For many organisations, particularly SMEs, public sector tendering opportunities are an important way of securing new business, with hundreds of local contracts published every week in every sector.
Speaking at a recent Chamber Lunch \'n\' Learn event , Millstream\'s managing director Tim Williams said there are many opportunities but the procurement process can deter businesses from following them up.
\'A number of European governments and public authorities now handle procurement electronically in order to save money and time and to comply with the latest EU legislation so there are literally thousands of opportunities out there,\' he told an audience at Dundee’s Verdant Works.
\'It may be better to go for smaller ones to start with, and look at who has previously awarded contracts, who won it and why, the value and duration of the contract. When deciding whether or not to bid, pick your best prospects and focus on the ones you think you have the best chance of securing, while balancing it with existing work.
\'Build a relationship with potential clients – competitors may already be working with them and if you’re not, you are starting at a disadvantage. Identify existing problems and offer a solution and ensure you can demonstrate that your business is big enough to cope if you are awarded the contract.
\'Information should be easy to read, clearly indexed and you should state what you can offer, when you will do it and what the cost will be. The easier you can make it for the procurement officer the greater the chance of making it through to the next stage.\'
As the only company providing national public procurement websites for several European member states, Millstream operates the Public Contracts Scotland portal on behalf of the Scottish Government, as well as a similar website for the Welsh Government and the national procurement portal for Norway.
Millstream runs the Tenders Direct website, which provides private companies with comprehensive information on new business opportunities from the public sector, such as the government, local authorities, emergency services, NHS trusts and the armed forces.
It also runs myTenders, a tender publication and management service used by more than 700 public organisations in the UK to submit fully compliant contract notices to the OJEU and Contracts Finder, as well as publicising them on the organisation’s own website.
Find out more about Tender Direct and myTenders.
