Professional bid and tender writing fees in the UK
By Jason Cooney, Director, Tsaks Consulting UK
Engaging a professional bid writer can be an excellent investment for SMEs and contractors looking to secure frameworks and other government contracts such as NHS contracts. A common question business owners ask is: How much does a bid writing cost in the UK?
Fees and pricing for a bid writing service depend on:
- Your existing policies and documentation
- The deadline and turnaround time.
- The project scope and transparency.
- Your industry (if you require an industry specialist) such as construction, health and defence.
In this article, our team of expert bid and tender writers here at Tsaks Consulting UK will break down the costs of hiring a freelance bid writer across the UK for different sectors. We will also discuss our fees, how we price frameworks and what is involved as well as general information on how much bid writers charge to write tenders, bids and SQs across the UK.
1. How much do bid writers in the UK charge per tender?
At Tsaks Consulting UK, we usually work on a per tender or per framework basis. This ensures small businesses and contractors across the UK will come to us with a tender, bid or framework application they need to complete will have cost certainty from day one. We review your existing documentation, the scope of the tender and the requirements and produce a fee for either the entire tender, a review, or specific questions.
| Service Type | Description | Typical UK Market Fee |
| Bid Review / Compliance QA | We review your draft tender, score it against the evaluation criteria, and provide feedback to improve the response and gill any gaps. | £400 – £950 + Depending on the size of the bid.
|
| Small / Simple Tender | Short questionnaire-based bids for local Councils and including Selection Questionnaires and tenders evaluated under the Most Advantageous Tender creitria. | £500 – £2,500 |
| Standard SME Public Tender | A comprehensive tender response for UK public sector buyers or buyers in the private sector for a single or small number of lots. | £2,500 – £5,000 |
| Large Framework / Major Contract Submission | Multi-lot frameworks and bids for larger projects including large frameworks issued by Crown Commercial Services, the NHS and others | £5,000+ |
Why many businesses choose to work on a fixed price per tender basis?
Many of our small, medium and even large contractors and businesses across the UK prefer to have a fixed fee for their tender or bid so that they have fee certainty and understand the total cost of the project. We take the time to look at the existing documentation that you have, the complete scope of the tender, what needs to be written, and other content that needs to be created, as well as any existing content or boilerplate marketing information that you have which we can use. When we have defined the deliverables you will know what you are paying for and in what timeframe we will complete the bid.
What day rates do freelance bid writers charge and how does this compare to agency pricing for bid and tender writers?
Most bid writing consultants, both freelance and agency, charge:
- £300 – £500 per day: junior / independent freelancer
- £500 – £750 per day: senior sector specialist
Our day rates reflect our commitment to helping you win and our deep sector specific expertise. They are:
- £450 per day for a junior bid writer
- £700 per day for a senior sector specialist
The reason we charge a slightly higher amount than the average for a senior sector specialist is because they understand an industry or a sector in detail. Our sector specialists often bring strategic insights into your industry and understand best practice as well as the terminology involved in the specific sector and can provide more informed support regarding bid / no bid strategy and red team compliance reviews.
For example, one of our bid writers is a professional services and law sector specialist and has a track record of writing winning law firm tenders, bids, and framework applications across the UK and internationally. We also have healthcare and medical sector specialist bid writers who work solely in that sector and have a comprehensive understanding of all the different subcategories within healthcare tenders and bids across the UK, as well as a detailed understanding of NHS procurement, which is critical.
When day rates work well for engaging bid and tender writing services: Day rates work best for ad-hoc or hard-to-scope work and major infrastructure bids where you require flexibility in scope and continued support for evolving tenders and bids. On the other hand for tenders where we can scope the tender, we generally recommend a fixed fee proposal. That way you know your costs before proceeding with our service. For larger tenders, where we are working on major infrastructure bids, day rates are helpful because it is necessary to have the flexibility to work a number of days in a row and often consistently over weeks or months (depending on the scope of the tender and depending on the tender preparation process).
By engaging our team here at Tsaks Consulting UK, you gain access to multiple bid writers, senior bid writers, and also graphic designers and other coordinators on our team. This enables us to assist with major and sometimes international bids as well as large bids spanning months to the the NHS and Ministry of Defence.
In-house bid writing vs an external consultancy. Which is more cost effective:
Choosing between engaging a consultancy and hiring internally generally depends on how often you tender for contracts.
- SME tendering once per month: Engage a consultant due to the limited volume of work and increase reliability and quality.
- Tendering weekly (high volume): More cost-effective to hire an an-house tender writer and potentially partner with an external partner like Tsaks Consulting for review and additional support.
If you’re new to tendering, it’s generally a good idea to engage professional bid writing services such as our team here at Tsaks Consulting UK and we can help you get a kind of prototype tender developed. Once you have this prototype tender, you can potentially write your own bids and tenders, maybe engage us for questions that you’re unsure of or just simply review. Alternatively. hire in-house resource or even train somebody in-house to complete your tenders.
Tender and bid writing costs for different locations across the UK
Our tender and bid writing services are generally the same price for all locations across the UK. If you ask yourself:
- “How much does it cost to engage a bid writer in London?”
- “How much does it cost to engage a professional bid writing service in Manchester?”
- or even “How much does it cost to engage a specialist bid writing service in Leeds?”
you will generally get the same answer and the same fee if the work is to be delivered remotely. We work on a day rate and can either work remotely or attend your offices. When we attend your offices if you are in a remote or regional location in Northern Wales there may be an additional charge for our personnel to attend. The reason for this is simple. We often provide day rate services from sector specialists. That means that if we have a sector specialist in the NHS that is based in London then we can service you remotely from our London offices. However, if you would like someone to attend your offices then we need to cover the travel costs of our bid writing specialist from London to attend your location in, for example, Northern Scotland.
Overall our prices and fees are consistent and most freelance and consulting bid writers do provide a remote service, which enables us to provide a consistent price no matter where you are located across the U.K.
Tender and bid writing fees and costs in the UK depending on your sector
Some sectors command higher prices and fees. That is generally because they are highly specialised. For example, for tenders, bids and frameworks to the Ministry of Defence, our fees are higher as there are often requirements for security clearances. The same applies to specialist rail sector bid writers.
Some of the areas and sectors we specialise in, and have specialist bid writers supporting clients, include:
- Health and Safety (including specialist writers to assist with RAMS, CDM 2015 behavioural safety programs and CHAS and SafeContractor applications).
- Defence
- Construction, Civil Engineering and Infrastructure
- Health and Medical (including NHS and social care)
- IT, Cyber Security and Software
- Rail
- Aviation and Maritime
- Facilities Maintenance
We also have specialist social value, ISO compliance and Carbon Reduction Plan writers on our team.
Start winning more tenders, frameworks and SQs with Tsaks Consulting UK
To discuss our fees and, more importantly, how we can assist you to win your next bid, tender or framework, contact the team here at Tsaks Consulting UK. Whether you are a small, medium or large business or even a charity or not-for-profit organisation, we provide transparent pricing and a passion for helping you win.