Tendering - Where to Start
Discussion
Hi all. I run a Signage, display and graphics company in South Yorkshire.
We have never really explored the idea of tendering for work but as the business is now scaling up this seems to be an obvious route to take. I've researched quite a few tendering websites but it seems all they do is filter out the relevant opportunities and charge a handsome fee for the service (which is fair enough of course!) As I am very new to this I would like to search myself initially. I know looking on the government website will give access to the public sector tenders but is there any way of finding tenders in the private sector?
We are in the process of obtaining an ISO accreditation as I believe this is a requirement of the majority of public sector tenders, but as I am literally dipping my toe in the water and advice would be greatly appreciated.
We have never really explored the idea of tendering for work but as the business is now scaling up this seems to be an obvious route to take. I've researched quite a few tendering websites but it seems all they do is filter out the relevant opportunities and charge a handsome fee for the service (which is fair enough of course!) As I am very new to this I would like to search myself initially. I know looking on the government website will give access to the public sector tenders but is there any way of finding tenders in the private sector?
We are in the process of obtaining an ISO accreditation as I believe this is a requirement of the majority of public sector tenders, but as I am literally dipping my toe in the water and advice would be greatly appreciated.
8IKERDAVE said:
Hi all. I run a Signage, display and graphics company in South Yorkshire.
We have never really explored the idea of tendering for work but as the business is now scaling up this seems to be an obvious route to take. I've researched quite a few tendering websites but it seems all they do is filter out the relevant opportunities and charge a handsome fee for the service (which is fair enough of course!) As I am very new to this I would like to search myself initially. I know looking on the government website will give access to the public sector tenders but is there any way of finding tenders in the private sector?
We are in the process of obtaining an ISO accreditation as I believe this is a requirement of the majority of public sector tenders, but as I am literally dipping my toe in the water and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Rule #1 of tendering for anything is that if the first you know about a tender is when it lands on your doormat you have probably already lost it.We have never really explored the idea of tendering for work but as the business is now scaling up this seems to be an obvious route to take. I've researched quite a few tendering websites but it seems all they do is filter out the relevant opportunities and charge a handsome fee for the service (which is fair enough of course!) As I am very new to this I would like to search myself initially. I know looking on the government website will give access to the public sector tenders but is there any way of finding tenders in the private sector?
We are in the process of obtaining an ISO accreditation as I believe this is a requirement of the majority of public sector tenders, but as I am literally dipping my toe in the water and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Rule #2 is don't bid on everything. Look at any tenders you get and if you can see that you are not suited or that a competitor is too well embedded then don't waste your time or money bidding.
Rule #3 is if you are going to bid then respond to the tender requirements in the same format and order that they get sent to you.
The point is you have to go out and engage with potential customers long in advance of tenders being sent out.
If or when you get a sniff of a tender being raised then, if you have built good relationships, you can then help shape the tender requirements by making "helpful" suggestions as to what should & shouldn't be in it ! Especially good fun when you can get things included that you know your competitors can't do!
Most large private businesses will have a list of approved suppliers who tenders are sent to / invited too.
The companies need to know about you before they can invite you.
Unfortunately it's a case of spending lots of time speaking to procurement departments to be added to a list for a tender that might never occur.
The companies need to know about you before they can invite you.
Unfortunately it's a case of spending lots of time speaking to procurement departments to be added to a list for a tender that might never occur.
I’ve been submitting tenders for NHS contracts for nursing staffing (permanent) and GP staffing (locum) since 2006. Despite the reports of nursing and doctor shortages we never got one.
Government contracts are normally decided before the tendering process is released to the public. If you didn’t go to Eton don’t waste your time and spend the time you would take to fill out the tender application on the phone doing BD within the private sector.
Approach large companies that have many sites. It’s not so much easier but it’s only one person you need to impress and one signature you need build a rapport with these people. (Do this for one or 2 companies)
Then call every individual site and tell the manager you are preferred supplier and ask them what they need.
Government contracts. If you win one you’ll never have to work again but the same can be said for the lottery.
Government contracts are normally decided before the tendering process is released to the public. If you didn’t go to Eton don’t waste your time and spend the time you would take to fill out the tender application on the phone doing BD within the private sector.
Approach large companies that have many sites. It’s not so much easier but it’s only one person you need to impress and one signature you need build a rapport with these people. (Do this for one or 2 companies)
Then call every individual site and tell the manager you are preferred supplier and ask them what they need.
Government contracts. If you win one you’ll never have to work again but the same can be said for the lottery.
Tendering can be - actually is a major pain in the arse. But.... but.... get it right and you can win some really nice work. Plus, you'll get paid on time! I’ve been writing tenders for public sector contracts for the best part of 25 years so a couple of pointers that may help.
First off the bat is to ignore things like this:
And also pay scant regards to things like this...
On the whole and by some margin, tendering in the UK is fair, well regulated and open to much scrutiny so don’t let hackneyed cynicism put you off.
Key to winning tenders starts with choosing those you go for. It’s easy to read a brief and think - yeah, we can do that, and maybe you can. But you need to check whether you can present credentials that match the project, that you are fully compliant, that you can put in a competitive price and so on. So in order, your initial check list should be:
Is this what we do?
Can we demonstrate this well and prove that we’re good enough?
Do we tick all the compliance boxes?
Are we going to be competitive?
If the answer to any of these is no, then pass on it as it will be a waste of time completing the tender.
Next you need to read very carefully what they want to see. What is good about tendering is that they set out what it is you need to do to win the bid so it’s up to you to respond to that. This segues into writing....
Many companies make the mistake of treating a tender like an extension to their website in the way they present themselves (as did I in the past!), using phrases like “We are recognised as the leading Sign Writing company in South Yorkshire”. Great! But by who? What evidence can you provide to that effect? And more to the point, so what? Can you do the job and how much will it cost? You need to write succinctly and cut out anything superfluous.
Tender writing is a skill - an art, even. Responses are often word limited and getting all you need into 500 words can often be a challenge. It’s a skill you acquire the more you do it and there are resources out there that can help - writers and training. And given your line of work, don’t ignore the fundaments; a bid full of spelling and grammatical errors does not bode well for a signwriting firm.
As to where you can find tenders, you don’t have to pay but it can be beneficial providing you choose the right platform. I’ve used them all over the years and have settled on www.b2bquotetenders.co.uk - as it’s not too expensive and the filtering is really good.
Local authorities publish tenders on their websites. There’s the Contracts Finder on the .gov site: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
And you should also make yourself known to all public sector buyers in your patch - councils, NHS, housing associations.... Any contract with a value under £15k (IIRC) doesn’t need to go to tender and can be procured via a ‘mini-competition’ which is similar to a tender but those bidding will be those invited to do so and usually no more than three or four. So if they don’t know you, you won’t get invited.
Also keep an eye out for 'supplier frameworks'. These are when an authority goes through a tender process to award companies a place on a roster of suppliers for a period of three to four years. If you get on one of these, any work that needs doing gets put out for quotation to firms on the framework and sometimes, firms get appointed directly without the need to quote. These can be really useful ways to win work. All the burdensome work normally applied to tendering is done up front and not needed going forward.
It may sound odd but if this is your first foray into the world of tendering, you actually want to loose the first few you submit. That way, the feedback you get will help to hone your approach in the future.
Other than that, just get stuck in.
It’s a monumentally frustrating way to win work, infuriating at times and can take up a massive amount of time. But, when you win one, it’s the best feeling!
HTH and good luck.
First off the bat is to ignore things like this:
Kujawy said:
Government contracts are normally decided before the tendering process is released to the public. If you didn’t go to Eton don’t waste your time and spend the time you would take to fill out the tender application on the phone doing BD within the private sector
I’m not saying this doesn’t happen covertly and ‘preferred bidder’ is a legitimate thing. And sometimes, if you have a relationship with an authority, they may want you to do the work but need to go out to tender but will give you a heads up so you can better prepare. Good for you - but not so much if you’re one of the others.And also pay scant regards to things like this...
dirky dirk said:
Ive quoted for dozens all over the worold
never got one
waste of time, usually even the spreadsheets arent working correctly
If someone's bidding but winning nothing I can understand such opinion. But with such a stark lack of success one has to question why. Most tenders, national and international are perfectly legit. Our strike rate on international tenders is around the one in three mark. In the UK it's around one in four and never have we done a backhander deal and mostly our contracts are won blind - as in we had no prior communication with the contracting authority.never got one
waste of time, usually even the spreadsheets arent working correctly
On the whole and by some margin, tendering in the UK is fair, well regulated and open to much scrutiny so don’t let hackneyed cynicism put you off.
Key to winning tenders starts with choosing those you go for. It’s easy to read a brief and think - yeah, we can do that, and maybe you can. But you need to check whether you can present credentials that match the project, that you are fully compliant, that you can put in a competitive price and so on. So in order, your initial check list should be:
Is this what we do?
Can we demonstrate this well and prove that we’re good enough?
Do we tick all the compliance boxes?
Are we going to be competitive?
If the answer to any of these is no, then pass on it as it will be a waste of time completing the tender.
Next you need to read very carefully what they want to see. What is good about tendering is that they set out what it is you need to do to win the bid so it’s up to you to respond to that. This segues into writing....
Many companies make the mistake of treating a tender like an extension to their website in the way they present themselves (as did I in the past!), using phrases like “We are recognised as the leading Sign Writing company in South Yorkshire”. Great! But by who? What evidence can you provide to that effect? And more to the point, so what? Can you do the job and how much will it cost? You need to write succinctly and cut out anything superfluous.
Tender writing is a skill - an art, even. Responses are often word limited and getting all you need into 500 words can often be a challenge. It’s a skill you acquire the more you do it and there are resources out there that can help - writers and training. And given your line of work, don’t ignore the fundaments; a bid full of spelling and grammatical errors does not bode well for a signwriting firm.
As to where you can find tenders, you don’t have to pay but it can be beneficial providing you choose the right platform. I’ve used them all over the years and have settled on www.b2bquotetenders.co.uk - as it’s not too expensive and the filtering is really good.
Local authorities publish tenders on their websites. There’s the Contracts Finder on the .gov site: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
And you should also make yourself known to all public sector buyers in your patch - councils, NHS, housing associations.... Any contract with a value under £15k (IIRC) doesn’t need to go to tender and can be procured via a ‘mini-competition’ which is similar to a tender but those bidding will be those invited to do so and usually no more than three or four. So if they don’t know you, you won’t get invited.
Also keep an eye out for 'supplier frameworks'. These are when an authority goes through a tender process to award companies a place on a roster of suppliers for a period of three to four years. If you get on one of these, any work that needs doing gets put out for quotation to firms on the framework and sometimes, firms get appointed directly without the need to quote. These can be really useful ways to win work. All the burdensome work normally applied to tendering is done up front and not needed going forward.
It may sound odd but if this is your first foray into the world of tendering, you actually want to loose the first few you submit. That way, the feedback you get will help to hone your approach in the future.
Other than that, just get stuck in.
It’s a monumentally frustrating way to win work, infuriating at times and can take up a massive amount of time. But, when you win one, it’s the best feeling!
HTH and good luck.
Edited by StevieBee on Friday 4th February 09:46
StevieBee said:
If someone's bidding but winning nothing I can understand such opinion. But with such a stark lack of success one has to question why. Most tenders, national and international are perfectly legit. Our strike rate on international tenders is around the one in three mark. In the UK it's around one in four and never have we done a backhander deal and mostly our contracts are won blind - as in we had no prior communication with the contracting authority.
On the whole and by some margin, tendering in the UK is fair, well regulated and open to much scrutiny so don’t let hackneyed cynicism put you off.
Key to winning tenders starts with choosing those you go for. It’s easy to read a brief and think - yeah, we can do that, and maybe you can. But you need to check whether you can present credentials that match the project, that you are fully compliant, that you can put in a competitive price and so on. So in order, your initial check list should be:
Is this what we do?
Can we demonstrate this well and prove that we’re good enough?
Do we tick all the compliance boxes?
Are we going to be competitive?
If the answer to any of these is no, then pass on it as it will be a waste of time completing the tender.
Next you need to read very carefully what they want to see. What is good about tendering is that they set out what it is you need to do to win the bid so it’s up to you to respond to that. This segues into writing....
Many companies make the mistake of treating a tender like an extension to their website in the way they present themselves (as did I in the past!), using phrases like “We are recognised as the leading Sign Writing company in South Yorkshire”. Great! But by who? What evidence can you provide to that effect? And more to the point, so what? Can you do the job and how much will it cost? You need to write succinctly and cut out anything superfluous.
Tender writing is a skill - an art, even. Responses are often word limited and getting all you need into 500 words can often be a challenge. It’s a skill you acquire the more you do it and there are resources out there that can help - writers and training. And given your line of work, don’t ignore the fundaments; a bid full of spelling and grammatical errors does not bode well for a signwriting firm.
As to where you can find tenders, you don’t have to pay but it can be beneficial providing you choose the right platform. I’ve used them all over the years and have settled on www.b2bquotetenders.co.uk - as it’s not too expensive and the filtering is really good.
Local authorities publish tenders on their websites. There’s the Contracts Finder on the .gov site: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
And you should also make yourself known to all public sector buyers in your patch - councils, NHS, housing associations.... Any contract with a value under £15k (IIRC) doesn’t need to go to tender and can be procured via a ‘mini-competition’ which is similar to a tender but those bidding will be those invited to do so and usually no more than three or four. So if they don’t know you, you won’t get invited.
Also keep an eye out for 'supplier frameworks'. These are when an authority goes through a tender process to award companies a place on a roster of suppliers for a period of three to four years. If you get on one of these, any work that needs doing gets put out for quotation to firms on the framework and sometimes, firms get appointed directly without the need to quote. These can be really useful ways to win work. All the burdensome work normally applied to tendering is done up front and not needed going forward.
It may sound odd but if this is your first foray into the world of tendering, you actually want to loose the first few you submit. That way, the feedback you get will help to hone your approach in the future.
Other than that, just get stuck in.
It’s a monumentally frustrating way to win work, infuriating at times and can take up a massive amount of time. But, when you win one, it’s the best feeling!
HTH and good luck.
Absolutely fantastic information there Stevie, thank you very much for the time taken there to formulate an experience driven response!On the whole and by some margin, tendering in the UK is fair, well regulated and open to much scrutiny so don’t let hackneyed cynicism put you off.
Key to winning tenders starts with choosing those you go for. It’s easy to read a brief and think - yeah, we can do that, and maybe you can. But you need to check whether you can present credentials that match the project, that you are fully compliant, that you can put in a competitive price and so on. So in order, your initial check list should be:
Is this what we do?
Can we demonstrate this well and prove that we’re good enough?
Do we tick all the compliance boxes?
Are we going to be competitive?
If the answer to any of these is no, then pass on it as it will be a waste of time completing the tender.
Next you need to read very carefully what they want to see. What is good about tendering is that they set out what it is you need to do to win the bid so it’s up to you to respond to that. This segues into writing....
Many companies make the mistake of treating a tender like an extension to their website in the way they present themselves (as did I in the past!), using phrases like “We are recognised as the leading Sign Writing company in South Yorkshire”. Great! But by who? What evidence can you provide to that effect? And more to the point, so what? Can you do the job and how much will it cost? You need to write succinctly and cut out anything superfluous.
Tender writing is a skill - an art, even. Responses are often word limited and getting all you need into 500 words can often be a challenge. It’s a skill you acquire the more you do it and there are resources out there that can help - writers and training. And given your line of work, don’t ignore the fundaments; a bid full of spelling and grammatical errors does not bode well for a signwriting firm.
As to where you can find tenders, you don’t have to pay but it can be beneficial providing you choose the right platform. I’ve used them all over the years and have settled on www.b2bquotetenders.co.uk - as it’s not too expensive and the filtering is really good.
Local authorities publish tenders on their websites. There’s the Contracts Finder on the .gov site: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
And you should also make yourself known to all public sector buyers in your patch - councils, NHS, housing associations.... Any contract with a value under £15k (IIRC) doesn’t need to go to tender and can be procured via a ‘mini-competition’ which is similar to a tender but those bidding will be those invited to do so and usually no more than three or four. So if they don’t know you, you won’t get invited.
Also keep an eye out for 'supplier frameworks'. These are when an authority goes through a tender process to award companies a place on a roster of suppliers for a period of three to four years. If you get on one of these, any work that needs doing gets put out for quotation to firms on the framework and sometimes, firms get appointed directly without the need to quote. These can be really useful ways to win work. All the burdensome work normally applied to tendering is done up front and not needed going forward.
It may sound odd but if this is your first foray into the world of tendering, you actually want to loose the first few you submit. That way, the feedback you get will help to hone your approach in the future.
Other than that, just get stuck in.
It’s a monumentally frustrating way to win work, infuriating at times and can take up a massive amount of time. But, when you win one, it’s the best feeling!
HTH and good luck.
Edited by StevieBee on Friday 4th February 09:46
I'm a procurement manager and have spent the last 10 years with some well known oil & gas companies. I can give you a brief insight on how we do things from a private sector perspective.
Framework agreement
We would put this out to tender but its not the same as the E-procurement that you see in the private sector although some private sector companies do this. You would need to get onto the approved vendors list or at a minimum get onto the bid list for that scope. For your type of material it would probably be more bid list as we would do a risk assessment on the request and for what you offer the risk would be low.
The list of suppliers would from different places, mostly from the list below.
Adhoc orders
These orders would go out on a simple RFQ and usually the amount of paperwork that needs completed is minimal. Once you win one of these types of orders the paperwork required for the next order is usually as simple as a quote.
We would use the same list as above for these types of orders.
We also have the option to go single/sole source depending on potential order values or if you were suppling something only you can supply. If you were to start winning adhoc orders and the service levels from you were good then we would start to go single source (usually under 10K).
With private sector there is a bit more scope to win the buyer over. If you manage to get to the buyer, start getting personal with them and show interest in there family etc, show interest in work but don't make that the only conversation you have.
Good luck and feel free to ask any questions.
Framework agreement
We would put this out to tender but its not the same as the E-procurement that you see in the private sector although some private sector companies do this. You would need to get onto the approved vendors list or at a minimum get onto the bid list for that scope. For your type of material it would probably be more bid list as we would do a risk assessment on the request and for what you offer the risk would be low.
The list of suppliers would from different places, mostly from the list below.
- Past orders
- Buyers having used the supplier in past companies/projects
- Already on the approved vendors list (very unlikely we would have signage suppliers on this list)
- Supply Chain websites like Achilles F-Pal
- Google/LinkedIn searches
- Word of mouth from other disciplines like engineers
Adhoc orders
These orders would go out on a simple RFQ and usually the amount of paperwork that needs completed is minimal. Once you win one of these types of orders the paperwork required for the next order is usually as simple as a quote.
We would use the same list as above for these types of orders.
We also have the option to go single/sole source depending on potential order values or if you were suppling something only you can supply. If you were to start winning adhoc orders and the service levels from you were good then we would start to go single source (usually under 10K).
With private sector there is a bit more scope to win the buyer over. If you manage to get to the buyer, start getting personal with them and show interest in there family etc, show interest in work but don't make that the only conversation you have.
Good luck and feel free to ask any questions.
I share Stevie’s positivity about tendering. We used to lose them, but since we learnt how to write them properly we’ve won three of the six we’ve applied for.
One caveat I should add is that their stated values can sometimes be a huge overprediction, at least in our sector. We do specialised legal work worth £15-20k per year per client, but their tenders promised three times that or more. They are not obliged to send a minimum volume of work. I think they do it to entice bidders to apply.
One caveat I should add is that their stated values can sometimes be a huge overprediction, at least in our sector. We do specialised legal work worth £15-20k per year per client, but their tenders promised three times that or more. They are not obliged to send a minimum volume of work. I think they do it to entice bidders to apply.
I share Stevie’s positivity about tendering. We used to lose them, but since we learnt how to write them properly we’ve won three of the six we’ve applied for.
One caveat I should add is that their stated values can sometimes be a huge overprediction, at least in our sector. We do specialised legal work worth £15-20k per year per client, but their tenders promised three times that or more. They are not obliged to send a minimum volume of work. I think they do it to entice bidders to apply.
One caveat I should add is that their stated values can sometimes be a huge overprediction, at least in our sector. We do specialised legal work worth £15-20k per year per client, but their tenders promised three times that or more. They are not obliged to send a minimum volume of work. I think they do it to entice bidders to apply.
Grrbang said:
One caveat I should add is that their stated values can sometimes be a huge overprediction, at least in our sector. We do specialised legal work worth £15-20k per year per client, but their tenders promised three times that or more. They are not obliged to send a minimum volume of work. I think they do it to entice bidders to apply.
This jolted me to realise I didn’t cover costing on my previous post and it’s quite an important consideration when preparing a tender.Grrbang is correct in that the budget set out in some tenders never gets fully used. But this isn’t always the case and sometimes, they have to spend everything they say they have.
The one thing to watch is that your tender application forms the basis of the contract should you win it - the contract is normally included in tender pack for review. This includes the price. I’ve seen many companies bid at cost or even below to win the contract on the belief that they will be able to claw back a profit once they’re up and running. This might work if, say, you’re building a new underground line through London but not so much on the sort of work you and I are going for. The price you quote is that which you’ll get paid so you need to be happy that you’ve covered everything in your costing.
You need to be competitive but not always cheap. Most tenders are scored 60% method and credentials, 40% price. That means providing you score high on the former, you can still win it even if you’re not the cheapest.
[quote=Wombat3]
Rule #1 of tendering for anything is that if the first you know about a tender is when it lands on your doormat you have probably already lost it.
Except in D+B where the Main Contractor will swear on his life that if you do the design then you'll definitely maybe get this job and if you don't his mate on the next desk will definitely maybe be told to give a crack at the next job ( of course that will be a full design also)
After the 6th round of this, they'll stop taking your calls or emails
Rule #1 of tendering for anything is that if the first you know about a tender is when it lands on your doormat you have probably already lost it.
Except in D+B where the Main Contractor will swear on his life that if you do the design then you'll definitely maybe get this job and if you don't his mate on the next desk will definitely maybe be told to give a crack at the next job ( of course that will be a full design also)
After the 6th round of this, they'll stop taking your calls or emails
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