Bidding for Public and Private Sector Contracts

1. Introduction

Whilst traditional sales and marketing can be used to find new business opportunities, in certain cases suppliers must go through a formal tendering process. This applies to most public sector procurement, and also in larger private sector procurements.

The main sources tend to be referrals from existing clients and contacts, via advertisements from official journals or websites, and by your presence on preferred supplier lists.

Larger bidding opportunities are advertised in the EU Official Journal, whilst many public bodies now use the http://www.supply2.gov.uk website to advertise contract opportunities up to a maximum value of  £100,000.

There are also many specialist sites - e.g http://www.competefor.co.uk advertises opportunities for supplying to the 2012 Olympics - and many of these ARE within the scope of small and medium businesses.

Registering and accessing the above sites to search for tendering opportunities is free.

Tendering for any contract requiries a commitment of time and resources by both clients and potential suppliers - and therefore incurs costs, and should only be undertaken with serious intent to win such business.

2. Pre-Qualification

In public procurements, client organisations make use of a Pre-Qualification process to determine first, which suppliers are eligible to bid for a given contract. This is achieved by specifying the supplier experience criteria and requesting all applicant suppliers to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ).

Suppliers should also take the opportunity to qualify opportunities, by assessing whether they really have the necessary skills, expertise and resources to bid for a given contract, and whether they can profitably win and deliver such business.

3. Tender Production

Suppliers who successfully meet the qualification threshold will then be invited to submit a tender (or bid) for the supply of the required goods, services or works. Each submitted tender is then evaluated against pre-defined criteria, and the supplier who best meets the criteria will normally be awarded the contract.

Has you business successfully used formal tendering as means to gain new orders, or is it something you would consider doing ?

George Montgomery
Business Development Consultant

George runs Bid4Success and can assist businesses with identifying and qualifying bidding opportunities, preparing the qualification documentation - including responding to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ), and writing Tender Responses.