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How to Prepare for Energy Tenders in the UK

Energy tenders in the UK and where to find them

Searching for energy tenders in the UK can be overwhelming. Hundreds of websites post multi-sector opportunities daily and it can be hard to know where to begin.

Energy tenders in the UK can vary from renewable energy to energy efficiency contracts. Both the private and public sectors release energy tenders and they can be lucrative opportunities for your business.

Where to find energy tenders in the UK

Half the challenge of tendering is knowing where to find the right opportunity for your business. It can seem daunting and end up turning into a full-time job. Multiple websites ask for different logins and passwords, it can be hard to keep track. Ideally, you should be looking for a sector-specific portal that posts relevant exclusive, public and private tenders and leads.

Facilities Tenders is a centralised portal that hosts all the UK’s facilities management tendering leads and opportunities. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV codes that can result in missed opportunities. Our Opportunity Trackers manually source and upload relevant facilities management tenders daily from across the UK. You’re able to filter the results by location, budget, keyword and more. This allows you to find the perfect energy tenders in the UK for your company.

Below are previous energy tenders we sourced on our portal:

S/M Agreement for Building Management Equipment Services

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

Jigsaw Homes Group Energy Tender 2021

Jigsaw Homes Group Ltd- North West- Budget: £3,000,000

Zero Carbon Electricity Power Purchase Agreement

London Borough of Hackney- London- Budget: Undisclosed

PS-21-13 – Dunlop ECC – Passivhaus (Energy Efficiency) New Build Project (PRJ0012653)

East Ayrshire Council- Scotland- Budget: £2,050,000

Energy Efficiency Retrofit Project Market Engagement

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Facilities Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all exclusive, public and private sector opportunities within the facilities management industry.
  • An on-hand Account Manager is available to answer any questions you may have about energy tenders in the UK. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

Book a free live demo today to learn how we can grow your business!

Once you’ve found a site that posts sector-specific opportunities, you may be wondering what’s needed. It’s important to develop a bank of responses ready to submit when the time comes. Writing a tender can take time, you will need to provide company information. A buyer will often ask for your business’s policies on a range of areas such as:

  • Health and safety
  • Modern slavery
  • Equality and diversity
  • Environmental.

Question if the opportunity is right for your business

Before you get underway with any bid, you should ask yourself the following questions:

  • Can I deliver the contract if successful?
  • Do I meet the minimum financial and eligibility criteria?
  • Can I write a high quality, winning response?
  • Do I have the required experience?

You should be answering yes to all the above questions when looking for the right energy tenders for your business. These are essential in order to be in a chance of winning a contract.

Know your businesses economic and financial standing

When submitting a tender response, you will be asked to provide your economic financial standing. This generally covers your business’s:

  1. Annual turnover
  2. Financial ratios
  3. Insurance[s].

Have a bank of case studies demonstrating past contracts

Requirements for energy tenders in the UK could include previous contract examples of work you have completed. They should be similar in complexity, scope and style. You may be asked for up to three examples within the last five years. They are often referred to as case studies and can strengthen your bid. Make sure you keep them relevant and include any challenges you overcame.

Your case studies should demonstrate:

  • Previous contracts similar in scale and location
  • How you delivered the contract and mobilisation
  • Any challenges you encountered and how you overcame them
  • Whether you completed the contract on time and within budget.

CVs of the team members expected to work on the contract

Energy tenders in the UK may ask for you to attach CVs of team members expected to work on site. They should detail their:

  • Name
  • Job title
  • Experience
  • Knowledge
  • Technical skills
  • Relevant qualifications and accreditations.

You need to instil confidence in the client that your team knows what they’re doing. You should demonstrate that they will deliver the project successfully. It will never go amiss attaching a small, friendly and professional-looking picture of each team member. This enables the buyer to put a name to a face that they will potentially be working with on site.

Be prepared to answer a question on social value if tendering in the public sector

Public sector contracts have a mandatory 10% minimum weighting on social value for each tender. This is because they need to ensure value for money when spending taxpayer’s money. It’s also because they have pledged to commit to more sustainable procurement practices.

A winning tender will need to assess the various social, economic and environmental aspects while carrying out the tender. These could include:

  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Paying employees National Living Wage to tackle economic inequality
  • Using local labour to tackle unemployment
  • The environmental consideration taken, such as reducing waste and encouraging recycling
  • Steps taken to reduce carbon emissions
  • Upskilling and use of apprentices and more.

The pledges you make at this stage are often contractually binding. This means you should be making promises you can and will keep. It is not something to just gloss over within your tender response.

Need assistance when writing energy tenders?

You may not have the time, resources or experience to write a winning bid response in house. Writing energy tenders in the UK can take a large amount of time out of your day. If you are unsure if you can write a high-quality written response to the bid, outsourcing is a great option.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They offer four levels of bid writing support to help you win energy tenders in the UK. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or you need your response proofread before you submit – we can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect energy tender for your business, why not send it over to us? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything you need in place to tender successfully. The 4-week programme offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding professionals
  • An organisation-wide Bid Library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies
  • Additional flexible benefit options.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. The Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders and additional tendering development services.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. Our Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering opportunities – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages can improve your bidding success rate and competitor awareness. Each package is a time-saving tool that can help your business when searching for energy tenders in the UK.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option best suits a business that overlaps two industries such as Facilities and Logistics.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
  • Weekly phone calls with your on-hand Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

Boiler Contracts in the UK: What to Expect

How are boiler contracts in the UK evaluated?

Boiler contracts in the UK are constantly put out to tender due to the nature of the British climate. Tendering for work can be beneficial to your business, and you should consider it as a viable business expansion option. Boiler contracts in the UK can range in duration from a few months to multiple years. Securing them can create a constant stream of work.

Boiler contracts in the UK could be required for a number of reasons such as:

  • Replacement of boilers
  • Boiler servicing
  • Maintenance and service of boilers
  • Design and installation of replacement boilers.

The contracts could be released by a wide range of both private and public sector organisations. Universities, councils, schools, residential and commercial buildings have a need to maintain the upkeep of boilers throughout the year.

Regulations, qualifications and accreditations

A tender response for boiler contracts in the UK will require you to be up to date with certain regulations. A buyer wants to be reassured that you uphold best practice. Therefore, they will likely require you to have certain qualifications and accreditations. These will help demonstrate your company’s capability.

  • Health & Safety at Work Act of 1974
  • Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations of 1999
  • Provision of Use of Work Equipment regulations of 1998 & Amendment 2018
  • Boiler work carried out in relation to the latest British Standards relevant to the type of boiler being worked on
  • CHAS
  • Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998
  • CDM 2015.

Staffing

Buyers will often ask for details on your staff that you expect will work on the project. They may ask for the following:

  • Personal identification
  • Sub-contractors.

Site visits

The tendering process for boiler contracts in the UK may allow for site visits. This will be detailed within the specification. Sometimes it’s mandatory, sometimes it’s optional and sometimes it might not be offered at all.

If they are optional, it’s highly recommended that you go as they can really strengthen your tender response. Site visits give you the opportunity to see the proposed working environment. They may even allow you to develop more accurate pricing and gain an insight into the buyer.

The award criteria

The award criteria for boiler contracts in the UK is typically split into two or three areas, depending on the buyer. These can be the following:

  1. Pricing

Pricing your bid right is an important part of any tender. You want to be realistic. Don’t submit a price just to undercut your competitors. A buyer will often expect the cost of your services to be fixed and final. If you price unrealistically then run overbudget while fulfilling the contract, a buyer won’t be best pleased.

Public sector businesses will often look at more than just price. They award the bid to the most economically advantageous tender. This means that the cheapest bid does not win. Public sector businesses will be looking at a combination of factors. These could include:

  • Accessibility
  • Customer service
  • Innovation
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Quality
  • Environmental factors.

However, if tendering for UK boiler contracts in the private sector, it would be a different story. Private sector businesses don’t have to meet certain policies or requirements on how they spend their money. They may award to a contract based simply on price.

  1. Customer requirements

For boiler contracts in the UK, you may be required to detail the service delivery and your technical capacity. You may be asked questions like the following:

“Please explain how the account will be managed and the structure of the personnel involved.”

“Please describe how your organisation will provide technical support and advise prior to, during and after work completion.” 

“Implementation plan: How will your organisation ensure the successful implementation and subsequent delivery of the contract. Consider different establishments with different due dates on their servicing schedules.”

  1. The environment and sustainability

This section can also be known as added value or social value depending on the contract. For public sector buyers social value has a mandatory minimum weighting of 10%. This means it is not something to skip over when applying for public sector contracts. Buyers care about your response and want to see you making promises you can keep. It’s expected that you have considered the environmental, social and economic aspects of the contract. These could include:

  • COVID-19 recovery.
  • Environmental considerations in place such as reducing waste and encouraging recycling.
  • Paying staff the National Living Wage to tackle economic inequality
  • The equal opportunity policies you implement.
  • How you are creating new skills or jobs via employment of local labour or apprenticeships.

This section is often where you would detail ISO 14001 or equivalent. Examples of such social value and environment questions that could be asked are as follows:

“Please detail the initiatives you intend to employ to minimise or reduce adverse environmental impact incurred in delivery of this contract, including the scheduling of site visits to reduce carbon in transportation.”

“Your organisation’s internal policies, processes and procedures in relation to environmental management including how they are regularly monitored and updated.”

“Please describe any initiatives that will be in place within your organisation to reduce the impact you have on carbon emissions in relation to this contract, including but not limited to energy reduction within your premises and fleet; and keeping transportation of goods to a minimum in relation to this contract. Your response may also include any other initiatives that will be in one place within your organisation to offset your carbon emissions in relation to this contract.”

Need assistance writing a bid for UK boiler contracts?

You may not have the time or resources in house to write a winning tender response for boiler contracts. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and navigating bid responses can be difficult and confusing. So, why not outsource it to a bid writing service?

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of bid writing experience. They offer four bid writing support services that can help you win your next boiler contracts in the UK. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or need your response proofread before you submit – we can help.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect boiler contract for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you and they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. 

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything you need in place to tender successfully. The Tender Ready programme offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding professionals
  • An organisation-wide Bid Library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies
  • Additional flexible benefit options.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you aren’t seeing the desired results from your tendering efforts. The Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders and additional tendering development services.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. Our Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

Where can I find boiler contracts in the UK?

Finding the right boiler contracts in the UK can take up a lot of your day. There are multiple sites and portals that host opportunities, each requiring you to have a different login. Many of them post multi-industry opportunities and searching for sector-specific leads can turn into a full-time job.

Luckily for you, we have a time-saving tool that can help optimise your search using one, easy-to-navigate centralised portal. Facilities Tenders is a portal that hosts all live tendering opportunities within the facilities management industry. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes!

Our Opportunity Trackers source and upload exclusive, public and private sector opportunities from across the UK. You’re able to filter and search the results by keyword, budget, location and more. This streamlines the process, allowing you to find the perfect UK boiler contracts for your business.

Below are previous boiler contracts in the UK sourced on our portal:

Parkfield High School Boiler Re-Location and Associated Mechanical, Electrical and Builders Works

Wolverhampton City Council- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Newchurch Primary School Boiler Works

Isle of Wight Council- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

Boiler replacement – Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre Feltham

London Borough of Hounslow- London- Budget: Undisclosed

Beneavin De La Salle College

Beneavin De La Salle College- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Design and Installation of Replacement Boilers and Associated Mechanical Plant at City Hall

Norwich City Council- Eastern- Budget: £500,000

A 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all exclusive, public and private sector opportunities within the facilities management industry.
  • An on-hand Account Manager that’s available to answer any questions you may have about boiler contracts in the UK. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

Book a free live demo today to learn how we can grow your business!

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to identify tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two upgraded packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each can help save you even more time when searching for boiler contracts in the UK.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Facilities and Logistics, for example.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable facilities tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

Solar Energy Contracts: 3 Things to Expect When Tendering

The benefits of tendering for solar energy contracts in the public sector

Solar energy contracts can be confusing if you don’t know what to expect. You can expect to find opportunities in both the private and public sector. Solar energy contracts are more abundant in the public sector. There are many advantages to winning a contract and they can be lucrative opportunities for your business. Typically, solar energy contracts are used for the provision and installation of solar panels.

Solar energy contracts can range from thousands to multi-millions. Most recently, Aberystwyth University unveiled plans for a £2.5 million investment in ground-mount solar PV. Many businesses and universities are taking greater steps into becoming carbon neutral, turning to renewable and sustainable energy.

Both the public and private sectors are looking to invest more in green and innovative solutions. They coincide with the Prime Ministers Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. It’s expected that there are soon to be many more solar energy contracts in order to meet these sustainability targets.

Why tender for work?

If you are on the fence about tendering for work, you may be wondering if the hassle is worth it. Well, there are multiple benefits and advantages when tendering for work. These include: 

  1. The Government’s SME spending target

If you’re an SME, you may be wondering if you even have a chance tendering for work against bigger multi-nationals. Well, all is not lost. The government has an aim to spend £1 in £3 with SMEs by 2022. This means that the government is actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses. There has never been a better time to consider tendering as a viable route for business expansion.

  1. Guaranteed pay in the public sector

One of the biggest advantages of tendering for work is that you are guaranteed payment. This is applicable if applying for solar energy contracts in the public sector. Successful suppliers are guaranteed pay upon winning a contract. The Crown Commissioning Service (CCS) must comply with the Prompt Payment Code. This means that they must pay within 60-days on invoicing which is reassuring to any business.

  1. Securing a pipeline of work

Winning a position on a framework or Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) can secure a pipeline of work for your business. Contracts on these systems can range in duration from a few months to multiple years, with the possibility of extension. This can help drive sustainability for your business when applying for solar energy contracts.

Hopefully, the above points have persuaded you that tendering is a viable route that can help grow your business. Next, you may be wondering what you can expect when tendering for solar energy contracts.

3 things to expect when bidding for solar energy contracts

  1. You may need to join a framework agreement

Solar energy contracts can often be found as part of a framework agreement. Framework agreements are multi-supplier agreements that are used by the public sector to procure goods or services. The length of framework agreements can last years and occasionally offer the possibility of an extension.

Framework agreements are often split up into lots. These lots are used for a specific good, service or location. They allow suppliers to tender for work, applying for the lot(s) that they can deliver. This means they don’t have to be able to provide all aspects of the contract. Depending on the framework agreement, suppliers can apply for multiple lots with the maximum typically being three. If this is an option, buyer’s will likely require evidential proof that if successful you can fulfil their needs.

  1. The most economically advantageous tender wins

A public sector contract will usually be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, known as the MEAT. This means that buyers are looking at more than just price. It’s worth noting that the cheapest bid does not always win. They are often looking at a range of factors within your bid for solar energy contracts.

The public sector must deliver the most value for money when it comes to public spending of the taxpayer’s money. The buyer will look at a combination of factors that could include the following:

  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
  • Quality
  • Accessibility
  • Technical ability
  • Ability to deliver on time.
  1. Be prepared to demonstrate social value

Social value has a mandatory minimum weighting of 10% in public sector contracts. In some tenders, it may be as much as 30%, so it’s not something you should gloss over. Social value in solar energy contracts should focus on the environmental, economic and social aspects when carrying out the contract. Although the nature of solar energy contracts is green and sustainable in nature, social value is still important. Your business could include the following aspects:

  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Supporting the local community
  • Creating new jobs and skills tackling unemployment
  • Environmental considerations such as tackling climate change
  • Equality and diversity policies
  • Reducing waste and encouraging recycling
  • Paying National Living Wage to employees to tackle economic inequality.

Need assistance with writing a tender for solar energy contracts?

Sometimes you might not have the experience, resources or time in-house to write a winning bid response. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing support services that can help you win your next bid for solar energy contracts.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect solar energy contract for your business, why not send it to Hudson Succeed? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything you need in place to tender successfully. The 4-week programme offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Facilities Tenders
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding professionals
  • An organisation-wide Bid Library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies
  • Additional flexible benefit options.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. The Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit it.

How to source solar energy contracts

Sourcing the right solar energy contracts for your business can create quite a headache. Searching for opportunities can turn into a full-time job. Thousands of websites across the UK post multi-industry tenders daily. Keeping track of the right opportunities for your business can take hours. Hours you could be spending on running your business. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Our Facilities Tenders portal hosts all the live tendering opportunities within the facilities management and energy industry. Our Opportunity Trackers source and upload exclusive, public and private sector opportunities from across the UK.

You are able to filter and search for the results by keyword, budget, location and more. Gone are the days of relying on inaccurate CPV codes! Our tender portal is the perfect time-saving tool, helping you find the right tender opportunities for your business.

Below are previous solar energy contracts sourced on our portal:

1.2MWp Solar Farm, Solar PV, Battery Storage and Private Wire E.P.C and Maintenance Services

Exeter City Council- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Daventry District Council- DC Isolation of Solar Arrays Industrial Buildings and Daventry Leisure Centre

LGSS- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Electrical Balance of Plant Services for Timahoe Solar Farm

Bord Na Mona- International- Budget: £5,000,000

Installation of Solar Panels at the Depot

Harrow Council- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

Installation of Solar Photovoltaic Panels for Powis Hall Market

Oswestry Town Council- West Midlands- Budget: £80,000

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

Book a free live demo today to learn how we can grow your business!

What’s included in a subscription to Facilities Tenders? 

A subscription to our Facilities Tenders portal offers your business:

  • Access to all unique, private and public sector opportunities across the facilities management and energy industry.
  • A dedicated Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about finding solar energy contacts.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new tenders are uploaded that day.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to identify tendering opportunities – even when you’re busy. Our two upgraded packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each can help save you even more time when searching for solar energy contracts for your business.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Facilities and Logistics, for example.
  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.