits, inspections and other means of performance management
Quality assurance procedures and other proactive means of ensuring performance, such as training
How you manage underperformance and discuss this with employees
Reviews of policies and procedures and compliance with best practice

Luckily, those with certified ISO 9001 quality management systems, and can produce a certificate to prove this, are exempted from completing this section. If not, evidence you can provide can include the likes of policies, procedures, training records and even inspection reports.

Environment

Much like the quality management section, this section can be bypassed if you hold an ISO 14001 environmental management certificate. Alternatively, you will be required to evidence your responses to the questions with the provision of policies, procedures and any appropriate documentation to prove that you are undertaking the appropriate due diligence and means to minimise your environmental impact.

Areas covered can include:

Carbon emissions reduction and waste management
Training and maximising environmental awareness
Policies, procedures and reviews to ensure compliance with best practice

Equality and diversity

Again, a buyer will want to fulfil their due diligence by ensuring that the organisation has the appropriate measures in place to maximise opportunities for everyone – regardless of sex, relationship status, or ethnicity, in line with the Equality Act 2010. As such, questions in this section will cover areas such as:

Training provided to staff regarding equal opportunities
Means in place to mitigate prejudice/discrimination from the application process

Relationship with tenders

Buyers can potentially receive hundreds of tender submissions for a single contract, and as such, it’s in their interest to ensure that suppliers are both vetted and checked to ensure they both fulfil their legal obligations but also that inadequate suppliers can be excluded as early as possible, saving both time and money.

Need support?

Not everybody has the time or resources when it comes to tendering for contracts. This is where we’re here to help.

Our Tender Writing service covers PAS-91s and pre-qualification questionnaires, in which we will not only fill the basic information in on your behalf but complete the written, technical and professional ability sections and/or PAS91 modules where the buyer requires.

Alternatively, our Tender Ready service will see our team of bid writers prepare case studies and policies – both of which will be essential in passing pre-qualification questionnaires and PAS91s – in-line with best practice across the industry.

If you are looking for new opportunities for construction projects, look no further than Construction Tenders. Our dedicated, tender tracking portal, sources tendering opportunities, specifically for the construction sector. Get in touch with the team to book a free live demo and see how the system can help your business.

If there’s anything we can help with, no matter how big or small, get in touch with our bid writers and who can help with the bid writing process.

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

The post Pre-Qualification Questionnaires in Construction and the Rise of the PAS91 appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Construction Bid Management – Construction and the Environment

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

Everything you need to know about construction bid management

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

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

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

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

It was entered into force the following year.

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

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

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

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

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

Climate change

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

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

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

Climate change and construction bid management

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

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

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

What might a bid manager and their construction clients consider?

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

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

How can construction organisations evidence sustainability?

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

competitor analysis
audits
research
policy and procedures.

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

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

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

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

The supply chain – Construction Bid Management

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

their transportation arrangements;
raw materials;
waste removal.

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

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

Dashboards

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

Embodied Carbon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Passivhaus

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

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

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

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

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

Construction Bid Management – Looking forwards

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

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

The post Construction Bid Management – Construction and the Environment appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Recruitment Tenders – How to be successful

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

What are Recruitment Tenders?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Standing out from your competitors

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

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

So, what can you do to exceed expectations?

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

Questions to look out for in Recruitment Tenders

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

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

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

Questions to look out for are:

Methods and Processes

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

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

Knowledge and Coverage

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

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

Account Management

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

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

Top tips for winning Recruitment Tenders

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

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

Are you choosing the right recruitment tender?

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

Are your recruitment systems and processes properly documented?

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

Have you collected strong evidence from previous experience?

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

Do you have a clear plan for delivering the service?

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

Do you have strong compliance and safeguarding procedures in place?

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

Do you give extra value for money?

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

Sourcing the opportunities

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

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

We have sourced opportunities for:

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

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

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

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

Get in touch

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interested? Get in touch.

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

The post Recruitment Tenders – How to be successful appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Sector-specific insights Archives - Tender Consultants

Received a PIR CQC invitation? 5 things you should know

What the PIR CQC form means for registered businesses & how to complete it

When should you receive your PIR CQC form and what’s the deadline?

How are the questions divided?

How long does the PIR CQC form take to complete?

What are you likely to be asked?

Summary

Need help with writing your PIR CQC responses?

Growing your healthcare business?

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

Charity Bid Writing: What Not to Do

Charity bid writing: 8 mistakes to avoid

Don’t make your project meet a funder’s needs

Don’t forget to read the funding guidelines before you apply

Avoid rambling incoherent applications that have no substantial evidence of a need

Don’t submit your application in the wrong format

Don’t ask for an unreasonable amount of funding

Never assume that the funder already knows about you

Don’t write too little or too much

Never submit it late

Need help with charity bid writing?

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

How can I find charity bid writing opportunities?

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

Upgrade to our new time-saving tools

Find funding opportunities with Discover Grants

Office Fit Out Tenders: How to Win

7 tips for writing successful office fit out tenders

Include CV’s of your experienced team

Provide evidence of a proven track record

Have stellar testimonials on hand

Complete site visits

Pay attention to social value

Produce a high quality written response

How can we help?

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

Tender Ready

Tender Improvement

Where can I find office fit out tenders?

Below are previous office fit out tenders sourced on our portal:

Upgrade to Hudson Discover Elite

How to Find the Right Healthcare Bid Manager

How to find the right healthcare Bid Manager for your business

Why do you need a healthcare Bid Manager?

Let’s look at the key skills needed in bid management

Time management

Writing capabilities

Communication skills

Industry awareness

What can a healthcare Bid Manager do for you?

How to find the right healthcare Bid Manager for you

Looking to apply for healthcare tenders? Here at Hudson Succeed, we can take care of it for you.

Upgrade to Discover Elite

Need help with a tender response?

Choose one of our services:

Want to learn more about tendering for work? Visit Tender VLE!

Hudson Insight Series: PQQs in Construction

Your guide to a PQQ in construction

What is a PQQ in construction?

Is there any other format for a PQQ in construction?

Standard Selection Questionnaire

PAS91

What does a PQQ in construction ask for?

Company information

Grounds for mandatory rejection

Grounds for discretionary rejection

Economic and financial standing

Technical and professional ability

Staff and subcontractor’s information

Project-specific questions

Health and safety

Quality assurance

Environmental management policy

Equal opportunities policy

Need help completing your PQQ for construction?