The public sector in the UK spends an incredible £290 billion per annum with third party organisations. Most of this spend is awarded through competitive procurement exercises. Some organisations, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SME businesses), are reluctant to engage with competitive procurement processes for a variety of reasons. In this article, I will be discussing eight reasons why some

The public sector in the UK spends an incredible £290 billion per annum with third party organisations. Most of this spend is awarded through competitive procurement exercises. In the current economic climate some existing markets are no longer viable or sustainable. This is causing many organisations to consider bidding to the public sector. In this article, I will focus on

You’re spending a lot of time and putting considerable thought into that significant, personalised bid. You’ve honed in on your USP, what only you can offer that others can’t, and you’re thinking about how to articulate it. Before you put pen to paper, stop!  Research into evaluation panels for bids suggests that there are 5.4 people on an average panel.

Thinking about the buyer’s aims when you respond to a tender opportunity will increase your win rates. Directly addressing their objectives, whether stated in the tender documents or not, will help your proposal stand out from the crowd. Behind most public sector tenders is a procurement team or professional and a well-developed business case for the tender. This business case

If you’re expecting a bid or tender to be released soon, you might be inclined to wait for it to arrive before you start committing time and resources to it.  However, there are a few things that you should do ahead of time, to increase your prospects of success: Understand the buying organisation. Browse their website for useful sources, including