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What we all can learn from the experience Provision of an Expert Witness Recently, one of Sixfold’s directors, Peter Lobl, appeared as an ex parte expert witness in a ground-breaking procurement case in the High Court in London.  The case was filed by an aggrieved bidder against the Ministry of Defence claiming an erroneous bid…

A few organisations are starting to pick up that on 25th May 2018, the new Data Protection Legislation (the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)), comes into force.  It is targeted at improving privacy and preventing data breaches.  It is based upon EU legislation.  However, we expect that it will continue after Brexit, essential unaltered.  The…

Here you are, striving away day after day dealing with a relentless stream of complex and demanding bids.  There have been countless evenings and nights when you have been working alone in the office to meet a bid deadline.  And then, when you have had company, it was because it was “all hands to the…

Sixfold’s latest success was with Grosvenor Services where we have both trained the team and then supported the bid manager.  They bid for all lots in a very large Government cleaning contract and have been selected against stiff competition in every one of them!  We just had the win decision yesterday .

Lessons learned from some years of working in the world of Public Sector procurement After what seems a lifetime in either selling into the Public Sector or advising Public Sector clients on how to get the best from their procurement activities, I thought I had seen it all.  But now and then, something else happens…

I was at an event recently when the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Matt Hancock, raised a really interesting prospect.  He said that one of the things his team, presumably the Crown Commercial Service, are working on is a Crown Marketplace.  In essence this is the extension of the G-Cloud concept into non-ICT categories.  According…

John Fernau was previously commercial director at the Home Office and has now joined Sixfold International to help its clients win public sector contracts. He draws on his experience to provide an insight into the way Whitehall engages with small business suppliers and shares advice on how to win work from national and local government. …

November 2015 We have just seen that a court has annulled a tender award decision for “lack of adequate reasoning”.  This decision was made when Ricoh bid for a contract for the purchase or hire of printers and their associated maintenance services.  Ricoh was informed its bid was unsuccessful for 3 of the 5 lots…

26th January 2016 The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) is now a standard form for part of the Public Sector tendering selection process.  The Public Contracts Regulations requires a contracting authority to accept an ESPD from bidders as part of the selection process to reduce the administrative burden on bidders and the authority by simplifying…

If you think that the procedure chosen by your client will not affect your win chance, think again! It is vital you understand the possible impact.

The Competitive Dialogue has been around for some time and we have seen many instances of its use (and misuse) to date. We are now getting some practical understanding of the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation and this note outlines how this experience is giving us more insight and warns of the impact this could have on your win chance.

Like it or not, the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015 are going to make a big difference to how you bid for Public Sector contracts. Sixfold is all about how to finesse the Public Sector procurement to create a competitive edge. We have often focused on how the fundamental principles – equal treatment, proportionality and transparency – can be used as a tool to your advantage.

Sixfold has been called in to help a large company resolve a strange issue with the evaluation of its multi-million pound tender. The company had been told that it had come second and, in accordance with the procurement requirements, it was sent the scores both it and the winning bidder had been allocated.

The Public Sector bidding processes appear to force you to bid exactly the same proposal as everyone else. This process is set up to allow the evaluators to be able to compare one bid against another as easily as they can. The processes seem to stifle any ability to differentiate your offering and slaps down any attempt at innovation! However, we all know that we must stand out from the other bidders if we are to win the bid.

How important is winning your next Public Sector Contract to you? Pretty important? You bet your life it is! So how would it help you to have copies of the recent bids your competitors have produced, on your desk, whilst you get stuck into the latest proposal?

As a Bid Director I have been interested for a long time in what it is that motivates bid team members to work extended hours (sometimes 24 hours and longer without a break). Despite being under high pressure they perform willingly, enthusiastically and, usually, for no financial reward above their normal salary. This does not occur in every case.

You are the incumbent supplier in a Public Sector contract and it has come around for a rebid. You and your team have been doing a fantastic job for years. You know you have the client’s staff on your side because they tell you that your team is doing a good job and you have rescued the client’s business from several, indeed many, disasters of their making in recent months.

I have been around and about proposal writing for many years. I have seen fabulous successes and devastating failures all attributed to the quality of the written word. And in that time I have learned a few lessons. They seem so obvious to me. However, whenever I meet up with a new bid team (and sometimes even experienced bid teams who aren’t doing so well), I see the same problems.

It’s a delicate decision to challenge a lost bid decision and possibly alienate yourself as a “troublemaker”. Should you acquiesce or fight for what’s right for everyone?

I don’t think that there is an easy answer to this. However, I think that often, bid teams get their answer wrong, back off a justifiable challenge and potentially lose business that should have been theirs.

We have experience in leading SMEs and global multinationals to improve win performance.