Public sector procurement is competitive and typically assumed to be the domain of large enterprises. But the landscape is changing as more SMEs are getting into the market. A phenomenon that is actively encouraged by the government at the central and local level.
The good news for suppliers is that gross spending on public sector procurement is increasing – quite quickly and quite dramatically. Spending for the 2023/24 financial year amounted to £407 billion. That’s a £19 billion increase.
How Does The Public Sector Go About Securing Contracts?
It’s an important question for SMEs and businesses new to government purchasing.
The new Procurement Act has changed the purchasing process somewhat. Primarily related to Procurement Notices. Notices tell suppliers about the stages of the tender process.
Planning Stage
The following are Procurement Notices before the contract is ‘official.’
- Pipeline Notice: Upcoming tenders, so suppliers can create a tender schedule.
- Planned Procurement Notice: Additional information on upcoming tenders, so suppliers can decide whether a tender response is worthwhile.
- Pre-market Engagement Notice: Information on early engagement opportunities.
Tender Stage
The following are Tender Notices that are published while tendering is on the go.
- Tender Notice: Information on the contract as it progresses through the procurement process.
- Transparency Notice: Information on direct awards rather than competitive bids.
Award Stage
There are several notices in the award stage.
- Contract Details Notice: In-depth information on the contracting authority, procurement process, and contract winner.
- Assessment Summaries: Feedback to suppliers about their tender proposal.
- Procurement Termination Notice: Informs suppliers that the tender has been stopped.
Public Sector Procurement Frameworks
Frameworks are commonly used in public procurement because they assure transparency, fairness, and value for money. Frameworks also help manage the purchasing process from start to finish:
- Identify needs
- Define specs
- ID suitable suppliers
- Actual tendering
- Contract negotiation
- Supplier management
They are structured to promote competition and innovation, cut spending, and boost the quality of suppliers’ business offerings.
They are often used for large contracts, however, there are plenty of opportunities for SMEs to enter frameworks, especially when large projects are divided into smaller tender opportunities.
UK public sector frameworks also comply with EU procurement directives to enable cross-border and international procurement.
How Can SMEs Identify Public Sector Contracts?
The easiest and best way for SMEs to find public sector tendering opportunities is to register on tender alerts platforms. The Procurement Act 2023 makes provision for a central digital platform where buyers can publish contract notices in compliance with the new regulations.
The central digital platform will:
- Simplify registration for buyers and suppliers
- Store suppliers’ essential information for future bids
- Increase contract visibility
- Create dashboards for contract data analysis
Supply2Gov Online Database for Tenders
Supply2Gov (S2G) plays a crucial role in helping SMEs enter the public sector. S2G’s platform features a Contracts Finder Tool linked to the largest database of contracts in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. SMEs can easily register for the Tender Alerts Service and filter their criteria according to contract type, location, and field.
The platform finds matching tenders in real time and sends alerts straight to the supplier’s profile.
Suppliers also have access to a range of tender services, for example:
- Opportunity Search: Intuitive search capabilities for refining suppliers’ queries to almost niche levels. The search tool matches them with super-relevant tender opportunities.
- Market Reports: Insight into trends, patterns, and opportunities for suppliers to optimise strategic planning.
- Tender Ready Toolkit: Guidance, templates, and tools for suppliers to create successful tenders.
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) in the EU
TED caters to the European Union public procurement market, providing access to contracts and tender opportunities in the EU and European Economic Area.
In addition to standard search services, TED has a translation service for all contract notices.
Types Of Tenders In Public Procurement
There are three primary types of tenders specified in the Procurement Act.
- Open
Contracts are publicly published and interested businesses can submit a proposal. This is great for SMEs because the supplier pool is wide open and they can compete fairly against all other bidders.
Strong competition drives innovation and ensures optimal value. This also plays to SMEs’ strengths because even though they can’t compete financially with bigger enterprises, they can provide greater value.
- Restricted (or Selective)
These tenders have two stages. First, buyers select suppliers who fit the contract specs. This is great for SMEs who provide niche services. Second, buyers issue Invitations to Tender (ITT) to the best candidates. This saves time and money and ensures the match is virtually perfect.
Restricted tenders streamline the procurement process. The shorter list of suppliers saves time and money. Quality is almost assured because the suppliers are pre-qualified.
- Negotiated
Typically used when a buyer’s requirements are difficult to nail down, for example, when goods or services must be adapted or go off spec. This is great for SMEs with an established reputation for quality, and work actively on maintaining brand visibility.
Negotiated tenders are usually awarded quickly and early in the process. This helps define and refine the contract according to input from expert suppliers.
Public Sector Compliance Requirements
Government bodies are accountable to the public, especially when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money. Several regulations are designed to keep all processes transparent and ethical.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets standards for information protection. In procurement, this protects personal data for private citizens and civil servants, not to mention sensitive government data.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) develops International Standards for virtually everything. Suppliers should get:
- ISO 20400: Sustainable Procurement
- ISO 90001: Quality Management
- ISO 14001: Environmental Management
- ISO 45001: Occupational Health and Safety
- ISO 27001: Information Security
A note on ISO 20400: Sustainable Procurement
Businesses are assessed by their adherence to the following themes:
- Environment protection
- Waste and hazardous materials
- Human rights
- Anti-bribery
- Fair labour
- Equality and diversity
- Employee well-being
- Education and development
- Freedom of association
The aim is to meet society’s current needs, without compromising the needs of future generations.
Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme that protects businesses from common cyber-attacks. Cyber Essentials isn’t nice to have as a first line of defence, certification is mandatory in public sector tendering.
There are two levels:
- Cyber Essentials: Protection against the most common cyber-attacks.
- Cyber Essentials Plus: The same as Cyber Essentials but it includes a hands-on technical verification.
Supply2Gov is an authorised Cyber Essentials Certification body.
Top Tips For Writing A Successful Bid
A great product or service is only half the battle won. Maybe 80% of the battle won. The last 20% relies on the quality of your bid writing. It seems unfair to be judged by your bid writing skills when you specialise in bricklaying, but your proposal is your first impression, and we all know how important that is.
A well written, persuasive, clear, and compelling bid puts you in the front row for the remainder of the procurement process.
8 Top Tips To Write Winning Bids
The following tips don’t guarantee you’ll win a tender, but it gives you a good foundation for tendering success.
1) Understand the tender document
The tender document gives you all the information you need to submit the bid, including:
- Contract duration
- Dates for important milestones
- Specs
- Key skills and requirements
- Contract value
If tender documents are unclear, ask for clarification. Buyers are usually happy to answer questions about the contract because it helps refine the requirements, which discourages unqualified suppliers. Competition to submit winning tenders increases, which drives value.
SMEs can take advantage of questions to drill down to the specific challenges and tailor their niche services to increase the odds of winning the tender.
2) Do your research
Research is essential if you want to win contracts. It provides data that you can use to tailor your bid to the buyer’s specific needs and technical requirements.
Find out about previous bids to see how successful competitors won their tenders. Learn more about the contracting authority’s priorities and how those affect their selection. The more you know, the more closely you can meet the contract’s specific requirements.
3) Showcase your strengths
These include your:
- Expertise and qualifications
- Company’s experience
- Reputation
- Case studies
Here’s where SMEs and those new to public procurement can shine. Maybe you don’t have much experience, but you have qualifications in spades. Perhaps your work in the private sector has been exemplary, leverage that and top it off with amazing case studies.
4) Value and social value
Value has to do with performance. How effectively your solution addresses the contracting authority’s pain points. Aim to over deliver by improving their operations in an unexpected way or supersize your solution so that everything is bigger and better, including customer satisfaction. It’s stratospheric value for money.
Social value has to do with initiatives that go along with your goods, services, or works, like the apprenticeship programme that addresses unemployment among the local youths. Or, the community vegetable garden which yields enough produce to feed families and sell to local grocers.
SMEs can really capitalise on social value because they’re closer to local communities than larger enterprises and have a better understanding of what is needed rather than assumptions about what they should need. SMEs also have ties in the local community that help bring the initiative to life.
5) Stick to simple language
Just because a contract has been published, doesn’t mean the procurement manager knows all the jargon or technical details. Remember that when you write your proposal and avoid technical language. Also, steer clear of highfalutin language. You might just come across as pretentious when what you should be aiming for is professional and personable.
6) Pricing
This can be a bit tricky. Underquoting gives the impression that your goods, services, or works are below par. You don’t want to price yourself out of the market either. Market research comes to the rescue. Research into past tenders and market analysis provide insight into pricing patterns and trends, helping you set a competitive price that reflects your worth.
7) Proofread. Proofread. Proofread again.
Typos will be the death of you, or at least your bid. You know how you want to avoid being pretentious? Now you want to avoid being a twit. Proposals littered with errors won’t be taken seriously, which scuppers your plans for winning new tenders and becoming an authority in your field.
Going over and over the bid stops being effective at some point, because your brain makes automatic adjustments and you don’t see the mistakes anymore. A good way to catch errors is to read the bid out loud to your mirror or a colleague. Saying the words changes your focus and switches your brain on again.
Ask other people in your team to read the proposal. A fresh pair of expert eyes can spot things like disjointed flow, wonky structure, and technical details gone awry.
Finally, if you’re still not sure if you’ve hit the right note, you can outsource professional bid writers.
8) Meet the submission deadline
Obvious, right? Only, haven’t you ever misread, misunderstood, or just plain missed a day, a time, maybe even a week, a month? It’s quite easy to miss deadlines. Fortunately, most public sector portals have a feature that allows you to set automatic reminders. Use it.
Choose S2G As Your Partner In Winning Tenders
S2G is more than just a platform for tender alerts – although we do that very well. We provide comprehensive support for SMEs and other businesses as they go on their procurement journey.
Our user-centric philosophy ensures we always prioritise user experience. Our user-friendly interface provides company owners and procurement teams with a range of features designed to simplify and streamline bidding and bid management.
We offer flexible subscription plans, which you can change to align with your company’s growth.
Why wait? Register now and start winning tenders with an experienced procurement partner by your side.