FAQ

Yes we certainly can. We have experience with the full range of security tenders from the supply and provision of CCTV, to patrols, maintenance services and venue. We help security companies large and small and have experience in helping our clients secure a range of contracts. For example, we have helped clients secure an airport screening contract at major international airport, a security services tender for a major university, and a tender for a cctv supply and installation tender for a government department. We understand the nuts and bolts of the security industry, and will work with you to identify your key win themes to help you win. The security industry is often highly price sensitive and very competitive. It’s important to develop a point of difference in your tender response. Sometimes we do this through graphics and infographics and other times we do this through innovative value-added services. Either way, we’ll work with you to help you make your bid stand out of the crowd.

Yes we do. We’ve based in London, and we’re actually part of the global Tsaks Consulting group with offices in Greece, Australia and New Zealand. We service clients across the UK remotely from our London office. However, we can come to you and some of our personnel work remotely from other cities. For larger bids and tenders, we are able to work from your offices and be implanted as part of your team. This is works well for pulling resources and responses together on a large project. If we need to jump on a plane and attend your offices then we will do so, although most of the time it’s just as easy to service you remotely from our offices wherever you are across the UK and still deliver a quality result.

It depends on the size of the bid and what is involved. We are happy to review any RFP or RFT and provide a fee proposal so it’s free to find out. Generally, speaking, for smaller bids we are able to provide a fixed price. There’s nothing like good old-fashioned cost certainty. For larger bids, we work off hourly rates or day rates. Where we work off hourly rates, we are transparent in the sense that  we will provide detailed reporting on what time was spent doing what and we will track changes where possible. To give you a rough idea a small local government tender may cost approx 1800 pounds

Yes we can and we have experience writing equipment supply submissions. Generally speaking, with these types of contracts it’s often not all about price! There are many other considerations including post-product service, warranties and inventory and delivery strategy. We can help you respond to your next equipment supply bid and guide you through the often unique and challenging sets of questions that are usually incorporated into the procurement process. We can help you write the bid, project manage the response and ensure it’s submitted on time. The only item we are unable to assist you with is your pricing.

Yes – we can assist. If you would like them to be independently certified, then we generally recommend you use a specialist consultant. However, if you are submitting a bid or proposal and require the appropriate supporting documentation, we’re generally able to put these together as part of the tender.

These are two different questions so we’ll answer them both. There are a range of different strategies you can employ to win more tenders. Firstly, a comprehensive bid/no bid process is critical to make sure the opportunities you are bidding for a real opportunities. Secondly, it’s important to do some storyboarding for the different questions and responses, in order to identify key win themes and develop a strategy for the tender response. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to invest in some basic graphics and a basic theme, in order to ensure you deliver a professional proposal document. Sometimes graphics can go a long way in making your proposal or bid more compelling. Then it’s time to write your bid. It’s important to use concise, simple language where possible, and at the same time, provide comprehensive answers to each question. Include evidence to back-up what you are saying and go into detail where possible (concise detail that is). Ensure that your supporting documentation is all compliant, and tailor each and every aspect of your response. Remember to allow time to proof read your document and write a compelling and persuasive executive summary. There is more to it, but that’s a short guide for now. In terms of storyboarding, storyboarding is basically a process whereby you develop a strategy and theme for each response. We work through each individual question, identify your key strengths, and also identify and assess what strategies you can employ to win.

Most definitely. We help businesses and organisations respond to PQQs, RFQ and ROIs from the private sector. The private sector doesn’t always adopt the same procurement processes and functionalities as the public sector. Professional presentation is key, there is generally less focus on compliance, and your value proposition really needs to stand out. We help businesses bid for private sector work nearly every day. With respect to the oil and gas industry, it’s an industry that our team members have had extensive experience in. For example, we have assisted major oil and gas companies with bids and proposals to governments in five different countries, and have also assisted a range of ancillary businesses. This includes, for example, a fire fighting services company tendering to provide fire fighting and other related services to a major oil company. We understand the oil and gas industry and know what it takes to win tenders including developing the appropriate safety documentation.

Yes – we can. Recruitment tenders, like all tenders, are highly competitive. There is generally a focus on your recruitment methodology, database size and response times. We have helped recruitment companies secure panel appointments with government departments, universities and publicly listed corporations. We can assist by writing the response for you and providing guidance on different strategies to adopt. For example, you need to play to your strengths and demonstrate that you are a specialist in the types of roles you propose to recruit for. It’s also important to demonstrate that you have the right team of recruiters, are service driven, and will provide a reliable, quality service. Finally, values are critical. You need to demonstrate that you have an understanding of the organisation’s values, share those values, and understand how to recruit with those values in mind. Finally, culture is important. You need to demonstrate how you take the time to understand the organisation’s culture, and incorporate questions in the interview process about culture to ensure that the proposed candidate is a good cultural fit. We love helping recruitment companies win tenders so get in touch with us to see how we can help.

There are a few questions here. You can possibly just attach a table of contents, and confirm one will be available upon request. Sometimes they don’t ask to see a copy as an attachment. Your second options is to create a WHS management system based on a template. Some government departments provide free templates for use. We also have them available so feel free to get in touch. Finally, another option is to engage a specialise consultant to develop a plan and arrange external accreditation. This is advised where you will be consistently bidding for multiple government tenders which require a WHS Management System that is certified as a pre-requisite.

Generally speaking, we can achieve any reasonable deadline. If you have an urgent bid which you require assistance with, send the RFT documents through to us and we’ll let you know if we can help. If you can send through any previous proposals or provide a summary of what information already have in place that would be helpful. In terms of assisting with urgent bids, we certainly can. We generally like a bit of notice, however, small bids can sometimes be put together in less than three days and we can help with turnaround times and working over weekends if required. There is no set turnaround time for any bid as it depends on the complexity of the bid (some bids for major projects can take a month or two). We can certainly guarantee that we will be as responsive as possible and we will be up front about whether or not we can meet the deadlines provided.

Yes. We have experience helping businesses across the UK with IT and ICT bids. They are generally highly technical and we don’t claim to be technical experts at all. We help with writing the general responses, re-writing and proof-reading the technical responses, and ensuring your bid is compliant. We’ve got experience across a range of IT and ICT bids such as managed services and hosting. We’re happy to help and understand the unique procurement methods usually adopted by companies when requesting IT and ICT bids and proposals.

• How we deliver you value

• Industries we cover

Yes. We have helped lots of plumbers and gas fitters over the years submit for and secure plumbing and gas fitting contracts. Some common techniques and strategies we use to help our customers win include:

• Focusing on your relevant experience. If yo do not have any direct government contract experience, you can talk about other experience where the projects and scope of work is similar to the government works you are bidding for.
• Get your safety documents and quality control documents correct. These are critical and often a dealbreaker in most bids and tenders. Some of our clients in the past have submitted outstanding documents with competitive pricing only to lose the bid for non-compliance related to safety.
• Structure each of your responses to answer the question comprehensively. This is critical so that you score well over all the weighting criteria. Break down each question, answer all parts of it and provide evidence to back up what you are saying.
• Personalise your bid. Don't be shy to add photos of you and your team members. It's important that the reader can 'get to know you and your business' whilst reading the document.

Contact our team if you are a plumber or plumbing company and would like help to write a gas and plumbing bid.

There are two main steps to winning a security contract in the UK. Step 1 - Find a contract that is worth bidding for. The key point here is that you don't waste time tendering for contracts you don't have a realistic chance of winning. Sign up to a tender notification service and then find opportunities in your local area or opportunities that align to your previous experience and capabilities. Once you have done that and identified a suitable security contract you want to win and you have the capacity to delivery on then move on to step 2. We have a free bid / no bid template you can use with questions that will help you work out if a contract is worth bidding for or not. Security bids and tenders come in all shapes and sizes and may include security guard services, weapons, firearms and ammunition contracts, safety equipment contracts, security equipment and body armour, alarm systems, fire fighting and rescue equipment and police equipment. Step 2 - Write a compelling bid. This is the more challenging step in the process. In order to win a security contract in the UK you need to write a compelling and persuasive bid or tender. To do this you need to:

• Identify your win themes and figure out what makes your business different and what sets you apart. This may be how you use technology in security to deliver value, how yo train and treat your guards, any special techniques and strategies you use in static security or your ability to install state of the at CCTV equipment that incorporates AI. This key point of difference will need to be integrated throughout your bid.
• Develop and submit the correct supporting documentation. This is generally a dealbreaker with many security bids and tenders. The supporting documentation may comprise of safety, quality assurance and environmental documentation depending on the specific tender. Develop the documentation based on templates (with some tailoring of course) and you can use it in the current as well as future bids.
• Answer each question comprehensively as they are generally scored individually. When they review a tender response, especially for a security contract with a government entity or agency, they review and mark each question individually. You need to score well in every question in order to secure a contract.
• Write a professional response. Basic graphics help. The key is also to write concisely and back up everything you say with facts and evidence. Tailor your response to each individual question and avoid the temptation of cutting and pasting without tailoring the answer.
• Visit the individual site (or sites). This is important as it well help you get a feel for the contract and a greater understanding of the resources required for the bid. This information will be handy to flow through to your pricing when you are estimating the resources required to deliver. In addition, there may be on-site challenges that you identify. You should talk about these in your bid or tender and propose some potential solutions. This demonstrates your insight into the project.
• Back up what you are saying in your bid with evidence. The client needs to know oy have the expertise, capabilities and credibility to deliver on the contract. Evidence such as your membership of security industry groups and organisations, references for current and previous clients as well as information on previous contracts you have delivered on. In addition, where you provide case studies to detail your experience, ensure they are detailed and they cover all aspects of your services such as length of the contract, communication and reporting, results and outcomes, size and scope of the contract and if there were any WHS issues. Where you are talking about your security processes and systems such as the risk assessments you undertake, ensure that you provide examples of previous risk assessments you have undertaken in the past and other documentary examples of what you do. The same applies to reports.
• Make your you deliver value. This goes beyond putting forward a compelling price. A competitive price needs to be complimented by other value added services. Think of how you can deliver value over the term of the contract? Are your guards trained to conduct activities outside of guarding? Can they assist a building manager in other ways? Will you upgrade your CCTV systems throughout the contract and pass on any cost savings.

For help and assistance with security bids and tenders - contact our team.

In order to provide a product or service to the UK Government or UK Public Sector, you need to:

• Identify a suitable bid or tender.
• Write a winning submission.

Selling to the UK Government and Private Sector generally involves partaking in the tender and bids process. This is due to the fact that the UK Government generally adopts a formal procurement process for most purchases. A good place to start searching for potential opportunities is contracts finder. Below are 7 key steps to writing a winning tender and selling to the public sector in the UK:

Step 1: Review the tender and bid documentation and prepare.

You need to read through the RFP documents and get a comprehensive understanding of the scope of the bid or tender. Read between the lines about their concerns and motivations for going out to tender and gain an understanding of what they are looking for. If the tender has not been released yet, you can communicate with the potential government client in order to gain an understanding of their needs and what challenges they face. This will put you in a strong position for when the tender is released. As part of the tender process, you can ask questions - however - the responses are posted to all parties. Therefore, it is important to be strategic in what queries and questions you put forward and why. Take the time required to understand the tender document including each individual question. This will be critical when formulating your response as you will need to score well on every individual response. When public sector organisations such as government department departments are selecting a supplier through the tender process they make a selection based on the MAT Most Advantageous Tender principal.

Step 2: Write your bid

In this step you need to write your bid response. This involves responding to each individual question comprehensively. The best approach is to get pen to paper as early as possible so that you have something to work with. Start organising your supporting documentation.

Step 3: Highlight the benefits of selecting you

It is important for you to highlight the benefits of selecting your business. Although you may provide similar services to many of your competitors you still need to identify your unique selling points and put these forward. Think through how you can deliver more value compared to your competitors and whether it be your experience, innovative approach to providing a solution, or the expertise of your personnel, these needs to be stressed in your bid and the benefits of selecting you clearly spelled out. Answer the questions:

• Why should they chose you?
• What different or additional value do you bring?
• Are you a safe pair of hands for the government?

Step 4: Provide evidence to all your claims

In addition to describing the impact your bid and service will have, you must also describe how it will be done and where it has previously been done. It takes more than assertions. You must provide data, case studies, and statistics to support the claims throughout your bid. You will need to compile all the evidence necessary to substantiate your claims. Tenders and bids must be based on real-world experiences; they cannot be implausible. You cannot construct a tender response on the basis of faith, regardless of how many contracts you have won in related fields in the past. Prove to the government organization that you will deliver.

Step 5: Put forward value pricing

Being the least expensive option does not guarantee that your solution will be solid enough to meet the contract's requirements. The reality is being the most expensive cannot accomplish that. The cheapest bid does not ensure victory, and the most expensive is not always indicative of bid quality. Your proposed pricing model must be both persuasive and competitive - and on point. I.e. Don't overprice and don't underprice as there are dangers with both strategies. The best price for the best quality is what buyers should pay attention to, according to UK procurement regulations. For instance, one company is more likely to succeed if two suppliers compete on price but one provides a better or more comprehensive service. If two companies offer the same service but at different prices, the cheaper option will probably be more successful. Value added services are all a good way to differentiate your bid.

Step 6: Proofread

The final step is to conduct a comprehensive, detailed proofread. This is a relatively minor but crucial step in the bid-processing process. It enables you to assess your argument and see if you've made any simple grammar or spelling errors. Proofreading is more than just grammar and tone; it's about sanding off every rough edge. Have you answered all the questions comprehensively, have you answered each individual part of each multi-faceted question, have you satisfied all the requirements and developed a compelling and valid narrative? Our team helps businesses and organisations across the UK and sometimes globally sell to the UK public sector by writing bids and tenders. We help all industries including defence, legal, trades and construction, community groups, medical and pharmaceutical to win more government contracts by writing winning bids.