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Video Production Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Video Production Tenders

 

What are Video Production Tenders?

Do you want to grow your business in video production? Because tenders offer an effective means to secure contracts with new organisations. Tendering is therefore a vital strategy that many use to empower their business.

While different industries will have their own tendering processes the general idea is the same. Tendering is a formal process where an organisation (the ‘buyer’) posts an opportunity for a contract that others can ‘bid’ for. This makes your video production company the ‘supplier’ in this process. Both public and private sector organisations recognise the value of tendering as a fair and transparent procurement method. For the buyer, the goal is to secure the most economically advantageous tender, which you may see referred to as ‘MEAT’.

Understandably, this means that tendering presents you with many opportunities to bid for. This also means many others are bidding for the same opportunities. It is important then to not just focus on how amazing these contracts are but to ensure you are producing amazing proposals that meet buyer specifications. Most importantly, you need to show why you are the best video production company for the job!

 

A look at the Tendering Process

If you’ve never tendered before the process might look daunting. Here we will make it easier to digest by covering the more important parts. Video production tenders are creative tenders, meaning they will often be Requests for Proposals (RFPs). With RFPs the buyer provides a specification that you use to produce a creative project. The format is usually free form with few restrictions or word count limitations. Does this seem unusual? Consider that creative industries want to see the quality of your creativity! If you can grab their attention and show your talent off this early you are well on your way to winning the contract. If even your bid is amazingly presented, the buyer is assured that your video production skills are similarly skilful.

Generally, there are a few core aspects of tendering that creative industries are recommended to focus on. These are:

 

Design

  • As we briefly mentioned, having your bid be well-designed is crucial. This is a step where you should consider if you have the skills in-house, as video production and document design require different approaches.

 

Cultural Alignment

  • Your proposal needs to show that you understand the company you are appealing to. A buyer will prefer a supplier that shows they know their organisation well.

 

Case Studies

  • These are fundamental in displaying your video production experience. Case studies are your chance to show relevant experience and what you learned from it. Being able to provide several clear examples of similar works completed effectively will look good to any buyer.

 

Creativity

  • Similarly to the point on design, creative tenders often give you the opportunity to be creative even at this stage. This means you should showcase your personal brand within your bid.

 

Delivery

  • Firstly, you need to consider how much detail the buyer wants from your delivery model. While more is usually better, some buyers will not need as much detail.
  • The aim here is to detail the delivery model for your video project. This might follow the approach of inception, production and post-production. Providing a timescale is also a good idea.

 

Is Tendering the right approach for Video Production Companies?

Finding the perfect contract is essential for any business. The creative sector constitutes a surprising amount of the UK workforce, with new jobs posted at a faster rate than other sectors. With so many opportunities it is important to know how to efficiently narrow down your options. In the ever-growing pool of video production opportunities, how can you know which will be the absolute best for your company?

Tendering can help. The process allows you to search tendering portals to find specific opportunities that appeal to your company. Additionally, opportunities to bid for work with major and well-respected organisations will arise. Not only will contracts like this be major earning opportunities but they will also improve your company image. Securing contracts will massively expand your professional portfolio, which in turn will help you secure more and more impressive contracts in the future! Overall, tendering does not simply provide a few chances to work, but an abundance of exposure to opportunities that will expand your video production company.

 

Finding Video Production Tenders

As we discussed earlier, tender portals are typically where you can find your opportunities. Here at Hudson Outsourcing, we have developed tender portals for a wide variety of sectors to ensure the most streamlined experience when searching. For video production, our Creative Tenders Portal is exactly what you need. Our procurement team searches through thousands of sources daily to tag every tender appropriately.

This means that when you come to search less time is spent combing through irrelevant tenders. Instead, you will find only the best tenders for you!

 

Here are some examples of previous Video Production Tenders Hudson sourced:

 

  • Advertising Services Framework Agreement

Buyer: University of Huddersfield e-Tendering

Location: Yorkshire

Budget: £3,000,000

 

  • Photochemical Film Laboratory Services

Buyer: BFI

Location: London

Budget: £250,000

 

  • University of East London – Digital Content

Buyer: London Universities Purchasing Consortium

Location: London

Budget: £99,000

 

  • EHRC 2021-20 Film and Video Production Services Framework

Buyer: Equality and Human Rights Commission

Location: North West

Budget: £180,000

 

  • Freelance Filmmaker, Blaze

Buyer: Arts Council England

Location: London

Budget: £3,000

 

If you would like to see even more video production bids we worked on, feel free to visit our Creative Tenders Portal.

 

Contract Winning Bids

After careful consideration, you might have decided that tendering is the right move for your video production business. However, you might run into issues with training someone in-house or finding time in a busy schedule to work on a quality bid.

As mentioned earlier, Hudson Outsourcing can assist you. Our Succeed Team is here to help when you lack the time or resources to produce your bids. Notably, our team holds an 87% success rate from bids produced from over 60 years of bid writing. Should you choose this path, we can guarantee quality.

Other services we can provide include advice on becoming Tender Ready, guidance for Improving your Tendering and even Tender Mentoring! If any of these interest you, we offer free consultations where we can discuss the best approach for your video production tenders. You can call us at 0203 051 2217 or email us at hi@tenderconsultants.co.uk. You can also try a free trial of our Creative Tenders site!

4 Things to Expect from Animation Tenders: Number 3 Might Surprise You!

Posted on by John Hudson

Animation tenders: 4 secrets from the Creative Tenders Team

Do you know what to expect when bidding for animation tenders? By the end of this blog, you’ll know four secrets from the Creative Tenders Team. Keep reading to find out what they are!

  1. Look at your financial standing

First things first, when you bid for animation tenders, you need to consider your economic financial standing. Basically, you need to consider your financial position to ensure you can deliver the contract. So, you need to look at the following:

  • Your annual turnover
  • Financial ratios
  • Insurance(s).

Top tip! Avoid contracts that are worth more than 50% of your annual turnover. For example, if your annual turnover is £500,000, you shouldn’t tender for contracts worth more than £250,000.

  1. Be ready to demonstrate your experience

To bid for animation tenders and be successful, you need to show your previous experience. It’s not enough to tell the buyer how you’re going to do something – you need to show them.

So, instead of outlining what you can do for them, show them how you delivered for your previous clients. If you can get testimonials that showcase your past successes, even better! To secure the contract, you need to give the buyer as much evidence as possible.

  1. Don’t start writing your response straight away 

When you find the perfect tender, it can be tempting to start writing your tender response straight away. After all, you need to do everything you can to win the contract. Answering as quickly as possible will give you the best chance of success, right?

Actually, this isn’t the case!

When you bid for animation tenders, planning your tender response is crucial. If you start writing without a plan, you’re likely to miss key details from the buyer’s specifications.

To avoid this, you should start planning your response as soon as possible. Consider internal deadlines and how you can meet them. Break down the tender documents to work out exactly what the buyer is asking of you. As a result of this preparation, you’ll be more than ready to tackle your tender response.

  1. Go above and beyond for the contract

To stand out in such a competitive space, you need to add as much value as possible to the contract. Added value, also known as social value, is now mandatory in public sector contracts, with a compulsory weighting of 10%. Therefore, you need to show the buyer how your business will deal with environmental, social, and economic factors.

This could include:

  • Supporting COVID-19 recovery
  • Encouraging economic growth
  • Tackling climate change
  • Creating new job opportunities.

Let’s recap…

In this blog, we shared four things that you should expect when bidding for animation tenders. Remember to:

  • Look at your financial standing
  • Be ready to demonstrate your experience
  • Plan before starting your response
  • Go above and beyond for the contract.

Need help sourcing animation tenders that are right for your business? We can help!

Running your own business takes up a lot of your time. The last thing you want to be doing is trawling hundreds of websites searching for animation tenders. Most websites post multi-industry opportunities and filtering them with CPV codes can produce unreliable results. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Enter…Creative Tenders

Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal hosting live creative tender opportunities from across the UK.

Here are five examples of animation tenders that we’ve previously sourced on the portal:

Animator

Swarm Dynamics – London – Budget: £5,000

Lincoln Street Dressing & Animation

City of Lincoln – East Midlands – Budget: £40,000

Video/Animation Commissioning Brief: UN Sustainability Goals

BBC – Scotland – Budget: £50,000

Animation Videography Services

Manchester Metropolitan University – North West – Budget: £70,000

Content Design Partner

East West Railway Company Limited 11072935 – South East – Budget: £800,000 

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 animation tenders. They can help you understand the process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin is 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 with one of our Bid Consultants 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 animation 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 are monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents, and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid factors.
  • 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 five years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Do you need assistance with animation tenders?

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, offers 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:

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

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

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

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

£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. 

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!

THE ALL-NEW TENDER CONSULTANTS!

Posted on by John Hudson

THE ALL-NEW TENDER CONSULTANTS!

We feel that the time has come to restructure our current provision and are proud to offer you some brand-new services. These will not only make tendering a whole lot easier in your sector but will help maximise your success at securing those all-important contract opportunities. This is the all-new and improved TENDER CONSULTANTS service.

Our Growth Director/Founder, Jill Hudson, stated “since inception we have been continually assessing our customer’s needs and have developed various platforms where customers receive daily contract opportunity bulletins that are specific to their service sector. As a forward thinking and rapidly-growing company, we don’t ONLY want to support our customers with sourcing relevant and interesting opportunities, but help them through the next stages in order to turn that interest into a WIN!”

Jill has over 16-years’ experience managing a range of tenders across a whole load of industries. She is joined by our new Procurement/Content Manager, Dan, who has built his early career helping multiple SMEs and large corporations with ongoing tender writing and procurement support.

dan&jill

Dan said “after carefully analysing the core customers across our industry-platforms, we have created multiple services that are beneficial to all. No matter the work. No matter the sector. We have got you covered!”

Our NEW provision includes:

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TENDER READY – HELPING YOU PREPARE

Our 4 WEEK programme allows us to cover all the basics of procurement and create tender-specific content for your business in order to prepare you for the world of tendering.

 

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TENDER IMPROVEMENT – HELPING YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Our 2 WEEK programme is all about focusing on what you’re currently doing and making sure we implement the necessary improvements that will allow your tendering approach to become more refined and successful!

 

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TENDER WRITING – HELPING YOU FILL THE SKILLS GAP

Due to common requests we’ve had from customers, we’ve launched a Tender Writing service. Mainly for those businesses who are incredibly busy but understand the importance of constant development, as well as those who simply can’t seem to make any progress and see any success from their efforts.

 

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TENDER MENTOR – HELPING YOU TO THE FINISH LINE

Our Tender Mentor service will allow you to tackle that all-important tender and receive professional and constructive feedback from our procurement specialists. This is a bespoke service starting at incredibly low rates to guide and review them all-important tenders prior to submission.

 

TENDER VLE – HELPING YOU UNDERSTAND

COMING SOON IN MAY 2018
This will include a video-based e-learning platform that allows YOU to get up to speed with how tendering works. And how YOU can maximise contract opportunities by developing knowledge further in this field. It’s more important now than ever to develop a skillset around procurement-based products and approaches. TENDER VLE is here to help you do just that!

TENDER BANK – HELPING YOU ORGANISE

COMING SOON IN 2019
Those who tender will know how time-consuming it can be. TENDER BANK will reduce this time considerably by creating a central place to save tender related information in an organised fashion. This will see an innovative tool which allows for tender documents to be created online. It will ensure you don’t miss any important aspect that could be hindering your tendering success.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

GET IN TOUCH TODAY IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR TENDERING EFFORTS!

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU SUCCEED!

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. 

How much time do you spend weekly searching tender websites?

Posted on by John Hudson

How much time do you spend weekly searching tender websites?  

Although no one has actually said £12 per week is too expensive, we thought we would look at the time saving cost of our system, allowing us to put into context how useful Creative Tenders will be to your agency.

£12 per week works out at an annual cost of only £624 per year. This gives you full system access and access to all UK and European tenders.

If the average sales professional UK wide earns £25,000 in salary we are saying that, that person would only spend 2.5% of their time on searching for marketing tenders and website tenders generating proactive leads per year to cover the cost of signing up.

New tendering opportunities

Obviously this is not the case. A sales’ professional should be constantly looking for new tendering opportunities and new business opportunities in order to achieve their financial target.

Add on the cost of the telephone bill generating cold leads, payments to other tendering systems which don’t gibe you 100% of the creative sector leads and the wasted time looking through hundreds of tenders that are not relevant to your sector or your agency then the cost saving is huge.

People have asked us why it’s so cheap when so much work goes into making it useful to agencies, and the answer is simple! We have an honest approach to making money, we can make good money from £12 per week, we can invest in product development and we can encourage the best possible lead generators to join us with good basic salaries and good bonuses. Our system is popular in the industry so as long as you keep loving us we can keep the costs of joining down.

Be a part of something fantastic and join Creative Tenders today!