UK Gov: ContractFinder

Does Central Government’s Inclusion Go far Enough?

Are you aware of the government contract service?
Last year the government launched a refreshed contract finder service

(https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search)

This site allows you to see what contracts central and local government, as well as any arms reach public body has put out to tender.

One of the key pieces of advice we could give you is to go after tenders that are in your business’s field of expertise and that suit. It’s not always easy to identify them, but with companies losing on average £8,000 in lost income for each tender it is worth considering only the contracts they are likely to win.

For instance if you produce websites and a local council declared they needed a new website then you could bid for that contract.

Consortia, Benefits or Drawbacks?

Websites might be just one of many parts of a contract. If you the website designer put a bid in for it then the local authority might question your expertise in the other aspects of the contract. Alternatively, you may have little money in the bank, which puts you at financial risk. More often than not, you’ll not be successful if those doubts exist.

In those cases, we advise you to form a consortium with other complimentary, well aligned suppliers who are more experienced in areas that you are not, or are willing to share the work. This also spreads financial risk across the consortium, allowing you to bid for much bigger work than you could otherwise do on your own. Doing this increases your chances of successfully winning direct government contracts and a slice of the UK’s £45 billion public procurement budget.

Bidding for public contracts can be costly in both time and money.
Check out some of our other blogs on the pitfalls of Public sector tendering.

This is part of a series of blogs during Startup Europe Week 2016. Follow the action at #SEWeek16.