SUPC Bid Writing for Frameworks

SUPC (Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium) is a not-for-profit organisation focused on helping Universities in the South of England, buy smarter. They manage a range of tendering opportunities, frameworks and further competitions for their members, which are largely higher education establishments.

If you are a supplier to the education sector and either based in the south or have national coverage SUPC may present many opportunities for your business to grow.

We have been securing our clients on SUPC frameworks for over 10 years, thanks to our team of professional bid writers. Providing a full bid writing and bid management service, we allow our clients to focus on the provision of their service and pricing, while we work on creating quality tender responses.

Client feedback

"I am writing to express my heartfelt appreciation to the team at Thornton & Lowe, especially Maria Edwards. I have dealt with other companies in the past, but the team at Thornton & Lowe is in a class of its own and I call them the ‘winning team’. We have won every single bid we have put in since we started working with the company. What is interesting is that everyone at the company is ready to step up and help. I am happy to recommend them to any company which is desirous of growing" – Richard Harvey MD, Guarding Professionals

We specialise in bid writing and bid management services for SMEs and this article is to share some of the benefits of SUPC frameworks and why it has proven so successful for our clients. To understand what a ‘framework’ is click this link to see our detailed overview.

SUPC Framework Overview

SUPC develops approved frameworks or an approved list of suppliers for their University members to use. Via their agreements, they want to help Universities across the South buy better and achieve value for money for the goods and services which they procure, through working with suppliers who share their ambitions for quality, social value and sustainability.

In the last financial year, SUPC had £389m spent through their frameworks and their membership and usage is increasing, which is only good news for suppliers of SUPC.

SUPC frameworks are broken into the following categories:

• Computing Frameworks
• Catering Frameworks
• Travel Frameworks
• Estates & Facilities Management Frameworks
• Audio Visual Frameworks
• Laboratory Frameworks
• Stationary (Print and Office) Frameworks
• Professional Services Frameworks
• Telecommunications Frameworks
• Travel Frameworks
• Furniture Frameworks.

SUPC Frameworks – 177 Suppliers are SMEs

With a focus on social value SUPC are committed to an SME supply chain. Across their frameworks, they currently have 177 SME suppliers.

Social Value, creating community benefits and offering environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions, including Carbon Reduction Plans, is a big driver for SUPC. View our detailed and practical guide to Social Value here.

SUPC want suppliers to use Netpositive, which is a great tool for suppliers to manage, monitor and report on their sustainability. If you want to bid for SUPC tenders and frameworks, this is something worth investigating now to create the all-important evidence you will need in your bid.

As SUPC focus on the South of England, it does mean it is by design you do not need to be a national contractor or service provider to work with SUPC, which also helps SME bidders. If you can deliver some of the products and services below across the South, SUPC could be a great opportunity for you.

List of the upcoming SUPC frameworks planned across 2023

Please note, typical SUPC will start publishing retenders 7 – 9 months before the end date of the current framework

Which public sector buyers use SUPC?

SUPC has 47 full members, which we have detailed below, as well as associate and affiliate members:

Anglia Ruskin University

Aston University

Bath Spa University

Birmingham City University

Bournemouth University

Brunel University London

Buckinghamshire New University

Canterbury Christ Church University

City, University of London

Coventry University

Cranfield University

De Montfort University

Falmouth University (including Falmouth Exeter Plus)

Imperial College London

Middlesex University

Oxford Brookes University

Solent University

The Open University

The University of Law

University College London

University for the Creative Arts

University of Bath

University of Bedfordshire

University of Brighton

University of Bristol

University of Cambridge

University of Chichester

University of East Anglia

University of Essex

University of Exeter

University of Gloucestershire

University of Hertfordshire

University of Kent

University of Northampton

University of Nottingham

University of Oxford

University of Plymouth

University of Portsmouth

University of Reading

University of Southampton

University of Surrey

University of Sussex

University of the West of England, Bristol

University of Warwick

University of West London

University of Winchester

How does an SUPC Framework work?

SUPC uses the portal EU Supply. You can use this link to register on the portal to start bidding or to view current SUPC tender opportunities.

For more tender opportunities take a look at our comprehensive and free tender alert software, covering UK and Europe, Tender Pipeline.

Once you have found an SUPC framework you want to bid for and is available, you need to register on the EU Supply Portal and express an interest in the specific opportunity. SUPC do also have some DPS agreements which are continually open to new bidders throughout the term of the agreement. We provide a fully detailed article explaining what a DPS is and how it could benefit your business here.

Once you have expressed an interest in the new tender, framework or DPS you will then be able to download and access the full tender information. We encourage and often support our clients to then complete a bid no bid assessment to ensure it is the right fit for the business.

If you decide to bid you will need to follow the instructions in the tender care to ensure you present a compliant bid. There will typically be 6,000 to 12,000 words for your quality response, plus supporting documents, references and then your pricing. Once successful you will then be an approved supplier on the framework and will be invited to bid for specific opportunities with their members.

SUPC also allow you to advertise on their site as a promotion tool for your services to their members, which they charge for.

Bid writing support for SUPC Framework?

As bid writing experts, offering an outsourced bid solution, Thornton & Lowe has been helping clients win work on SUPC frameworks for over 10 years. This has included sourcing and advising on SUPC tender opportunities, provision of bid writing and tender guidance, as well as support with developing policies, case studies, CVs and the actual submission of the tender response. In addition, we will regularly help our clients secure call-offs from SUPC frameworks (further competition) to win contracts.

We have developed some bid writing top tips, which can be found here, which will help you secure your place on SUPC frameworks, covering quality, compliance and adding value.

Speak to a Bid Writing Expert

Bid Writing Success and Feedback:

“Superb company, very approachable, and they took the time to completely understand our business and communication was excellent throughout the process. The finished document was everything I hoped it would be, so much so, we won the business. 5 Stars, thank you” - Mike Brooks IRRV - Chairman DSL Group

To view feedback from our existing clients, click here.

Our case studies can be found here, which detail what we have helped our clients achieve.