Government Tenders

Government tenders are a fantastic opportunity for SMEs to win business. Servicing the government has many benefits which SMEs can take advantage of. The government has committed 33% of central government procurement spend to go to SMEs by 2022. This is a substantial figure that your company can get involved with. Listed below is an overview of what you need to be aware of when looking to win government tenders. Being aware of the entire process can give you an advantage over your competition. The total planned government expenditure for 2019/20 is £736.94 billion. The table below shows the top 10 sectors for spending. This shows some of the substantial opportunities available to SMEs if successful.

Department	Planned Spend 2019/20
Work and Pensions	£184,638m
Health and Social Care	£162,411m
Education	£98,764m
HM Revenue and Customs	£44,545m
Defence	£43,263m
Scotland	£35,272m
Transport	£25,521m
Northern Ireland	£21,165m
MHCLG – Local Government	£18,759m
Wales	£16,344m

Legislation

Understanding the rules and regulations that come with government tenders is vital for your business if you want to make sure your tender is a viable option for the government. Understanding the legislation that cover your tender can give you a great guidance in finding tenders and tailoring your bid to suit government needs.

There are two pieces of legislation that cover all government tenders. They are The Public Contracts Regulations and the Utilities Contracts Regulations. These are both European Directives but are part of UK law. It is important to understand which act applies to your tender. The specifications for each act are listed below:

The Utilities Contracts Regulation 2016 covers the award of all contracts defined as a utility. The 2016 act defines a utility as:

a “contracting authority”
a public undertaking or
an entity that carries out the relevant activity granted by “special and exclusive rights to”

Sections of the Act define the energy, water, transport, ports, airports and fuel extraction sectors as utilities. The Utilities Contracts Regulation applies to all contracts over certain thresholds. These thresholds are:

£363,424- supplies or services contracts
£4,551,413- works contracts
£820,370- social and other services contracts that come under the “light touch regime” (previous Part B Services in 2006 Act, e.g. legal services)

When the fitting threshold is passed, the government framework must be advertised on the OJEU, part of the Europa website. Under the 2016 Act, the maximum length of time a framework can be is 8 years.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 apply in these scenarios:

The contract meets the definition of a “public service contract”, “public supply contract” or “public works contract”; and
the body procuring it is a “contracting authority”; and
the value of the contract is over the relevant value threshold; and
the procurement is commenced on or after 26 February 2015

The thresholds for this Act are as follows:

Supply and services contracts (central government) £118,133
Supply and services contracts (sub-central government) £181,302
Works contracts (central and sub-central) £4,551,413
Light Touch Regime contracts for services listed at Schedule 3 £615,278

The OJEU

Knowing where to find government tenders is extremely important for your SME in getting ahead of the competition and finding potential opportunities early. Finding government tenders early gives your company ample time to prepare a winning bid. You can also tailor your search to find the most fitting government tenders for you. Government tenders are advertised on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). This is where all public sector contracts over a certain threshold are published. The thresholds are:

£118,133 for Central Government
£363,424 for Defence and Security
£181,302 for other contracting authorities
£65,630 for small Lots

These thresholds are updated every two years with the last update coming in January 2018. All lots that pass these thresholds fall under EU regulations and must abide by them. There are approximately 2,500 new OJEU notices advertised each week and currently over 10,000 tenders currently available in the UK. These government tenders are advertised on the OJEU as a notice in the form of an Invitation to Tender. Applications are made using the Tenders Electronic daily (TED). On the TED a useful tool for finding government tenders is to use Prior Information Notices. Although not an official ITT, it allows the government to let interested parties know that they are looking for certain services and discuss needs and requirements with potential suppliers. PINs can also potentially shorten the tendering period.

NHS tenders have a slightly different procedure under the EU regulations. Health service tenders fall under the EU public procurement Directive. With health tenders there is a higher threshold of £664,800. Any services that match or exceed this figure are required to be advertised on the OJEU to comply with key EU policies.

Government Frameworks

In addition to looking at the OJEU, which will only show current government tenders, companies should also look at government frameworks and the timetable for their publication. There are many different frameworks across the different departments and agencies, so unfortunately there is no one place to look. However a good place to start is Crown Commercial Services (CCS) which is part of the Cabinet Office. CCS manages a third of the UK government’s external expenditure on products and services through a series of frameworks. A framework is a competed supplier list of qualified companies. CCS provides regular updates on frameworks, end dates, companies on the list, and in some cases expenditure (by department/company). This is a rich source of information that should shape any organisations strategy for bidding for government tenders. It can help determine where to spend marketing and sales budgets and what products and services you should be showcasing on social media and websites. There are also separate frameworks for the NHS (such as the ProCure22 construction framework) and the MoD, so depending on the sector you operate in, it is important to stay up to date with the relevant frameworks.

SMEs are encourages to submit applications to be on government frameworks and there are targets for SME participation levels and spend on SMEs. Frameworks are usually advertised through the OJEU but as in all cases, responding to OJEU notices without preparation rarely gets the right result. Public bodies have choice of using the OJEU notice mechanism for purchasing directly from the market or using a framework. If they choose to use a framework then the procurement is quicker and they can limit the competition to a reduced list of qualified companies.

The CCS is responsible for establishing the legal framework for public sector procurement and heads the development of government tender policies. The most important and main policy requirement for government tenders is based on value for money. This is defined as “the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought”. Therefore, a well formatted bid at a reasonable cost is effective in winning government tenders.

There are benefits for targeting government tenders. Providing goods or services in response to government tenders is beneficial to businesses because:

the government will not go out of business owing suppliers’ money.
Payment terms are generally more favourable on government tenders.
Payments are better honoured with government tenders than in the private sector.

How The Bid Team can help

There have been several initiatives to simplify the process of public sector bidding however, the process is still complex with a number of bid stages with each with a detailed evaluation process. The Bid Team has been successfully bidding to the public sector since our formation. We have achieved wins for companies for large number of government tenders worth up to values in the billions. Our bid process is defined and well suited for government tenders and overview of our process can be found here. In addition we have produced a series of “How to” guides to further assist our clients win work through government tenders for example “How to position a bid“, “How to qualify a bid” and “How to write a bid answer“. These guides incorporate our approach with easy to use forms and templates. We also provide news on large government tenders on our news page.

If you are looking to bid to this sector, then The Bid Team can help provide bid management, bid writing, bid reviews as well as other services to help your organisation win government tenders. Please use the form below to contact us for a discussion on your bid.

Related Case Studies

The Bid Team has provided bidding services that have resulted in over £11.3 billion of revenue for clients. The case studies below are some of the more significant wins that clients have achieved.

CACI to deliver NRS Online Instrument framework

CACI will provide an online instrument to allow all households in Scotland to participate in their census online after delivering a successful bid submission for NRS’ Online Collection Instrument framework.

CACI win DCOMS framework for Scotland census

CACI have been successful in bidding for NRS’ Data Collection Management System framework. This will see them deliver the systems and services required for the smooth and efficient running of Scotland’s Census.

Green Corridor wins award from All London Green Grid

Green Corridor engaged The Bid Team to provide bid support in its successful grant application from London’s green infrastructure framework. Our services secured funding for Green Corridor.

Atos wins multiple Ministry of Justice bids

Atos won multiple Ministry of Justice change notes tenders after approaching us for support on their bidding process. The Bid Team’s government sector experience was a key part of our success.

S.com win place on MoD framework with The Bid Team’s services

S.com won a position on the MoD’s Framework Agreement for Consultancy and Information Technology Services, worth £120m overall, after using The Bid Team’s full range of bidding services.

NTT Data secure position on FCA Technology Outsourcing framework

The Bid Team managed NTT Data’s bid to secure a position on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Technology Outsourcing Framework. Our expertise in bidding to Governmental bodies ultimately secured NTT Data a position.

Vanderlande wins place on MAG framework

Vanderlande engaged The Bid Team to provide complete bid management, writing and layout for this important framework bid. The framework provides a mechanism for providing airport upgrades across the group.

Vanderlande wins Hong Kong third runway project

Vanderlande engaged The Bid Team to provide a review and rewrite of their €250m+ 'lighthouse' project. This win establishes Vanderlande as the leading baggage integrator in the APAC region.

Shorterm wins Network Rail training framework

Shorterm engaged The Bid Team to provide a review and rewrite of the lots bid at both the PQQ and ITT stages. Shorterm were awarded a place on all lots bid.

Migrant Help finalist for Charity Awards

Migrant Help was a finalist in the 2016 National Charity Awards. A full application was produced, written and visualised by The Bid Team working with Migrant Help’s CEO.

Lanes wins place on Network Rail framework

Lanes engaged The Bid Team to provide bid management and bid writing services for the successful submission to Network Rail to undertaken building, reactive and planned maintenance services.

Lanes wins place on Thames Water framework

Lanes engaged The Bid Team to produce a position paper for Thames Water to demonstrate the innovative new solutions that Lanes had. We produced a highly visual, graphic led document.

G4S wins HMP Oakwood

G4S engaged The Bid Team to provide bid support for the first of a series of new build super-prisons that was still under construction and needed to be phased in to operation.

G4S wins HMP Parc Extension

G4S engaged The Bid Team for writing and graphics support for the successful tender to substantially expand the operational capacity of HMP & YOI Parc. By building an extension block

3M wins NHS National Drapes and Gowns

3M engaged The Bid Team to support a major bid to the NHS for medical drapes and gowns. The Bid Team provided strategy reviews, content reviews and bid-writing services.

3M wins Clinical Coding for Audit Commission

3M won a bid, written by The Bid Team, to provide the Audit Commission with a verification service for clinical coding in NHS trusts. The solution was consultancy and IT- based.

Vanderlande secure early bag store framework for T5

Vanderlande engaged The Bid Team to provide bid management and writing services for this important technical upgrade to Heathrow terminal three. This was a major win for Vanderlande with a key client.

SSAFA secures RAF contract renewal

SSAFA secures a contract renewal for providing services to RAF personnel with assistance from The Bid Team. This was a complete bid outsource and an essential win for SSAFA.

Shorterm wins Network Rail contingent labour framework

Shorterm engaged The Bid Team to provide a bid review and rewrite of all the lots bid. Shorterm scored highest in 33 lots and were awarded the maximum coverage of lines.

Migrant Help supports Syrian Refugee resettlement

Migrant Help engaged The Bid Team for their response to the Home Office to provide resettlement programmes for up to 20,000 refugees. Migrant Help currently provides this service in East Kent.

Arriva wins Northern Rail

Arriva won the rail franchise to operate Northern Rail. The Bid Team provided a structural review of the tender, to ensure that all elements of the bid were utilising the available space.

3M wins NHS Scotland Framework

3M Health Care engaged The Bid Team to provide bid review and bid writing services. Our services secured 105 of the 125 procurement lines on this Scotland wide “must win” framework.

G4S wins HMP Birmingham

G4S engaged The Bid Team to provide bid management, bid writing, graphics and production of their bid for the first ever transfer from public to private operation of a UK prison.

Lanes wins place on TfL Drainage framework

Lanes engaged The Bid Team to bid manage and write the 15 submission documents for this “must win” facilities management contract. This was the first new look bid produce for Lanes.

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