London 2012 operatives are being encouraged to award contracts to firms, but SME’s do not appear to know how to win these contracts.
At the recent launch of the South England’s Offer for the 2012 games, the clarion call from each presenter at this day-long conference was - “Compete, Create, and Collaborate”.
The overwhelming response from all (400+) participants was “HOW” – the overall response to this very tricky question was “a mixture of silence – a few waves of the hands and signposting to some far distant place or person.”
London 2012 operatives are being encouraged to award contracts to firms, but SME’s do not appear to know how to win these contracts.
There are certain fundamental questions that need to be addressed, one of the questions is “if this is such a lucrative revenue generating sector – why is it so hard to persuade firms to jump in and grab their share?” and - “What else apart from statements and phrases is required in order for firms to take part?”
In the UK, local authorities have reduced the number of suppliers that they deal with, preferring to buy from larger companies in an effort to reduce the cost of procurement while, at the same time, trying to achieve ‘best value’ because they feel that larger companies offer greater security in terms of contract performance, and greater economies of scale. However, central government has previously requested that all public sector agencies have a procurement policy that includes awarding contracts to small to medium enterprises.
In 2006, Value Wales announced that more than £1 billion worth of Welsh public sector contracts have been made available to businesses across Wales through the National Procurement Website (NPW), www.sell2wales.co.uk
Supply to Gov
supply2.gov.uk is a government-backed portal that focuses on lower-value public sector contracts typically under £100,000. Developed by the Small Business Service (SBS) and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), it enables all organisations across the public sector to publicise their lower-value contract notices and, for the first time, all types of businesses can access them in one place, other portals include: https://www.supply2wales.gov
Public Sector Agency Responsibilities Public sector agencies, who supply the contracts, have responsibilities to:
• Advertise contract details for each contract clearly (see EU directive)
• Outline procurement policies and procedures to SME’s
• Encourage and make use of technology to improve the efficiency and cost savings in the supply chain
• Simplify the tender evaluation and information process
• Provide access and feedback to contractors equally to build trust and
transparency
• Encourage SME’s to attend public sector information briefings
• Establish and maintain an appropriate atmosphere
• Emphasise their quality control policies and procedures
• Consider setting targets for contracts to be awarded to SME’s – (although this is not a legal requirement)
Surrey Chamber of Commerce
“Tendering For Contracts from The Business Perspective”
Pauline Hedges, Regional Manager and Head of Policy, Surrey Chamber of Commerce, commented that: “Many small to medium sized businesses in Surrey would welcome the opportunity to bid for the lucrative contracts put out by the public bodies and government agencies in the county but lack the knowledge of where those tenders are offered and the expertise to complete the forms.
One of the biggest hurdles facing a business when planning to bid for a contract is the fear that they will be ‘too small’ to be considered as a potential supplier to a major public body; but Tendering For Contracts Training explodes that myth and explains ways in which several smaller companies can form a partnership to make one successful bid which will give all those partners a share in the profits – and that partnership could lead on to further profitable working in the future.
Surrey Chambers of Commerce is planning a series of workshops later this year to assist businesses to consider the opportunities to be gained from bidding for contracts connected with the London Olympics 2012 and Tendering for Contracts Training will be a key player in those workshops”.
The SME contractor has responsibilities to:
• Deliver goods and services that surpass requirements
• Attend public sector information briefings in order to become familiar with the processes and procedures
• Use technology to communicate with partners and contract providers and plan project workflow
• Control and deliver quality
• Make use of technology to implement and monitor change
• Improve business processes and practices and improve revenues and profits and the flow of information
So what can be done about it? This situation is both the justification for, and the basis of, a training
programme coupled with a support structure that addresses SME’s needs in preparing, winning and managing contracts.
The training programme objectives are to enable firms to be:
• aware of tenders as they are announced
• prepared to compete
• able to establish partnerships to compete more effectively
• able to use tender responses to ‘differentiate’ themselves
• successfully build sub-contractor relationships
• effectively build relationships with suppliers
HOW ? : Training + Support = Opportunity Lloyd Sewell has identified that the “training and support” needs of small and medium sized enterprises are lacking and are one of the detrimental factors that are taken into account – when small firms consider “do we or do we not tender for this or that contract”.
Having researched the “procedures, processes and problems” involved in contracting and procurement, Sewell has concluded that the stakeholders’ main problem areas are; “lack of training – lack of resources - lack of confidence – lack of perceived benefits – lack of adequate support – lack of suitable information” – and these are just some of the perceived road-blocks to successfully taking part.
Tendering for Contracts Training programme Recently released and available from: www.easehost.net/TfCT/gateway.cfm?course_id=318
The Tendering for Contracts Training Programme, is an online SFEDI endorsed, ASET accredited e-learning programme that prepares firms to become successful when tendering for public sector contracts.
The programme consists of five modules and provides byte-sized structured learning materials for approximately “5 weeks @ 8.5 hours per week”, each module is divided into “learning sessions and self-assessment sessions” - plus a reference and glossary section and online notepad which is printable, learners are positively encouraged to pursue the course at their own pace.
Ref: www.tfc-training.com/elp/index.htm
The programme support materials also include hotlinks to all relevant exemplar policy statements. The policy documents can be copied and adapted – saving the learner time and ensuring that the resulting tenders include the correct requested policy statements couched in terms that the public sector agencies will expect and recognise.
Our training programme overcomes the perennial ‘chicken and egg’ problem that exists in the area of SME public sector procurement activity, ensuring that firms receive accredited mentored training and support that will enable them to successfully tender for, win and manage contract project profitably.
Learner Support
Support to learners is provided FREE by:
• VOIP and by email
• Additional support is available through our network of mentors and verifiers on request on a project basis
Summary:
We offer a well structured ASET accredited cost effective training programme for busy managers, supervisors or individuals, based on a blended approach with mentored support.
For more information contact:
Joanna Schwencke,
Sales & Marketing,
Tendering for Contracts Training,
23 Elmbridge Road, Cranleigh,
Surrey, GU6 8NH
Tel: 01483 267098 / 07866 838286
Email: enquiries@tfc-training.com
