subject: All You Needed To Know About The Tendering Process In The Uk [print this page] Your success in the tendering process depends on your presentation. It is the job of the tender manager to produce a tender response within the stipulated time. As for the transparency in the contract process, you must feel assured as the laws provide for non-discriminatory selection.
The public and private sectors follow different procedures to procure goods/services. Private sector enterprises are generally free to fix their criteria and negotiate contracts. However, the public sector is obligated to follow legislation and procedures which govern procurement.
Published tenders in the UK are required to conform to the legislature and EU procurement law if the contract is over the EU threshold and advertised through the OJEU. The rules ensure a level playing field for all the applicants.
The law makes no distinction between the larger and smaller suppliers and the only criteria for selection is that they must satisfy the terms mentioned in the notification, so what you need to consider is whether your firm qualifies on the conditions. The other thing you need to ensure is that the tender reply is prepared well and submitted on time.
Your tender response must be clearly and precisely displayed. When providing answers to questions asked in the documentation, follow the format of the original questionnaire. Use the same headings and number sequence as in the client documentation. It will help the evaluators, enabling them to easily compare the questions and answers. By improving your tender presentation, you improve your chances of getting approved.
The quality of your tender presentation depends on the ability and experience of your tender manager. The initial function of a tender manager is to produce a tender timeline diary, decide what kind of team is required to complete the tender and send off for any relevant reference document. They assign different aspects of the tender to the appropriate personnel in the team and create an action log to ensure that the task is finished in time.
The rules for public authority tenders provide for you receiving debrief following evaluation of tender reply. The law directs that authorities include a minimum mandatory Standstill Period of ten days, which must be after the unsuccessful bidders are notified and the contract is started. Unsuccessful bidders are provided with an opportunity to obtain a debrief which must provide the reasons why they were unsuccessful and the relative advantages of the successful tender. Bidders have the right to request a debrief from the contracting authority regardless of whether the contract is covered by the EU Directive or not.
The law provides that verification of the suitability of the tenderers and the selection thereof be carried out with transparency. The contractor authority has to come up with a non-discriminatory criterion to select competitors. Although the contracting authority may cull the number of applicants, it must be performed on the basis of objective criteria mentioned in the public procurement contract notice. The selection process must also be indicated in the notice.
The contracting authority is required by the law to award the contract to the most economically advantageous tender. The tender responses must be appropriately assessed to determine which one offers the best value for money. It must take into account the economic aspects and quality. In some contracts, economic requirements may also need to be met.
