How to identify public sector opportunities

PHILIP NORMAN outlines some simple measures to identify great public sector opportunities for your business and turn them into solid contracts

Last year the government So, first and foremost, how do you published a target that, identify the opportunities that are by 2020, £1 in every £3 most relevant to your business? A of public procurement simple and effective way to find the expenditure will be with right contracts is to make use of the small businesses. Could this mean online portals available to allow that 2017 will be the year for winning organisations to search for public your first public sector contract? It sector tenders. These allow you may not be as out of reach as it to enter search terms and key seems, and the right help is at hand if information, which will then suggest you know where to find it. which contracts you might be able to The many types of organisation open to public procurement include government bodies and quangos, “There are always plenty of tendering opportunities available to businesses within most sectors across the UK” local authorities, the NHS, housing associations, charities, go for, as and when these come up. schools, universities and colleges. As The best-known portals for public you can imagine, these organisations sector business are: have vast and varied contract l Contracts Finder requirements, so there are always (gov.uk/contracts-finder), which is plenty of tendering opportunities free available to businesses within most l Tenders Electronic Daily sectors across the UK. (europeandataportal.eu), which is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European CASE STUDY: TIDY TENDERING Union (OJEU) l NHS Supply Chain (supplychain.nhs.uk)

Direct Cleaning Services (DCS) based in Corsham, Wiltshire provides its quality l Procontract cleaning services to a wide variety of public and private sector organisations (procontract.due-north.com).throughout the South West. Its contracts vary greatly in size and its customer-focused There are also several other staff are dedicated to providing consistency of service to all clients. paid-for portals.

Back in 2013, DCS was eager to grow its business by obtaining more sustainable Opportunities are hugely varied supply contracts over a wider area. Specifically, it wanted to win public sector and a wide range of different contracts for educational establishments, but like many small businesses, it didn’t have the time, resources or skills to pursue public sector bids on its own. Bidbetter stepped in to strengthen and simplify the bid process, tailoring its services to DCS’s budget and timelines, and assisting it in winning over £600,000 worth of contracts businesses benefit from winning public sector contracts each year. Of course, you’ve got to be in it to win it, from an investment of around £4,000. so why not sign up to a free portal

DCS’s experience shows that sensible investment in the bidding process has potentially massive returns, not least for the thousands of small to medium-sized and have a look at what’s out there? There is nothing to lose and you enterprises that drive the UK economy. DCS is now able to produce its own successful could quite possibly win a sustainable public sector bids based on Bidbetter’s suggested model, while Bidbetter continues contract that will give your business to offer DCS specialist advice and to review bids before they are presented.

a real boost. Once you have identified an opportunity you would like to pursue, you will need to put the appropriate planning in place at an early stage to ensure you are maximising your chances. Effective early engagement and profiling are essential for a successful outcome.

Treat the tender as a project, putting in place effective project management tools, key milestones, and measures to ensure the smooth running of the process. Investing time at this stage will pay off in the long run, particularly if your competitors are not putting the same amount of time and effort in.

Ensure you have the right people involved in the project. Whether this means using your own staff or investing in outside help if there is a knowledge gap, if you do not have a combination of the right skillsets working on the job, you will be missing out on valuable advice and experience that could cost you the contract. Bid consultants and dedicated bid writers have seen hundreds of different types of tenders – some have even been involved in scoring them – and know exactly what needs to be included, and how it needs to be written, in order to gain the highest possible score for each section. Investing time and money in this type of expertise upfront can really pay off in the long run and put you streets ahead of your competitors.

Do also obtain buy-in and sponsorship from as high up in your organisation as possible, otherwise you may find yourself left without the necessary resource allocation and with your colleagues not taking the project as seriously as it should be.

PHILIP NORMAN is founder and managing director of Bidbetter, a consultancy set up in 2013 to help businesses, both large and small, win public sector contracts. The company has since won £370m worth of business for clients, with an 80% success rate. Call 01202 237506, email philip.norman@bid-better.co.uk or visit www.bid-better.co.uk

When it comes to completing the tender documentation, ensure that you are well prepared: develop a project plan and stick to it. A key piece of advice is to work out exactly what the buyer is looking for in their tender responses – don’t assume you know what they want to hear. This information is all laid out within the tender document itself, but if you are in any doubt, ask the buying organisation. Every live tender has a function to ask questions within certain timeframes. This is also a good way to influence and raise your own credibility with the buyer, so could be invaluable.

Don’t allocate the writing of the bid to the only person in your organisation who has the time to do it, as they may not be the best person for the job. The person who writes your bid must be able to write well and understand the business and the customer. Ensure that you engage the right people within your business – experts on the subject matter – to feed into the writing process.

Once you have completed the document, ensure that you check it thoroughly and ask others to have a good look over it too. The document must be submitted on time, preferably 24 hours before the final deadline. If it is late, it will not be considered.

After submission, you must wait for the “decision of intended award outcome” to find out who has won the contract. The timescales for this will be published in advance. The final announcement will be made online and you will also receive a letter to let you know whether or not you have been successful. If you have, the organisation will communicate with you when they are ready. If you are unsuccessful, you may want to find out why, so that you have more success next time. Occasionally, it may be possible to challenge the decision if there are sufficient grounds.

And that, in a nutshell, is how to bid for public sector business. I hope I have clarified some of the key points for you, and encouraged you to consider bidding for these contracts. Good luck!