It’s great to see our services being recognised as valuable expertise! Our Director has been invited to join a Steering Group of experts in Bid Writing and Tendering, including representatives from the four nations (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales). This really is fantastic for Thornton & Lowe – as it will really begin to let people see what we can do and offer.

Skills CFA is a registered charity that develops and promotes business skills, qualifications and apprenticeships in the workplace. As the Government recognised standard setting organisation for business skills in the UK, SKills CFA are keen to work collaboratively with businesses and professional bodies when developing and reviewing business-related National Occupational Standards (NOS), Qualifications and Apprentices.Skills CFA has been commissioned by The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to develop a suite of National Occupational Standards (NOS) [1] for Bid Writing and Tendering. These standards will explicitly outline what is expected, in terms of performance, knowledge and understanding, when carrying our specific Bid Writing and Tendering functions in the workplace

Creating a winning bid starts earlier than you might think. Like any task – you will need to be organised! If you leave the bid to the last minute you will immediately reduce your chances of success. As soon as you are aware of the opportunity or are invited to tender, start planning! Look at the questions to see:

1) How much time are you likely to need to complete?

2) What information do you need?

3) Where are you going to get the information from?

For example, a 10 question bid will differ in planning to a 30 question bid. Tenders can be daunting but if you plan your bid – break it down in to bite size chunks – you’ll find the whole process much easier. If you need to be getting information  facts and figures from other areas in your business, make sure you contact your colleagues in plenty of time – giving them the time to get the data that you need.

Super news for our security client who have been invited to present to a London authority following success at the ITT (invitation to tender) stage of a procurement exercise. We worked with the client through both stages of the process - the PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire) and the ITT – by developing and writing the quality and technical responses.

Excellent to hear that our waste management client have been invited to deliver a presentation following a successful ITT submitted to a local council in the South East of England. We worked with the client to develop a strong and informative response to the ITT. We have been working with the client to produce really robust tenders along with striking design elements to their documents. It’s great to see our clients progressing through the tender process with our assistance.

Brilliant start to the week for one of our window cleaning clients who have been successful with their tender for a Framework with a local authority in South Wales. We provided guidance and support with the ITT, and the client is now in the process of working with the authority in providing services to multiple sites. The client is a small, well established business – again showing that SMEs can be successful with securing public sector work.

Our plumbing & heating client have just informed us that they have been successful with the whole tender process – for both the PQQ and ITT stages – for a large framework in Yorkshire.

We worked with our client in October 2012 to develop their PQQ. Following the success, the client was invited to tender (ITT), so we provided additional support in writing and developing the responses.

The client is a SME – so it is always great to hear that we’ve helped a SME secure public sector work.

Excellent news for our asbestos client who have told us about success with a tender for a housing association in Greater Manchester. We worked with the client on developing the responses to a large detailed tender, allowing them to submit a strong bid. It’s fantastic that they were successful and even better that they are an SME securing work – showing that you don’t have to be a big company to win the work

Always nice to receive feedback from our clients. We recently helped a small joinery client secure themselves on to a Framework with United Utilities.

This is what they said:

“Just to let you know that we were awarded the framework with the united utilities.
We could not have done this without all your help and support, and a massive thank you from us all, 
Obviously for a small firm like us this was a massive task but with all your advice and help we got there.”

Great news for our repair and maintenance client who have enjoyed hearing about their PQQ success with a local authority in the South East of England! We worked with the client to develop their responses to the PQQ. It is always brilliant to hear how our clients have got on, and even better that they are SMEs – which just shows that you don’t have to be big to compete! We’ll be working again with the client to develop their ITT.

Brilliant news for our security client who have enjoyed success with an ITT that we wrote for them! Following the successful PQQ for an education body in the Midlands, the client was invited to tender. We supported the client with writing both the PQQ and the ITT. The next stage is for the client to meet their potential customer and to deliver a presentation, along with a details Q&A session.