With UK Government spend accounting for a significant amount of the UK’s overall GDP, any business looking to trade In the UK should seriously consider the public sector as a potential customer.
Not only can the contracts be lucrative (as seen with the London Olympics in 2012), but they can act as a springboard onto other larger projects because the reputation gained from successfully completing one of these projects is highly regarded by potential private sector clients. Coupled with this, many public sector organisations keep lists of potential suppliers for future works.
What are Public Sector bids/tenders?
These are opportunities open to private sector organisations, ran by the public sector which can be located on either the ‘Digital Marketplace’ or ‘Find a Tender’ portals (please keep in mind that Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own dedicated portals). There are other means to search for opportunities such as; contacting the Small Business Research Initiative or the Local Enterprise Europe network, or for larger contracts – Tenders Electronic Daily, but this all depends on your requirement.
Public sector bids/tenders, whilst first appearing to offer a lucrative opportunity to your business, can often be surrounded with a large amount of bureaucracy, red tape and regulations. Unless your organisation has the time, resource and required knowledge of the process to bid, it is something which many UK SMEs are unable to obtain.
Did you know that you may have to go through one of the 4 different official procurement procedures if you bid for a public-sector contract?
How do Public Bids/Tenders Work?
When looking at a potential opportunity you’ll first need to establish whether the procedure is; Open, Restricted, Negotiated or a Competitive Dialogue. This will determine the next steps in being able to bid for an opportunity.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen several SMEs who are suitably qualified to bid for the opportunity, but fail simply because they don’t understand the procedure, the steps involved and what to look out for when submitting a response.
The Value Match team was founded in 2013 by David Shields, the former Managing Director of Government Procurement Services (now known as the Crown Commercial Service) and a hand selected team of expert public sector central, local government and the NHS procurement practitioners.
Value Match offer our customers something which many others can’t – an insider’s perspective. Our unique insight and experience of leading procurement exercises within the public sector for organisations such as CCS, enables us to know exactly what is and isn’t a winning submission. Our experience of working and delivering within the Public Sector, in Central, Local Government and the NHS, gives Value Match a detailed and unique knowledge of how the process of Government Procurement works in practice.
Have Your Identified a Bid/Tender Opportunity?
Have you identified a relevant bid/tender opportunity and want the best possible chance of securing the contract? Are you unsure as to whether your submission is likely to gain the highest score possible? Are you looking to secure that business-critical contract?
If you answered yes or even hesitated to answer any of the above, contact Value Match today for a free consultation. Give us a call on 0800 917 7884 or contact us today.
For further information, contact Lindsay Rosul
T: 07702 823 648
E: Lindsay.Rosul@value-match.co.uk
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