Each year, the UK government generates £50bn worth of contracts, but it wants to do more to get small businesses to bid for and win them.
Many small businesses find the system of bidding for government contracts complicated and difficult to navigate, forcing them to find work elsewhere.
Yet public contracts include a wide range of goods and services, including supplying hospital equipment and providing public sector pensions. Smaller businesses are often in a perfect position to provide these.
The government wants to level the playing field and encourage more small businesses to submit tenders, and it’s doing this with a raft of new initiatives. But will this be enough to make a difference?
Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew said: “We want it to be easier for [small businesses] to work with the government. That’s why we’re also bringing in sweeping procurement rule changes, to make it easier and more flexible for SMEs to win government work.”
The bidding process is being simplified, with one central platform for suppliers to register on. This means they only have to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector procurement.
The government is also encouraging small businesses to access discounted software and free advice and support through the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, or management training through Help to Grow: Management.
According to the most recent government figures, small firms have won more than £15 billion in government contracts this year.
UKBF member @Financial-Modeller has had a few different experiences with government contracts. He has been both successful and unsuccessful tendering for work directly, but in the successful case his company was added to a framework agreement which has never actually produced any billable work.
He says his most preferable route is working on projects indirectly, where an intermediary completes the tendering and then engages his business in a wider team to do the work.
“Bidding takes time, which needs to be priced into the work, which increases costs all round. With scale, organisations can maintain a bid team with the sole function of preparing bids for work,” he said.
@IanSuth agrees that there’s a lot of “faff” involved in government bidding and thinks a more simplified system would work much better for small businesses.
“[There are] compulsory diversity questionnaires and filling in infinite bits of information that are just not quickly at hand for a small company,” he said.
Tell us your thoughts on the UKBF forum by heading to the "Discuss" link at the top.
Many small businesses find the system of bidding for government contracts complicated and difficult to navigate, forcing them to find work elsewhere.
Yet public contracts include a wide range of goods and services, including supplying hospital equipment and providing public sector pensions. Smaller businesses are often in a perfect position to provide these.
The government wants to level the playing field and encourage more small businesses to submit tenders, and it’s doing this with a raft of new initiatives. But will this be enough to make a difference?
What are the new initiatives?
The first big initiative is the launch of the Selling to the Government guide (PDF). This 25-page guide includes advice on:- Where to look online for government contract opportunities
- How SMEs can showcase their strengths during the bidding process
- How businesses can secure work through supply chains by working with larger companies
- How the government considers social value when choosing suppliers, such as how businesses work in their local communities
Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew said: “We want it to be easier for [small businesses] to work with the government. That’s why we’re also bringing in sweeping procurement rule changes, to make it easier and more flexible for SMEs to win government work.”
The bidding process is being simplified, with one central platform for suppliers to register on. This means they only have to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector procurement.
The government is also encouraging small businesses to access discounted software and free advice and support through the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, or management training through Help to Grow: Management.
Encouraging more SMEs to bid for contracts
Will these initiatives be enough to break down some of the barriers that have been preventing small businesses from getting a piece of the government pie?According to the most recent government figures, small firms have won more than £15 billion in government contracts this year.
UKBF member @Financial-Modeller has had a few different experiences with government contracts. He has been both successful and unsuccessful tendering for work directly, but in the successful case his company was added to a framework agreement which has never actually produced any billable work.
He says his most preferable route is working on projects indirectly, where an intermediary completes the tendering and then engages his business in a wider team to do the work.
“Bidding takes time, which needs to be priced into the work, which increases costs all round. With scale, organisations can maintain a bid team with the sole function of preparing bids for work,” he said.
@IanSuth agrees that there’s a lot of “faff” involved in government bidding and thinks a more simplified system would work much better for small businesses.
“[There are] compulsory diversity questionnaires and filling in infinite bits of information that are just not quickly at hand for a small company,” he said.
Top 10 tips for tendering
For businesses that are keen to generate more work from government contracts, follow these simple steps to improve your bid:- Find tenders by registering on the Contracts Finder – allocate some time each week to check for new opportunities.
- Decide if it’s worth bidding. Ask yourself: Can we realistically win this? What’s the competition like?
- Register your interest as soon as possible on the portal and don’t wait until the last minute to submit your tender.
- Allocate someone with good organisational skills to manage the tender writing process.
- Do your research on the buying organisation by reviewing the invitation to tender, their website and any press coverage they have had. Also evaluate their current suppliers.
- Discuss the bid with your team to get their input and feedback.
- Answer each question asked with the most recent and relevant evidence, including quotes and case studies when you can.
- Use plain English, with short sentences. Always check your spelling and punctuation and get someone else to read it thoroughly for readability.
- Make use of formatting tools, like headers and subheaders, bold type, numbered lists and bullet points, to make it easier for people to read and review it.
- If you don’t win the bid, ask for feedback so you can learn for next time.
Have you ever bid for a government contract?
What’s your experience of the bidding process? Are these new initiatives enough to encourage you to look at more government bids – or is something stopping you from investing time in this approach?Tell us your thoughts on the UKBF forum by heading to the "Discuss" link at the top.
