Guide to writing a Cleaning FM bid
When writing tenders for any industry, it is important to note key themes within each sector and more importantly, how you and your business align with them. These key themes may relate to Sustainability, Health and Safety, or Innovation, yet all will require thorough research and understanding before you begin writing.
Why is it important?
Often branded as the ‘unsung heroes’, cleaners/FM workers usually work ‘out-of-hours’ meaning that they go without being seen. Because of this, you must place considerable trust in the hands of these professionals, to provide a high-quality service.
In the 21st century, we live in a world that is vastly controlled by aesthetics. The cleanliness of an office or commercial kitchen, or the tidiness of landscaping are things that are often noted, and rarely appreciated.
Considering this, it is important to employ the right people for the job, and the best way to do that is often through the bid/tender process.
What is a Cleaning/FM bid?
We don’t require suppliers to market their services to our members. STAR, where possible, puts all opportunities out openly on our E-Tendering portal ‘The Chest’ which is free to register. Suppliers can express interest or tender for any/all opportunities on there.
How to find Cleaning/FM tenders
Cleaning and FM tenders are largely published on tender portals. Providing a level playing field for all bidders, portals are a great tool to access several of the tenders on offer.
The easiest way to access cleaning/FM bids is through our comprehensive, unique platform, Tender Pipeline. Allowing you to search for opportunities specific to your requirements, Tender Pipeline is fully customisable to your business.
Common Cleaning/FM tenders
So, as previously mentioned, several of the commonly-asked questions that you will see within cleaning/FM tenders will reflect prevalent industry themes. These include:
- A move towards a more sustainable approach that is both effective and mindful of the environment. To achieve this, bidders should be considering offering eco-friendly alternatives such as resources made out of bamboo.
- Health and Safety adherence is always important when working with any sort of heavy machinery/equipment. This includes understanding best practice requirements such as Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
- Considering innovations that use less water, less electricity, and alleviate workforce burden
When writing your responses for a cleaning/FM tender, you can expect to see questions split into the following categories:
- Your knowledge of the industry
- Your previous experience with cleaning/FM and specifically, where this was gained
- Your internal processes and how you work
- How you prioritise your workforce
Standard cleaning/FM questions are based on:
- Operative recruitment and vetting
- Workforce prioritisation to avoid high staff turnaround
- Training regimes
- Account Management
- Contract Management
- Legislative Compliance (COSHH, UKCPI etc)
- Social value
- Innovations
- Accreditations
- Health and Safety considerations
- Industry presence
Our track record with cleaning/FM tenders
Evidencing our track record with writing cleaning/FM tenders, we completed in excess of 30 FM-related bids within 2020 alone. We employ a team of extremely experienced and well-equipped writers who have a strong understanding of the cleaning/FM industry.
Our tips
It is key to remember that when considering cleaning/FM bids, they are often for public sector organisations. When writing public sector bids, the parameters of permitted creativity are often limited, when comparing them to private sector bids. Considering this, when writing all bids – public sector especially – you must take note of the bid requirements. This might include:
- Word count
- Page count
- Character count
- Are supporting documents allowed? Do their words contribute towards your word count?
- What submission type is it?
- Font size
- Font type
- Are tables/graphs/graphics/images allowed?
Speak with a FM Bid Writing expert today
