SMEs to get a better tendering experience?

Tenders are a great way to win business, though for SMEs, the levels of success are akin to

Snakes and Ladders, you think you are looking favourite and then discover a clause that

means you would be wasting your time!

What’s changing? Since the EU exit, UK procurement has been working at simplifying the

processes as it has already failed in its mission to award up to a third of contracts to SMEs.

The new, more flexible rules will benefit SMEs through a number of provisions being written

into the Bill to lift barriers for small businesses. These include:

 Greater visibility of upcoming work, giving SMEs more time to gear up for bidding

 A new central platform showing future work in each area. This means for example

a new SME tech firm in Lancashire will be able to search for tech opportunities

upcoming in their region

 Creating one single website to register on, rather than the multiple and time

consuming systems SMEs currently have to register on before bidding for work

 Reducing unnecessary insurance costs before a supplier has even bid for a

contract

 A new Competitive Flexible procedure, which will allow contractors to design more

innovation into the process, benefiting smaller tech startups

 Strengthening prompt payment, so that businesses throughout the public sector

supply chain receive payment within 30 days

It’s a great start and one that’s welcomed, if you were to ask which is the best change, then

the top one would be the best if they announced it without it being in the formal tender

process. This means that you could talk to them and start a relationship, maybe influence

the specification to fit what’s available rather than an unrealistic expectation.

Stuart Naylor, Bids Partner, helping you win business in the public sector

Visit Bids Partner share page for contact details.