One of our joinery clients specialising in providing security counters and screens has been successful at getting through Stage 2 of the tender process with Royal Mail.  We supported them with both these stages and they are now preparing for a presentation.

Great news for our recruitment client!  They have been successful at getting through the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage with Birmingham University.

We supported them with the PQQ and are now supporting with the invitation to tender (ITT).

Thornton and Lowe recently attended a Meet The Buyer event during which the Localism Act 2012 was discussed.

In summary, the Localism Act is geared to allow communities and groups more influence on the services that are provided, with a view to decentralising service provision. The Localism Act will allow communities to challenge authorities on provided services, if they believe that a better service is available.

If a local authority receives a challenge under the Localism Act, there will have to be a process by which it is ascertained if it is necessary and possible to change the service provider. The authority will also have to consider the feasibility and the financial risk of changing. If the authority agrees that a change is required, then the procurement process will be triggered.

The Localism Act is yet to be tested, but it highlights the importance of including your stakeholders as much as possible. We would recommend that when you complete your tender responses, you should reference how you engage your stakeholders as proactively as you can.

If you would like any advice or support on completing your tender documents, please give us a call.

A recent article published online stated that by simplifying the bureaucracy surrounding public sector IT procurement, the Government has achieved a double success. It is reported that under this new approach, there are now 250 suppliers providing IT services. Of these 250, approximately 75% are SMEs.   The second success being that the revised method has saved the Government £160 million!

If the Government can adopt this success to all public sector procurement, then it is possible that there will be far more opportunities for SMEs to bid for public sector contracts. If the huge savings achieved can be attributed to the improved inclusion of SMEs, then the Government will hopefully be encouraged to increase the number of SME suppliers.

For the full article, please click here.

An interesting article on 24dash.com reports:

“A national study has revealed that housing providers could make more progress on sustainable procurement if they focused less on internal issues such as regulation and compliance and more on external activity such as buying from local suppliers and social enterprises.

The University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Procurement for Housing spoke to 131 procurement professionals from the social housing sector…”

To read the full article, click here.

A  recent article published online by The Information Daily reported on  how the Government have released an online tool that will allow SMEs to have improved access to public sector contracts.

The website, Exchange Solutions, went ”live” yesterday, and it free to use – which is an added attraction. To access the site, please click here.

This is great news as it demonstrates that the government are aware of the problems faced by SMEs and are actively looking to provide support.

For the full article, please click here.

A recent article in Supply Management reports that:

“Half of businesses in North West England have no plans in place to familiarise themselves with the proposed changes to EU procurement regulations.

A survey carried out among buyers, suppliers and advisers in the region by law firm Gateley found 50 per cent of respondents have no plan to understand the EU reforms to implement changes into their own procurement procedures. Furthermore, it found 17 per cent of respondents were unaware of the consequences for not complying with the regulations…”

To read the full article, click here.  Keep reading our blogs to ensure you aren’t one of those businesses!

An all important element of your PQQ or tender is the actual presentation of your completed document.

Once you have drafted your answers, think about how your tender looks. Think about simple points, such as:

• The presentation being reflective of your company and your values
• The assessor knowing which responses are for what questions
• Adding some “Wow” to your tender
• Sense checking the tender and looking out for simple grammatical and typing errors

Remember that your tender document will be competing against other companies, so think about what will make your tender stand out from the rest.

Please give us a call to discuss the ways in which we can assist you in developing your tenders and to increase your chances of success.

The Guardian has reported on the success of a Lincoln based software firm securing a contract with the NHS.

“The five-year deal between NHS Wales and Lincoln-based Software Europe will supply a national, online expenses management system…”

The article highlights the benefit of the cost savings that will be made by the NHS using a SME. This is great news for SMEs as it really proves that public sector contracts are achievable.

For the full article, please click here.

We provide all our clients a valuable service by assisting with PQQ, ITT and tender documents. Here’s what a recent client said:

“Thank you so much for all the time, effort and guidance that you personally and Thornton and Lowe provided.

The whole tender process, I thought, seemed effortless, and this made my job so easy.  I can not thank you guys enough.

I can honestly say that I will never look anywhere else for assistance preparing tender documentation and will endeavour to recommend yourservices to all of my friends in business.

Once again thank you for an outstanding service.”