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Tag: creative sector tenders

What is Required for a Video and Film Tender?

Posted on by John Hudson

Video and film tenders explained

If you’re in the creative industry, you may be wondering what’s required for a video or film tender. Tendering is a viable business stem to consider going down if you’re wanting to grow your business. However, the world of tendering and procurement can be a confusing one.

Luckily for you, we’re experts in tendering and bid writing. This blog will contain some useful information on what’s required for a video or film tender and what to expect.

A split between quality, cost and social value

The evaluation score of your video or film tender will be noted in the tender documents. Often, this will be split between three things:

  • Quality

The quality section of a video or film tender will often be weighted higher than the cost. The quality section of the tender is where you can respond to their requirements and questions. You need to persuade the buyer why you’re the best business for the job. What are your unique selling points? Here, you want to demonstrate your capabilities and detail how you will exceed delivering the contract.

  • Cost

You want to ensure that you keep your pricing competitive. However, you don’t want to undercut your competitors by too much. This could be a red flag to buyers if you price your services too low. What’s more, is that you don’t want to promise you can do the job then go over budget. The buyer won’t be best pleased, as I’m sure you can imagine!

  • Social value

Social value is a compulsory component when tendering in the public sector. There is a minimum weighting of 10%, but sometimes it can be as high as 30%. This means it is not something to gloss over. The promises you make within the social value section (and your tender response in general) are contractually binding. This means you should be making promises you can keep.

Your social value response should have a focus on the social, environmental, and economic aspects of the contract. It’s always worth doing some research on the buyer. This will enable you to align your social value promises to theirs.

Skills and Experience

Often the specification will detail the skills and experience expected. This could include, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Experience turning complex information into engaging and memorable video content
  • Experience in conducting filmed interviews
  • Knowledge and experience of audio, lighting and filming techniques
  • Skilled in Illustrator, Photoshop, Adobe CC etc
  • Experience in animated video content
  • Knowledge of live streaming on sites such as YouTube and Facebook

The specifics related to the video or film tender you are applying for will be detailed in that specification. Each buyer will be requiring something different, so it’s important to read the tender documents thoroughly.

Be expected to give a presentation

Once you have passed the initial tender stage (stage 1), you will likely be asked to do a presentation. Here, it is often expected for you to provide a showreel of your previous work. This will be marked in accordance with an interview. The interviewers will then score the presentation and add this to the interview score. This will then be combined for a total score for the stage 2 evaluation.

Need assistance when writing your next video or film tender?

You don’t always have the time or resources to write a winning response in house. Outsourcing to bid writing experts can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offer four levels of bid writing support. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. The services on offer include:

Where can I find video and film tenders?

Finding the right tender for your business can take time. You already have enough on your plate. Luckily for you, we have a time-saving tool that can help you find the right tender for your business.

Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal hosting live tendering opportunities from across the UK. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes!

Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload private and public sector opportunities. You’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more! This streamlines the process when searching for video or film tenders.

Below are previous video and film tenders sourced on our portal:

GB-London: BTA1402 – Broadcast Agency

British Tourist Authority- London- Budget: £50,000

KS3 English – Video brief April 2021

BBC Bitesize- London- Budget: £90,000

The Good Business Festival – Videographers

Liverpool City Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

BBC Sport: Younger Audiences Short Form Commissioning Briefs April 2021 16 – 24 Year Olds

BBC Sport- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Creation of unique works based on film and sound interviews

The National Library of Wales- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

A SUBSCRIPTION TO CREATIVE TENDERS CAN OFFER YOUR BUSINESS:

  • Access to all exclusive, public and private sector creative contracts in the UK.
  • An on-hand Account Manager is available to answer any questions you may have about a video or film tender. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free bid management consultancy each month.

WE SOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow. 

WANT TO SAVE EVEN MORE TIME?

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two upgraded packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each can help save you even more time when searching for video and film tenders.

THE ULTIMATE TIME SAVER PACKAGE OFFERS YOUR BUSINESS:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Creative and Technology, for example.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable creative tendering opportunities.

THE BECOME A PRE-BID MASTER PACKAGE ALSO INCLUDES:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

£500million Scheme Opens for the Film and TV industry

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

The Film and TV Production Restart Scheme

It was recently confirmed that the £500million Film and TV Restart Scheme had officially opened. The scheme covers Covid-related insurance costs and is set to support 40,000 UK jobs.

The scheme will provide financial compensation to productions that have been able to restart but incurred additional costs due to Covid-related delays. In order to be eligible for the scheme, at least half of the production budget needs to be spent in the UK.

The Culture Secretary and Chancellor announced that eligible productions could be onboarded within days. They also added that claims could be backdated to the 28th of July, when the scheme was announced.

This Film and TV Production Restart Scheme will be a temporary measure to help the industry kickstart their recovery. However, the original deadline of December 2020 has now been extended to February 2021.

The support has been described as a “crucial greenlight” and “a brilliant initiative” by those in the industry.

“The UK television industry is getting back to work, but has been waiting for the insurance roadblock to be cleared to end the uncertainty over future funding. We welcome today’s announcement from the Government which helps to remove this hurdle and provides us with the greenlight to kickstart our sector and build on the fantastic global success we achieved in 2019.” – Sara Geater, Chair of Pact, and Chief Operating Officer at All3Media.

The UK Film and TV industry

Along with numerous other creative industries, those in the film and TV sector were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic.

In the UK, the industry is responsible for over 180,000 jobs and contributes more than £12billion to the UK economy.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

“Our film and TV production sector is respected the world over, filled with talented people. I am delighted that this half a billion-pound scheme will get cast and crews back to doing what they do best. This move will help support tens of thousands of jobs, provide work for creative freelancers and get cameras rolling across the country.”

Other industry professionals have expressed relief as the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme means that the industry can begin to look to its future strategies.

“It is an understatement to say how pleased we are that the Production Restart Scheme is in place giving life back to the film and television industry to provide jobs for freelance cast and crew, turnover for suppliers and ultimately great stories to be seen in our cinemas and on our screens. Without this backing from the Government’s scheme, our industry, which is held in such high regard throughout the world, would have been under serious threat. We have started our own project Mothering Sunday working with the best of UK talent now to secure in their jobs. It is an enormous relief to us and to many people who have been working tirelessly to keep projects alive over the past few months. We would like to thank those who have given their support and to those who have played a hand in reaching this vital and welcome decision.” – Elizabeth Karlsen, Number 9 Films.

New business opportunities for the film & TV industry  

Hudson has been supporting businesses in the creative industry for almost two decades. We understand how the sector operates and how to grow a business within this industry.

That’s why we developed our Creative Tenders portal. The tender tracking system is dedicated specifically to the creative sector.

Our portal is unique because you don’t need to have experience or even knowledge of CPV codes to operate it. We don’t use them. Instead, we use people to find tenders. Our team of manual Opportunity Trackers search thousands of sources to ensure that our clients never miss a tendering opportunity. We also liaise with the private sector, proactively sourcing exclusive opportunities for our subscribers.

Once the tenders have been sourced, they are then uploaded to the system and tagged with industry-led keywords. This means that you can simply log in, search ‘Video Production’ and instantly find all the latest tenders in the UK.

Book a free live demo to take a tour of the system. This will allow you to browse current opportunities and understand how the portal can help your creative business.

Previous tender examples

Below, you will find examples of the tenders we have previously sourced for video, film, animation and production services.

Filmmaker needed
The Anne Frank Trust UK – London – Budget: £10,000

Video Production
Money and Pensions Service – London – Budget: £740,000

Freelance film maker, Portsmouth City Council Library and Archive Service
Portsmouth City Council – South East – Budget: £2,000

New website including corporate video content
Akona Concepts Limited – North West – Budget: £24,999

Provision of Video Production Services
Health Education England – Yorkshire – Budget: £180,000

General Animation Brief
BBC – London – Budget: £40,000

Tender for the provision of Custom Videography Services to the Institute of Technology Tralee
Institute of Technology Tralee – International – Budget: Undisclosed

Photography and Videography
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council – South East – Budget: Undisclosed

Tender for Two Documentary Films
The Playhouse – Northern Ireland – Budget: £50,00

Graphic Design and Animation Services, for City of Glasgow College
City of Glasgow College – Scotland – Budget: £27,000

BBC BITESIZE Starting Primary School
BBC – London – Budget: £4,000

Filming for Dementia Services
The University of Worcester – West Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

Find examples of our live tenders.

Bid writing for the creative sector  

Our extensive experience in the creative industry allows us to support a multitude of businesses with their bid writing efforts.

Once you have found the perfect tender for your business, it’s time to write the response. We understand that this might not be your forte, that’s why we developed our Hudson Succeed offering.

Hudson Succeed is our bid writing division. Our team currently supports over 700 businesses, globally, and proudly hold an 87% bid success rate.

To ensure that they can support businesses of varying sizes, they provide four dedicated services.

  1. Tender Writing

This is their ad-hoc bid writing service. Tender Writing was designed for businesses who need to write a reactive bid but lack time or resources. Simply send the tender specification to our team and they will take care of the written responses and the submission.

  1. Tender Ready

They know that tendering might be a new avenue for your business, that’s why they created Tender Ready. The package involves the creation of the documents you will need to tender as well as three days of consultancy support. They can write and submit your first bid on your behalf or guide you through two. A 12-month subscription to Creative Tenders is included in the package.

  1. Tender Improvement

Are you already tendering for work but not seeing success? The Tender Improvement package was designed to help you increase your win rate. The service includes a full analysis of your previous tender responses as well as three days of bespoke consultancy. As part of the package, you will also have access to Creative Tenders for a full year. This means that you can continue to source new opportunities and apply your new winning strategy.

  1. Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor is the perfect solution to prevent losing marks due to errors in your content. Our Bid Writers will proofread your tender responses and ensure that you submit an error-free bid that answers the specification and impresses the buyer.

Please get in touch with the Hudson Succeed team for more information or to book a free consultation.

WE SOURCE CREATIVE CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UK FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow. 

Tendering Portals – Reimagined

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

Tendering portals reimagined by Hudson Discover

Hudson’s tendering portals were designed as time-saving tools to help increase efficiency in the tendering process.

How long does it take you to search through numerous websites and find the right opportunity for your business?

Tender tracking is a full-time job. We know because our team of opportunity trackers search through thousands of websites every day.

This year, we are modernising the tender tracking process by enhancing our ten sector-specific tendering portals, including Creative Tenders.

The new features

As the updated portal is currently in development, here is a brief overview of what to expect from the new system:

The look

As you may already know, we recently rebranded the Hudson Group. Our new look is sleek and modern – therefore, our portal will be redeveloped to match.

Dynamic inter-trading

Procuring services will be even easier. Buyers will simply upload their specification and select which tendering portal they wish to target.

For example, if an accountancy business needs a new website, they can upload their specification on the new ‘Post a Project’ section and simply tick a box to send the opportunity to ‘Creative Tenders’.

Team collaboration

The new systems will allow users to assign tenders to their colleagues. Once the bid is submitted, the team can mark the tender as complete in the new ‘My Tasks’ section. This will allow for consistency across teams and increase efficiency when bidding for contracts.

User details can also be managed in the ‘My Profile’ tab. This enables the user to add or remove colleagues in just a few clicks, change passwords and update business details.

Industry collaboration

At Hudson, we believe that everything is better when we work collaboratively. We know that our clients share the same belief. Our new tendering portals will allow users to ‘opt-in’ to collaborate with other businesses.

For example, a marketing agency could contact a freelance graphic designer to ask for collaboration on a large project that they do not have the in-house design resource to deliver.

Access to more tendering portals

Clients who require access to more than one portal will be able to easily swap between systems.

Simply selecting the ‘Change Portal’ menu will allow users to move from one tender portal to another without loading different websites.

For example, a software company may require access to both our Creative Tenders and  Technology Tenders portal. 

Stay in touch

The new dashboard page will not only display the recently uploaded tenders that match your criteria but helpful updates from the Hudson Group.

For example, the dashboard will make you aware of:

  • New Tender VLE masterclasses;
  • Bid Surgery date and location announcements;
  • System changes you should be aware of;
  • Hudson notices, such as seasonal opening hours.

Remaining features

The unique benefits of our tendering portals will remain the same. Here are just a few of the features and subscription benefits that you can expect to continue:

Manual opportunity tracking

We only use manual tender tracking processes – our research identified that a third of tenders uploaded using algorithms were tagged with incorrect CPV codes.

What does this mean?

For the users of these systems, this means that they could receive notifications for irrelevant opportunities. It also means that when the users search these portals, they will still have to sift through numerous, unrelated contracts.

Our fundamental objective at Hudson Discover it to save time for our clients. Our team of opportunity trackers manually search thousands of sites every day, uploading each tender and tagging the opportunity with relevant keywords. This means that our users can simply log into the portal and filter their search results by keywords – only to be shown relevant contracts.

My favourites

When you simply can’t decide which tender to bid for, add those that stand out to your ‘My Favourites’ page. Later, you can peruse through these opportunities and compare them more easily.

Bid writing support

Our Hudson Succeed team are still only a click away. We understand that some tenders can be daunting. Our clients don’t have an unlimited amount of time or resource to spend on writing and submitting tenders. That’s why our team at Hudson Succeed are there to help.

Last year alone, the team secured £300million in direct contract wins for our clients. They proudly hold an 87% success rate and they are trusted by more than 700 businesses, globally. More information about services and testimonials can be found on the Hudson Succeed website.

Account management

Tendering can be confusing and sometimes you need a little support. Our account managers are not going anywhere.

Every client on our tendering portals receives personal support from our expert account managers. Whether you need support with getting started or responding to a specific tender, our account managers are only a phone call or an email away.

Filters

Once you sign up, all you need to do is tell the system what you are looking for and anything matching your criteria will appear on your dashboard page.

Your criteria can be categorised by location, keywords, budget and sector. This helpful functionality will remain the same.

Do current clients need to update anything?

Our existing clients do not have to change or update anything. Your account manager will contact you to let you know when the new system will be live and what to expect.

If you have any questions about the system changes or your subscription, please contact Marie Fisher via marie@hudsonprocurementgroup.co.uk.

More information

For more information about what creative contracts in the UK are available, please get in touch with our team.

WE SOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow. 

PR Consultancy Contract Exclusive to Creative Tenders

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

PR Consultants Required for an Exclusive Project with Hudson

We have recently uploaded a new project for PR Consultancy & Support, exclusively to Creative Tenders. This RFP requires submissions from Public Relations professionals to support Hudson with raising the profile of our group.

Hudson is the parent company of Creative Tenders and all ten sector-specific portals that sit under the Hudson Discover division. We help our clients to Discover new opportunities, Succeed at winning them, Procure more efficiently and Invest their money more wisely, all whilst helping them Grow their business, Employ the right people, capitalise on the latest technology via our internal Labs Division and ensure a sustainable and bright future for their workforce through Hudson Initiative.

Our aim

The aim of the project is to promote Hudson for the purposes of business development both externally and internally. As part of this, we have a more stringent focus on our Discover and Succeed divisions, as well as raising the profile of our Directors, Jill and John Hudson.

We want to achieve national coverage and promote our services through multiple media outlets. We will be looking to award this project to a PR Consultant/Consultancy who can help us spread our vision and raise our geographic profile, with a strong focus on London as a priority.

PR consultancy outputs include:

  • Helping to raise our Group profile and achieve national coverage. This will include facilitating all editorial content and gaining access to outlets such as BBC News, television appearances, radio appearances, national newspapers and sector magazines/publications.
  • Helping us raise the profile of our Managing Director, Jill Hudson and Group CEO, John Hudson, providing them opportunities for interviews and appearances on the above stated outlets.
  • Strategically placing Hudson’s Senior Executive staff in front of Procurement Directors, Procurement Managers, Heads of Marketing, Business Managers, Company Directors and Sales Directors for a wide range of public and private-sector organisations.
  • Being responsible for press cutting throughout contract delivery.

Please be expected to understand our multi-faceted organisation and share our ethos and vision throughout the project.

Project details

Further information for PR Consultants wishing to bid for this opportunity can be found in the downloadable brief along with submission details and in-depth requirements.

Please note, you must be a Creative Tenders subscriber in order to bid for this project. Sign up to our portal.

Clarification Deadline: 17/06/2019

Deadline for Submissions: 24/06/2019

DOWNLOAD BRIEF

Find more opportunities such as these on our Creative Tenders portal. Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour and upload creative tenders from hundreds of websites across the UK. You’re able to filter the results by keyword, location, budget and more. This saves you a lot of time – streamlining the process.

Below are some previous PR Consultancy tenders sourced on our portal:

Provision of PR Consultancy Services

Bus Eireann/Irish Bus- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Fly-Tipping Action Wales: PR Consultancy

Natural Resources Wales- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

GB-Telford: PR Consultancy Services

Telford & Wrekin Council- West Midlands- Budget: £25,000

GDPR Consultancy RFP

Charities Aid Foundation- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Marketing & PR Consultancy Services

Radius Housing- Northern Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

WE SOURCE CREATIVE CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow. 

I’M IN COMPETITION WITH MYSELF AND I’M LOSING! – Tender Basics!

Posted on by John Hudson

I’M IN COMPETITION WITH MYSELF AND I’M LOSING! – Tender Basics!

Tender Basics are the foundation of your bid writing success. Our Growth Director, Jill Hudson, has over 16 years’ experience with Tender Writing, so she knows how lonely it can get when you see rejection in the early days.

“I quite quickly went from a success record of <15% in my very early days of tender writing to >70% just by spending the time needed to digest feedback and eliminate silly mistakes.  Mistakes I seemed to be making all the time without evening realising I was doing it.”

The thing you need to realise very early on is that feedback is the route to success.

No one really likes reading the feedback of how they’ve missed the point of the tender document, the response didn’t hit the mark – at all, or you’ve forgotten to proofread and your response to a question is littered with mistakes. Queue – kick yourself under the table and put the kettle on. It’s important to get back to the ‘Tender Basics’ every time you’re writing a bid.

Tender Basics
Tender Basics

However, without this feedback, you will continue to make these mistakes. The most common mistake you will make is not understanding the time it takes to respond to a bid correctly. Assuming you’ll write a winning submission in 2-hours is unrealistic, whilst ABC Ltd. are throwing all their resource at this competitive contract to ensure they will win it.

You need to quickly realise that the only way you will start to win is to get back to the Tender Basics:

  1. Believe you can win it – ensuring you have the right credentials.
  2. Do your homework – research is key.
  3. Spend the time needed to write a winning submission.
  4. Don’t leave it until the last minute – this is how mistakes happen.
  5. Ensure you understand the point scoring mechanisms to ensure you are maximising your answers to the questions asked.
  6. Answer the question with the information they have requested, not the information you believe they should know about your business.

We’re sure you’ve established that our main piece of advice over the many blogs we have written, is to be sensible with your expectations.  If you turnover around £100,000 per annum, you’re not going to win a £2,000,000 contract. Nor should you want to put all your eggs in one basket like that. So, if this is the course of action you’re taking you will continue to receive the rejection letters.

Tender writing is an art form, it isn’t for everyone but you will reap the rewards if you spend the time learning, building knowledge and correctly assessing what you need to do to allow you to win.

Jill states “I’m a firm believer that the only person you should ever be in competition with is yourself. That way you will always get better.”

Eliminate the noise and … focus!

If all else fails, give our Tender Consultants a call, we’re here to help you discover, succeed, procure and invest!

“THEY ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY WANT TO USE!” – The Tendering Process

Posted on by John Hudson

“THEY ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY WANT TO USE!” – The Tendering Process

We’ve all heard stories about backhanded business deals and brown paper envelopes passed under the table for the decision making to go in favour of a specific business on a particular contract/opportunity.

This is drastically changing for the better, having analysed tender processes now compared to where they were 10 years ago.  We’re not saying this doesn’t happen! We do still live in a world of human interaction (for now).  However, things are getting better and we’re super confident that this will continue.

Here at Hudson Procurement Group we are focused on creating a fair bidding process for all. We’re working hard to make headway with government organisations. Especially into how and why decisions are made when marking tender documents. And also, how buyers issue tender notifications and how to produce a fair Invitation to Tender and Specification document.

"THEY ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY WANT TO USE!" - The Tendering Process
“THEY ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY WANT TO USE!” – The Tendering Process

We like to advise our customers on how they can question the result of a tender notification and the tendering process if they believe they have been incorrectly scored. This does not mean that we’re going to back sore losers and encourage those who think they should have won when in actual fact the right company was awarded the contract.  On occasion, we’re simply pipped at the post and the best man won and we need to take it on the chin and learn from it.

If you truly believe you were not given a good shot, there are a couple of things you can do:

  1. Ask for thorough feedback, and if they don’t provide it then you can question ‘why not?’. If they’re spending public purse, they should spend the time needed to give you feedback against the winning submission.
  2. If they will not provide feedback ask the process for putting in a freedom of information request, this should prompt them into giving you feedback.
  3. If you are still feeling like you’re getting no response, you can contest the decision based on lack of feedback. This means that spending public-purse will be required to complete a thorough internal investigation into how they have purchased the required services/products.

The most important aspect of any ‘rejection letter’ is to look at it logically and ask for feedback, learn from it and make sensible decisions on how to move forward.

Things truly are changing in the world of procurement. We’re going to be central to making sure our customers are given a fair shot when investing the time needed to respond to an ITT.

We’re only ever a phone call away, and we would welcome your feedback on how you believe the procurement process should change to suit SMEs.  If we hear your feedback, we can help shape policy for the better.

See our ‘Rules & Regulations when Tendering’ Blog for additional regulations that buyers must adhere to.

 Want to learn more about the tendering process? We’re here to help you Discover, Succeed, Procure and Invest.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT DISTANCE: We live in a Digital World! – International Tendering!

Posted on by John Hudson

DON’T WORRY ABOUT DISTANCE: We live in a Digital World! – International Tendering!

This is an age-old debate here at Hudson Procurement Group. We’re constantly telling our customers to spread their wings when it comes to bidding for new business and succumb to International Tendering.

Historically, we used to take as much business as we could from our doorstep. It was, after all, deemed easier to deliver logistically and support with brand recognition. It was a major achievement to be a leading regional vendor.

But, things have changed drastically over the years and the government throws hundreds of millions into helping us SMEs to trade internationally. The world and its major cities are so much more accessible and connected with daily direct flights from the UK to the US, Dubai, Australia, China etc., especially for service and product-based enterprises.

We encourage our clients to eliminate any geographical fear when looking for business. We advise you to look at where the work is and look at the logistics of delivery. If it deems possible, then don’t put in place unnecessary barriers that will hinder your company growth.  An international business development strategy should be a core activity for your executive/director team until you’ve established there isn’t any profit in trading overseas.

Here at Hudson Procurement Group, we have over 1,000 clients all over the world. None of which we’ve met face to face, but it’s not important to meet them. We speak with them daily over the telephone, Skype and email. We still deliver the same value-added service regardless if they’re UK based, operate in the US or have their headquarters in India. We too revel in International Tendering!

Our advice when looking at which tendering opportunities are right for you is:

  1. Don’t eliminate any opportunity until you’ve assessed it properly.
  2. Ensure you can make a profit, taking into consideration traveling and shipping costs if this is a required part of the work.
  3. Take a risk! Sometimes these risks pay huge dividends. Just because you’re not based on their doorstep, doesn’t mean you’re not the right provider.
  4. Don’t assume you won’t be chosen just because you can’t pop to their office for a cup of tea. You’ll find that more and more people try to eliminate the number of meetings they have, not increase them.
  5. Seek advice and guidance from your local Department of International Trade. We’ve found them super useful during our research phase of opening our US office.
  6. Give us a call, we’re happy to help and to answer any questions you may have about bidding for work overseas.

 We’re here to help you discover, succeed, procure and invest.

Common Trends in Public Sector Tendering!

Posted on by John Hudson

Common Trends in Public Sector Tendering!

We think it’s safe to say that every year, something new happens in the world of procurement. This is due to the ever-changing landscape that buyers and suppliers constantly find themselves in. Here are, in our opinion, a small collection of common trends across UK Public Sector Tendering as of late:

1. BREXIT

The word coined to fill the hearts of many with either progressiveness or ultimate decline. The word in our opinion is met with uncertainty, especially in the way procurement will be running long-term. It has been recorded that “since Brexit, the total value of tenders has risen”.  This implies that there is more work than ever before up for grabs. However, how long will it last? Well, there are no immediate changes due to the EU regulations being merged with primary UK legislation. However, we can expect a lot more focus on cost-effective supply chains that are held locally, given our potential departures from European partners. Risk assessments and the holistic management of contracts will surely be examined a lot more in technical questions based on the happenings of BREXIT.

2. Modern Slavery

Have you come across it yet? The question on an increasing amount of PQQs which ask if you abide by Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015? What you may not know is that the act contains a clause on ‘Transparency in Supply Chains’, which addresses the role of businesses and what they do to prevent modern slavery from occurring in their supply chains and organisation[s]. As per Section 54, it states that if your organisation has a turnover of over £36 million or more you must confirm adherence. You will then have to publish a ‘slavery and human trafficking’ statement annually on your company’s website. Mainly, to state what you are doing to prevent this. We find that SME’s tend not to worry about this, as it remains non-applicable 99% of the time, but still, it is something that is commonly being asked across the board.

3. Social Value

What are you doing for your community? what environmental aims does your company have? do you work with apprentices? – these are just a few of the questions that are becoming increasingly asked in public-sector tenders. Even if you are the smallest company around, we advise you to think of your corporate and social responsibility and how this is positively changing the world … or at least your local area. Every little helps! – we advise you do liaise with charities, apprenticeship providers, assess long-term goals and ensure that social value (aligned with a local authority and government initiatives) crops up one way or another, as this is becoming a key contribution to finalising scores in ongoing tenders.

4. SME Focus

By 2020, the UK government has promised “big opportunities for small firms” as they are set to spend £1 in every £3 with small businesses/SMEs. One thing a lot of SMEs DO NOT have that bigger companies DO HAVE is experienced and well-educated internal Bid Writing professionals. This means SMEs will see a surge of utilising external support functions to ensure their tenders are of the highest quality. We are one of those companies! Our aim is not to just write high-quality bids, but support you with understanding the procurement world. We’ll support you with:

  •  opportunity tracking (using our elite and secure Hudson Discover platforms, related to each UK industry) tender training (using our upcoming FREE virtual learning environment with regular VLOGs) eventually
  • maintaining/developing your ongoing content for tendering (using Tender Bank).

The increased use of Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) and getting onto these, require rapid and high-quality responses to ensure longstanding work is won and sustained.

These are just a small list of current trends that are recognised as of late. If you need help with writing bids or anything further feel free to get in touch!

We are Hudson Procurement Group and we are here to help you grow, develop and standout!

Understanding & Implementing Tender Feedback

Posted on by John Hudson

Understanding & Implementing Tender Feedback

Understanding and Implementing Tender Feedback – we all dread it, don’t we?

When the doomed ‘Contract Award’ notification hits our inbox with an attached letter titled ‘unsuccessful’ or ‘regret letter’. This can be one of the very few things that make our business-fueled hearts completely shatter!

To put it simply- we have never met a company who hasn’t had some sort of failure whilst tendering. It is very unlikely that you will win every tender you bid for – in fact – around 98% of well-established companies will tell you about a time they failed at tendering.

This could be down to a whole range of things that contribute to the evaluation of a typical tender. Bidding for a job is not just about putting your fingers on a keyboard and writing some profound content (or getting specialist support to do this for you)- there are other key factors that could let you down which you need to take control of and act upon, ready for the next tender!

Buying organisations (especially in the public sector) are now obliged to provide a decent amount of tender feedback as part of their evaluations. This is to support the supplier organisations better their chances next time.

How we approach it…

We are always advising clients to use this to their advantage and encourage them to receive as much detailed feedback as possible. If you only receive scores out of 100, ask for qualitative feedback to how the winner was successful and you weren’t. As mentioned, this is becoming increasingly provided as part of the Contract Award process.

Below is an example of what you should do when receiving the feedback and using this to your advantage towards future efforts.

EXAMPLE Maximum Score Available Your Score Winners Score
Quality 60% 32% 52%
Costing 40% 40% 30%
Total 100% 72% 82%

Our 4 steps:

  1. Understand the key area[s] to why you were unsuccessful- this will be translated clearly in numerical scores using a ratio of Quality & Pricing (and in some added cases, Interview/Presentation)- this will be your main focus to implement improvements;
    e.g. if you score 32% out of 60% for quality but 40% out of 40% for cost – this shows you were the cheapest supplier but lacked in your technical responses. It turns out you were only 11% away from beating the winner in total.
  1. Once quantitative data is identified, source the qualitative feedback provided (if none has been provided- ask for further detail)- this should be broken down clearly on the contract award notification to enable stringent focus on where to improve;
    e.g. out of the 60% maximum score for quality, a major section of this was a ‘Contract Management’ question, which accounts for 30%- the score and feedback provided suggests your contract management arrangements lack innovation and fundamental traits compared to those of the winner (incl. lack of efficient MI system etc.)
  1. Make sure an internal meeting is held with key members of your staff, in order to collaborate and discuss improvements where necessary;
    e.g. Assess all traits regarding Contract Management that was provided as feedback – research best practice – due to the lack of an effective management information (MI) system, it is best to find out which is the most affordable systems on the market- ask yourselves what are your competitors using? What was the winner using? – Companywide Idea generation sessions help massively to ensure a firm approach and wider understanding of what’s needed.
  1. Undergo regular sustainability reviews to ensure improvements are fully established across your organisation;
    e.g. ask yourselves – do we have an effective MI system now? Have we implemented innovative approaches? How do we compare to our competitors? Can we write a better response to Contract management now?

One of the biggest things you SHOULD NOT do is operate a ‘blame culture’ within your organisation when trying to understand tender feedback. Not only will that upset staff and ignite resentment but will likely damage your efforts of improvements going forward. We are strict believers that when tendering, if you win together, you have to lose together also. One of the most important things about tendering is making sure your colleagues are proofreading and checking EVERYTHING before submission. The more eyes, the better! If you find that a mistake was made by a member of your team which had huge effects on your succession of the work, then this should be an issue that was missed by the whole team and treated with solidarity, to effectively improve.

Remember- we offer a Tender Consultancy service to support the development and even review your work prior to submission.
Get in touch if you need further support with managing those all-important opportunities!

The importance of RELEVANT Case Studies!

Posted on by John Hudson

The importance of RELEVANT Case Studies!

Tenders these days (especially in the Public sector) are extremely structured in that they all feature the same legality clauses and requests, based upon EU legislation and procurement law. One other majorly structured trait to a tender and something the buyer definitely wants to know is how you’ve delivered your services in the past!

The age-old question of – “Please provide 3 examples which demonstrate your technical capability in the market” – is now something of common-request in national tenders. And rightly so! Of course, buyers want to know who you currently work with, how much work you’ve done and what great results your company boasts.

They need to make sure you have undergone scopes of work, similar to what they are procuring. Experience is key to winning every contract and as part of our writing tutorials at Tender Consultants. We always state that evidence is needed to back up the majority of the responses. Usually, this evidence comes from your experience. This makes the buyer/evaluator feel at complete ease, knowing you have completed something similar before.

We are not saying that you shouldn’t bid for work you haven’t delivered before (especially if you’re a new business). You may have better tools, better ideas and more cost-effective solutions at your disposal that other businesses (with experience) lack. It’s all about assessing the relevancy of your experience and using this to benefit the contract at hand. This is where Case Studies will support your tendering efforts going forward.

A few Do’s and Don’ts to building case studies include:

  • DO – get in touch with your current clients and ask for testimonials. These can be added to support a strong case for why the buyer should choose you.
    E.g. The CEO of ‘Company X’ has stated we are “an impeccable & efficient company, who has not only delivered the most engaging content with brochures but has supported our marketing efforts overall”;
  • DON’T – just pick a client and submit ‘static’ material already developed. Always make sure you adapt your content and client to align with the specified requirements of the buyer. Ensure similar scope, nature and size is used every time, where possible.
    E.g. if you need to supply 500 brochures to a hospital, the buyer probably won’t care if you supplied 5 to a retail store previously- this is way different in size AND scope;
  • DO – use the STAR format when developing your Case Studies to clearly outline the Situation (brief context), Task (the work you faced), Action (what you’ve done) and Results (what were the results etc.).
    E.g. this helps to break down each case study. You may do this several times depending on the requirements within the tender. However, it is a very good start to show the buyer/evaluator what needed to be done, what & how it was done, along with success rates and statistics outlining benefits/improvements to the client;

So now you’re up-to-date…

This will be one of the most important elements you use as part of your tender submission and almost 99% of Stage 1/PQQ submissions nowadays have the experience and/or contract example requests embedded.

We encourage you to start working on your case studies as soon as your contract with a client begins. Therefore, you can at least get the basic information gathered using the STAR format and then adapt these case studies to align with future buyer’s requirements as part of tenders!

Need further help? Get in touch and let us help you grow, develop and standout!

GDPR – Understanding what’s expected!

Posted on by John Hudson

GDPR – Understanding what’s expected!

As I’m sure you’re well aware by now, May 25th sees the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR for short). This will be the new term used for the storing, processing and management of personal data. Basically, DPA and confidentiality processes have a new broader term to ensure all data is withheld in the most secure ways possible. GDPR is a vital update on what you currently do. We are assuming that what you currently do is best practice and of course abides by current DPA law.

I know what you’re thinking ‘we always operate confidentially – what’s new?’

What’s new are the heightened processes every organisation must undergo when handling data. With GDPR, there are more serious consequences if you are found to be using data incorrectly. With the majority of our subscribed clients on our various platforms, they all handle customer and/or public data in some form or another. It’s vital to understand the key points to this national legislation change and ensure this is adhered to fully.

Some of the key aspects your company must focus on is ensuring that all data is identified and assessed in line with new and specific protocols. Processes are structured, data is mapped and constantly improved upon, as well as being stored electronically and in traditional filing systems.

With implementing data governance best practices, you’ll not only comply with the GDPR but you’ll now be able to create more business value with confidence. This will ensure success when contracting with future parties.

We have now found many public and private tenders are increasingly asking suppliers if they are GDPR compliant via the multiple processes above.

Such questions have become apparent in a recent public tender within the creative sector (for e.g.):

  • Please confirm that you are GDPR compliant (detail relevant technical & organisational security measures)?
  • Are you maintaining Data Processing Records?
  • Do your standard contract terms include the new GDPR mandatory provisions?
  • Do you have a documented Breach Notification Process? Etc.

To maximise your scores, you would need to answer more than a simple YES!

Please see ICO’s brochure which provides further helpful information on preparing for and applying GDPR principles in your organisation[s].

We encourage all clients to take this information provided. Mainly to ensure any future tendering efforts aren’t spread thin merely by the lack of compliance against GDPR. Going forward, it is becoming quite clear that GDPR may soon become part of the normal questions asked in PQQs and ITTs.

Over the next few months, we will be analysing common requirements (as above) that are starting to come into effect with the changes and updates that GDPR will pose. Watch this space and remember to take a look at the brochure attached to begin what is needed for you to excel with upcoming tenders.

We’re here to help you grow, develop and standout!

SMEs – Catapult wants YOU at the ‘Engage 2018’ event!

Posted on by John Hudson

SMEs – Catapult wants YOU at the ‘Engage 2018’ event!

An exciting opportunity has arisen for SMEs that will potentially bring FANTASTIC opportunities and recognition to your company!

The Satellite Applications Catapult will be attending Engage 2018 by Digital Globe on 10–11 April 2018.  They published an opportunity stating they are on the lookout for innovative SMEs with products/services to showcase cutting-edge developments in the use of satellite data.

Engage 2018

This is a two-day event designed for senior-level executives from government and private organisations leveraging geographical information to enable smarter decisions. It takes place at Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge, London.

By attending alongside SA Catapult, you will have your own exhibition stand with your company and logo on full display in this highly desired event. On top of this, dedicated spaces for marketing materials to promote your business.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get your product/service heard, along with promoting your business to your target audience!

If this applies to you – then CLICK HERE for more information and to complete a few questions in order to apply.

If you are struggling to put this across in a concise and effective manner, then GET IN TOUCH – we can help with your bid writing efforts!

Digital Catapult are one of the sites that our administration team manually scrape every day and include the following creative contract opportunities:

BEST OF LUCK!