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Tips for Tenders

Presented by:Rebecca ClarksonDirector of Fundraising and Business Development

Hackney CVS Training Team

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Content of this online learning session

Understanding the history of tenders

Tendering as a consortium

The Statement of Approach

Exercise: Tendering scenarios

Costing your tender

Be green! Re-use your tender

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Understanding the history of tenders through central and local government

The previous government came to office in 1997 and implemented plans for a programme known as Best Value. This replaced the previous Compulsory Competitive Tendering arrangements.

Out of this came the commissioning culture as a means of being able to demonstrate efficiency.

Since then, Best Value has been modified in favour of procurement and commissioning arrangements nationwide and government has attempted to make the process as standard as possible.

Many local authorities have interpreted this in different ways, although the majority have used this as a way of funding the Voluntary and Community sector whilst simultaneously removing the culture of grants in favour of contracts.

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Tendering as a Consortium

A consortium is a collection of providers who come together for an expressed purpose: usually to bid for large scale pots of commission-based monies.

There must be a lead organisation which will, as the accountable body, be responsible for any monies awarded and will also be the contract signatory.

The remaining consortium members will sign either service level agreements or memorandums of understanding for the service they will provide through the consortium.

The lead bidder is also responsible for ensuring quality, monitoring and evaluation of all the consortium members.

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The Statement of Approach

Your statement of approach will largely determine whether your tender submission is successful or not.

Your statement of approach must describe what propose to do, how you propose do it, and with whom you propose to do it!

This should be the longest section of the document as it covers everything about the project itself.

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Example of what will be required in a Statement of Approach

Please note: this is an example, not the final word – requirements may vary across tenders

1. A detailed methodology statement indicating how you will undertake and complete each of the key areas as set out in the tender documents.

2. A project plan setting out key milestones and actions to meet the requirements of the brief, with specific timescales and resources allocated.

3. Identification of any likely risks or problems and how you will address these.

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Example of what may be required in a Statement of Skills and Experience

Details of similar projects that your project team has previously completed, including hard copy of one example of a similar piece of work.

Evidence of a proven track record CVs of each team member involved in the project,

specifying their experience in this area. Each CV should be no more than two A4 pages.

At least two appropriate referees for whom you have undertaken work previously. Please include all their contact details as both will be contacted for references if your organisation’s bid is shortlisted for interview.

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The exercise

The next section gives you the opportunity to try writing some responses to tender specifications.

Refer to the previous slides if that’s helpful.

Remember to include everything and everyone who will be involved.

Don’t worry about it being overly long: just ensure that you add enough and score enough points to win!

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Scenario Number 1

There is a new tender for a contract to deliver luncheon club services to older people. The commissioner has specifically asked for a consortia approach to tendering for the contract, and has stated that evidence of responding to diverse needs is key to what they are looking for. You have been asked to cover the whole borough, including the use of vehicles to transport elders to luncheon club venues.

The use of five buildings comes as part of the contract.

The contract value is £1.5m over 2 yrs.

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Now pause the presentation…

… you can pause by clicking your mouse on the rectangular icon at the bottom left of the screen.

Now make some notes on how you would respond to this tender. When you are ready, start the presentation again for the tips.

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How did you get on? - a

You should always pay close attention to the tender specification. The key words in this one include:

Luncheon club services – Is this part of your organisation’s mission?

Older people – do you work with older people? What knowledge do you have of their expectations of this service?

Ability to respond to diverse needs – do you know what these are? Have you checked out the local demographics?

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How did you get on? – b

Also note that the commissioner has specifically asked for a consortia approach to tendering for the contract. In other words, a single bid is likely to be viewed less favourably. Can you organise this in the time you have, or are you looking to be a partner in another bid?

Other things to consider: You need to think about the transport element – does

your organisation have experience in this area? You should also explore the reality behind the five

buildings which come as part of the contract: The contract value is £1.5m – has your organisation the

systems and structures in place to be responsible for this amount of money?

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Scenario Number 2

You have been asked by the local PCT to develop and manage a community centre in the east of the borough. The services that you plan to deliver from the community centre must cater to:

Children and young people Women with pre-school children The over 60s

- as well as offering a health and well being service.

The use and maintenance of a building comes as part of the contract.

The contract value is: £750,000 per annum.

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Now pause the presentation…

… you can pause by clicking your mouse on the rectangular icon at the bottom left of the screen.

Now make some notes on how you would respond to this tender. When you are ready, start the presentation again for the tips.

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How did you get on?

What are the key points to address?

What are the possible liabilities?

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Costing your tender

Remember to show how you arrived at your costings[and keep this as a record].

Always stay within the tender price given but attempt tooperate Full Cost Recovery. This means that youwill not short-change yourself when it comes tooverheads such as travel, training, stationery, audit andmanagement costs.

For more on Full Cost Recovery, check out www.fullcostrecovery.org.uk

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Be green [!] – re-use your tender

Always keep a copy of your tenders as the format for tenders is often the same – e.g. the same information can be used many times, such as organisational details.

The best way to save time if you are writing multiple bids is to cut and paste, especially if it’s for the same client group [e.g. young people] as your methodology will probably be more or less be the same.

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Thank you for watching!

We hope this online learning session ‘Tips for Tenders’ was useful to you.

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Need to know more about tendering and consortia development?

Contact Rebecca Clarkson on

rebecca@hcvs.org.uk