How can I win more public sector contracts in Scotland?
At Tsaks Consulting UK, our expert tender writers recommend you:
- List your company through PCS Supplier Finder.
- Tailor your proposal to the public sector and the proposed project.
- Bid for what you have a good chance of winning and ensure you meet the mandatory criteria.
- Build a bid or tender library and integrate software.
- Write concisely and go into detail as required.
Speak to our expert bid writers for help. We have an 85% success rate helping businesses across Scotland including in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and regional areas win contracts across different sectors such as construction, community, education, medical, IT and defence.
Finding and bidding for Public Contracts in Scotland
Registering with Public Sector Contracts (PCS) is the first step in the tender and bid writing process. PCS:
- Lists all of the tenders and contract opportunities that have been made available by Councils, the NHS, housing associations and other public sector bodies.
- Ensures you stay abreast of any opportunities and can quickly assess whether you have the skills and capacity to put forward a winning submission.
Our Scotland-based tender writers recommend you:
- Monitor notifications from PCS daily or as they come through.
- Thoroughly review the mandatory criteria prior to working on a bid or tender.
- Focus on opportunities in your local geographic area.
- Conduct a thorough bid/no bid process prior to bidding.
Our team of bid and tender writers:
- Is led by Jason Cooney, our director, who has been helping clients win public sector bids in Scotland for over 12 years.
- Are experienced across all different industry.
- Have written bids to nearly all public sector departments as well as NHS Scotland.
- Are able to assist you with the bid/no bid process as well as writing your tender.
Where else can you find Public Sector Contracts in Scotland?
As outlined above, most contracts are on PCS – publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk however, we believe it’s always a good idea to monitor Find a Tender and Contracts Finder.
Find a Tender is UK wide and very popular for public procurement. Contracts finder is generally only focused on tenders and England but we have seen some bids related to Scotland and England posted on there from time to time to it’s a good idea to keep an eye on it periodically.
Our tender notification service helps clients in Scotland identify tender and other public contract bidding opportunities and it’s service we provide at an additional cost. There is nothing stopping you from doing this yourself and our team is ready to help you and show you how if that is your preference.
What public sector buyers and organisations procure through the PCS and what types of products do they procure?
Nearly every (well at least most) public sector organisations in Scotland use the PCS for their procurement activities. Examples of public sector bodies that use the PCS include:
- Local authorities and councils
- NHS Scotland and health boards
- Scottish Government departments and agencies
- Universities and colleges
- Housing associations
- Government-backed organisations
- Emergency services
They post frameworks, DPSs and other contracts which you can bid on.
Techniques you can adopt to win more public contracts in Scotland
Techniques and strategies you can adopt to help you win more public contracts in Scotland include:
- List your company through PCS Supplier Finder. When and where there are contracts and bids which are lower in value (otherwise known as quick quotes), many buyers will look for providers on Supplier Finder. By listing on supplier finder, they will see your capabilities and general profile / marketing and will have the opportunity to contact you for your services. The key benefit is that completing even smaller amounts of work for the government or other public sector organisations is very helpful for your experience and puts you in a stronger position when you are bidding for larger contracts.
- Tailor your proposal to the public sector and the proposed project. It’s important that you write for the public sector. Public sector organisations such as local Councils in Scotland are very process and compliance driven. They will want to be confident that you are a credible and reliable supplier to select you. Not only that you can do the job, but also that you can follow the processes, reporting and other requirements of the contract. Your bid needs to give them the confidence you can do this and hat you will take a consultative approach to delivering them a quality service. In addition, you need to ensure your methodology, CVs, case studies and bid overall is highly tailored. Procurement teams can easily see through it if you write and submit a generic response which is AI generated or based on general marketing material. You need to tailor your response to submit a compelling submission.
- Bid for what you have a good chance of winning and ensure you meet the mandatory criteria. Generally speaking, it’s our view that it’s better to submit one quality bid that you may win rather than three mediocre bids. The reason is because, even if you engage us to assist with your tender, there is still an opportunity cost for your time in providing input and information for any bid and tenders, especially public sector tenders are generally competitive. You need to review the requirements and ensure you have the experience, expertise and capacity to deliver a project. Once you have done that, complete a bid/no bid process and start the bidding process. The idea that ‘you have to be in it to win it’ generally doesn’t apply with tenders as there are strict evaluation criteria and they are often quite competitive.
- Build a bid or tender library and integrate software. Our team will help you use technology to write bids more efficiently. We will work with you to create bid or tender library of quality control which you can leverage on in the future. We take a very open book and transparent approach to bid writing and will work with you openly and constructively, including in a shared document, to help you develop a compelling and persuasive bid.
- Write concisely and go into detail as required. It’s important not to fill you writing with a lot of marketing fluff and irrelevant or generic information. However, going into detail is also critical and there’s nothing wrong with writing a comprehensive response with detailed information as long as it is relevant and written concisely.
Case studies of how we have helped businesses in Scotland win public sector contracts
Case Study 1: How an SME Won Their First Highland Council Framework
Our team of bid writers helped a medium sized alarm and security business in Glasgow win their first local government tender.
The challenge: They had no previous public sector experience but were looking to bid for large framework for facilities maintenance. They had not previously completed an SDP (Single Procurement Document), didn’t have any general content or supporting safety and quality assurance documentation, and thought they weren’t big enough to win a contract. They had the motivation but lacked the belief in themselves as well as the tender writing experience.
How our Tsaks Consulting UK bid writing team helped them win
We helped the client write a winning tender by:
- Explaining to them the mandatory SPD questions and how to respond to them. We helped them adjust their existing insurance to ensure they would comply.
- Creating detailed case studies that aligned with public sector requirements. They had strong experience however they had never written it down. It was also only private sector experience. We worked with the key SMEs to put pen to paper and write their case studies ensuring there was sufficient evidence and that importantly, the similarities with their experience and public sector experience was highlighted.
- Helping them identify lower-value bids. We worked with the client to amend their profile so they could access quick-quotes. This was great as they started getting daily alerts to opportunities and were able to quote on lower-value, less competitive opportunities.
- We create the supporting documentation required for them to comply
The result was success. Our client secured their place on the framework, grew in confidence, and subsequently, over a six month period, secured a number of other smaller contracts.
Case Study 2: Helping client write response to Fair Work First Criteria
The challenge: Our client was a Edinburgh-based non-profit social enterprise operating across Scotland. They had held a contract for a long time (continuous renewals and it had never been released to tender) and were afraid of losing it. It was their only contract.
They were not confident with writing and complying with the Fair Work First policy and employee voice and this represented 20% of the weighting criteria.
How our tender writers at Tsaks Consulting UK helped them win
Our Scotland based expert bid writers helped them win by:
- Re-writing their HR policies and practices to ensure they complied with the requirements. There were certain policies which our client did not have in place and we had to create. Other policies were not sufficient and didn’t focus enough on diversity. We re-wrote their policies to ensure compliance.
- Putting a dollar value on their community benefits. Our client had excellent community benefits. However, they hadn’t quantified them. This meant they would not score well even though they had the communities’ best interests at heart. We worked with the client to put a number on the benefit they were providing, and quantify their commitments. For example, we quantified how many staff they would hire, if they were full time or part time and level of seniority.
- Adding structure to their response. All their case studies and most of their technical response was in paragraphs. We added lists, bullet points and sub-headings to give their response structure and make it easy to read.
With our expert Scotland based tender writing assistance, our clients scored 92% and retained the critical contract.
What are quick quotes on the PCS and how can I bid for them?
Where the is a low value project or requirement for a public sector organisation or entity, they do not need to advertise it. They are able to identify and select suppliers through the Supplier Finder directly. If you are selected, you will receive an invitation via email to say that you are selected. When you receive the email, you simply need to login, review the details that they have provided in terms of project scope and the requirements, and then submit your quotation.
There is a functionality called PCS postbox which you use to submit. Of course, our team of bid writers here at Tsaks Consulting is always ready and able to assist. We can also help you optimise your supplier Finder and Alert profiles. This is important as they will generally search based on keywords and you need to ensure you come up as an option in order to increase your chances of being invited to provide a quick quote.
What is an SPD Request?
An SPD (Single Procurement Document) request is used by public authorities or public sector entities to understand and assess how suitable a supplier is. Sometimes, SPDs are a requirement of a notice, and you need to access them through the PCS Postbox. It is relatively straightforward to complete it online / electronically, and you can quickly and easily save your profile for future tenders. This means that as you keep tendering for different contracts or other opportunities in Scotland, you will not need to submit your SPD request each time.
When you are using the online system (Postbox), you will need to upload all of the documents for your bid or quote. You then receive a reference number for your quote or bid, and everything on the system remains confidential. You can amend your submission easily by logging in and making an update or amendment. From our experience, it’s always a great idea to ensure you have your bid finalised a day or two before so as to avoid any potential technical difficulties, difficulties uploaded or even black-outs.
What type of Public Sector Procurement Categories are there in Scotland and how can I win more tenders?
There are four key public sector procurement categories in Scotland. It’s important that you understand the different categories, and also, have in mind or target the types of contracts / categories that your businesses may be able to bid for and win. This depends on your organisational size, the type of goods or services you provide, and your location and presence. The four categories are:
- Category A: National contracts applicable across Scotland (e.g., stationery, utilities).
- Category B: Sector-specific contracts for Local Government, NHS, Central Government, and Education (e.g., medical supplies for NHS).
- Category C1: Regional collaboration contracts, such as those managed by local council consortia.
- Category C: Individual organisations managing their procurement independently.
When you are considering what contracts to bid for across Scotland, it’s important to have an idea of how you will fit into these categories and the type of clients you are geared towards serving.
How Tsaks Consulting UK can help you win more public sector contracts in Scotland
Tender and bid writing is what and all that we do. We’ve helped lots of businesses across the UK bid for contracts with the Scottish Government, as well as local councils, the NHS and other government (and also private) organisations who have released tenders and adopt a formal procurement process.
Our team will help you:
- Write your tender or bid from start to finish. We will need your input for pricing and some technical areas of course, however, we project manage it and write your responses, so you have more time to spend on other critical tasks.
- Finding and identifying contract opportunities. Our team will help you identify and track suitable opportunities. We can also assist you to create your profile, and communicate with potential clients where / when possible, in order to build your profile and bid for and win the right contracts.
- Win tenders and contracts. Our job is to help you get a place on public sector frameworks and DPSs that you are suitably qualified and experienced for. We are expert writers that help businesses in Scotland, including in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and across Scotland.
Our team helps Scottish businesses from all different industries such as healthcare, defence, medical, manufacturing, services, community and charity and other sectors write winning tenders. We provide bid writing support to large clients as well as end-to-end professional bid writing help for smaller business looking to win contracts.