Great news for one of our grounds maintenance clients! They have been successful with the second tender with a housing association. We posted a client case study about them earlier this year outlining how we had supported them through the tender process for the small contract and a much larger won that they were hoping to win to significantly increase their business. They have now won this larger contract and this is how the client told us:

“Fantastic news – we have won the contract!! Thank you so much for your help we would never have managed it without you and I will be recommending you to everyone I know.”

It was the first time this contract had gone out to tender and our client was the incumbent for the smaller contract so needed to win it to keep existing business. The second contract success means that their business will increase significantly.

If you would like support with your tendering, please contact us on 0845 862 0154 or complete the quick contact form.

An interesting blog on NLGN (New Local Government Network) raises some concerns with public sector outsourcing and what might be done to allay fears:

“Channel 4 News have got some interesting takes from people on private sector businesses running public services. If we put aside the occasional hysterical ‘outsourcing is bad… period’ argument there does seem to be a selection of genuine concerns that people are raising which could potentiallly be addressed by the private sector. The one particular area I feel could be resolved is around transparency, the subject of the C4 News piece. The example flagged up is that if government provides a service or does something I can FOI them but I can’t do that to a private provider.

On the other hand the National Outsourcing Association argues there is the danger that if too much info is released, say detailed price breakdowns, then price fixing might become an issue. A fair point, but one that I find ultimately unconvincing. Largely because the industry is mature, the people working in it have moved round a lot and they are experienced enough to know how much things cost and what sort of margin it is acceptable to make. There will of course be variations but by and large I think the competitiveness of the market place will take care of price fixing, especially as a number of councils are now either considering or actually bringing services back in house…”

To read the full post, click here.

Excellent news for one of our catering clients! They have been invited to tender on a contract in Essex following successful completion of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. We supported them with the PQQ and will be providing further support with the ITT stage.

If you would like to increase your tender success rate, please contact us on 0845 862 0154 to talk about our considered approach to tendering.

Fantastic news for one of our archiving clients! Following successful completion of the Pre-Qualification (PQQ) stage, they have been invited to tender. We supported the client during the PQQ stage and will be assisting with ITT section.

If you would like to increase your tender success rate, please contact us on 0845 862 0154 to talk about our considered approach to tendering.

Thornton & Lowe welcome their newest member of staff, who joined the company earlier this month. Our new member of the team is providing essential and valuable support to the administrative functions of the business, and is doing a fantastic job!

Excellent news for one of our construction clients! They have been successfully awarded on to the framework for Leeds City Council for providing maintenance works. We supported them with the invitation to tender stage.

If you would like to increase your tender success rate, please contact us on 0845 862 0154 to talk about our considered approach to tendering.

An article in Guardian Professional highlights the Local Government Association’s report which researches 5 shared service arrangements:

“A report from the Local Government Association (LGA) says that five local shared services arrangements have saved a total of £30m through a range of measures, including integrating IT systems and better procurement.

The document is based on research into five shared agreements by Drummond MacFarlane on behalf of the LGA.

The five are Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire county councils, set up in 2010; Devon and Somerset fire and rescue authority, set up in 2007; Herefordshire council, Herefordshire primary care trust and Wye Valley NHS trust, set up in 2011; Procurement Lincolnshire (all the councils in the county), set up in 2008; and Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire district council, which started the process in 2008.

Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, for example, delivered savings of £1.8m by renegotiating a contract with its IT supplier. In 2012-13 it expects to make savings of £3m from the re-procurement of the Cambridgeshire IT network…”

To read the full article, click here.

Great news for one of our recruitment clients!  They have been successfully awarded onto the Birmingham City Council framework for provision of qualified social workers.  We supported them with both the pre-qualification stage and invitation to tender.

If you would like to increase your tender success rate, please contact us on 0845 862 0154 to talk about our considered approach to tendering.

An article in the Guardian Professional reports on Scotland’s procurement reform bill and its proposals to make public sector market more diverse:

“The Scottish Government is proposing to make it easier for SMEs to supply more of the £9bn Scotland’s public sector spends each year on goods and services, including ICT.

In a consultation on Scotland’s procurement reform bill, the government invites feedback about a range of proposals, including that public bodies should “consider and act to facilitate newer businesses, SME and third sector access” as part of their procurement strategy for every requirement.

The consultation document says this approach will ensure a uniform approach across the public sector in Scotland. It will also help encourage a mixed range of suppliers and stimulate a varied and competitive marketplace…”

To read the full article, click here.

SMEs have challenged the fairness of the public sector procurement process and the difficulty on competing with larger organisations. A recent article published online highlighted 2 examples where SMEs had challenged the government after failing to win or secure new contracts.

It’s a common conception that SMEs face difficulties in competing against larger organisations.  It is reassuring that the government has a process by which feedback can be given and received.It should be noted though, at Thornton & Lowe, we have seen that this is not always the case – with SMEs successfully securing contracts with the public sector.

For the full article, please click here.