In light of the Coronavirus outbreak, the UK government has released an emergency Procurement Policy Notice (PPN) to support authorities who ‘may need to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency’.
An overview of the changes to UK Procurement due to Coronavirus, (COVID-19)
Understandably there are many authorities with a clear and urgent need to take action and enter appropriate contracts quickly and efficiently to support our societies changing demands.
The new guidelines therefore support the need to;
Directly award a contract due to extreme urgency or absence of competition
Call off from an existing framework agreement
Call for competition using standard procedures with accelerated timescales
Extend or modify an existing contract during its term
This applies to all central government departments, local and other contracting authorities, executive agencies, the public sector and particularly NHS bodies, with immediate effect.
We would urge you to read the PPN in further detail for all the changes and relevant measures to support where required, during these unprecedented times.
What does this mean for bid teams?
Effectively, some bid teams could experience a real need to turn bid proposals around in much quicker timescales.
Also, with changes across all sectors they’ll likely be an increasing pressure for bid writers, bid managers and other members of the bid team to be aware of these new guidelines, urgent tender opportunities and revised deadlines of all relevant projects.
So, if you only have 2 weeks to respond, how can you still put forward the best possible bid? Well, the key to any bid is planning. Planning for all circumstances is important in bid management anyway, but it’s going to be critical in these uncertain times.
Having an effective bid or tender library is one essential step to position you to respond to tenders quickly. Ensuring you have information such as; case studies, process descriptions and diagrams, policies and procedures, available will certainly help when time is limited.
On the other hand, if time is on your side, use your time wisely and consider investing it in creating and/or the maintenance of your bid library.
Read our article for more advice on a bid library, including what a bid library should include and it’s wider benefits to your business.
The ability to write a competitive and strong tender submission requires preparation, planning and time. Whether a differentiated or typical approach to the tender process, it can often be difficult to navigate and understand what to include to ensure a successful and winning tender.
We have a range of bid writing tips in our simple bid writing guide to help you successfully write a quick, concise, competitive and compelling bid.
At a significant time to support one another we would like to remind you that our team of experts are on-hand to offer advice and support.
