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Property maintenance contract tenders: answering your FAQs

Posted on by John Hudson

A guide to property maintenance contract tenders

Could your business benefit from winning property maintenance contract tenders? If you’re new to the tendering process, you may have some questions. We’d be more surprised if you didn’t, as the procurement world can be rather puzzling. This blog aims to answer some of your FAQs.

Who commissions property maintenance contract tenders?

Property maintenance contract tenders are offered in both the private and public sector. However, they are often more abundant in the public sector, specifically with Local Councils.

What’s the typical format of property maintenance contract tenders?

The typical format of property maintenance contract tenders is that initially, you will need to answer a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). Selection questionnaires (SQs) are also used and are basically the same as a PQQ. They’re both initial stages and questionnaires used by buyers to establish if a potential supplier meets the minimum eligibility criteria.

They are both essentially box-ticking exercises that usually require you to include company information. You’ll also need to disclose any grounds for mandatory exclusion, company equality and diversity policies and financial thresholds. Once a business has passed this stage, they will then be given an invitation to tender (ITT). Successful suppliers will then go on to win the contract and perform the work.

What are property maintenance contract tender framework agreements?

Framework agreements are multi-supplier agreements that are often used within the public sector. The length of framework agreements can range from months to multiple years, with a possibility of extension.

Property maintenance contracts for tender will often have multiple services required for the job. Framework agreements split up specific goods, works or locations into Lots. This allows a potential supplier to still be involved in the contract, even if they can only supply one aspect of it. They do not need to be able to fulfil all areas of the contract. In some cases, suppliers can apply for multiple Lots, with the maximum often being capped at three. If this is an option, a buyer will expect proof that you have the resources to deliver all Lots.

How is a contract awarded?

A property maintenance contract tender is often awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, known as the MEAT. The MEAT is used in the public sector. It’s worth noting that the MEAT does not mean that the cheapest bid wins. Buyers are looking for the tender that presents the most value for money.

Often a buyer will look at a combination of factors both individually and as a whole. These can include, but aren’t limited to the following:

  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
  • Technical Ability
  • Accessibility
  • Environmental benefits
  • Quality
  • Social Characteristics.

How do I know if a property maintenance contract is right for my business?

You should read the tender documents and specification carefully – in full. Even if there are 70+ pages. You must fully digest them in order to make a logical decision on whether to bid or not to bid. Once you have done this, you should ask yourself:

  • Do I have the resources to carry out this contract?
  • Does my business meet the minimum eligibility and financial thresholds?
  • Do I have the required experience?
  • Do I have enough time to write a high-quality, winning response?

If the answer to any of the above is no, then it probably isn’t a good idea to take it any further. Asking yourself these questions before you jump in with writing your response can save you time and resources.

Does the quality of my written response to property maintenance tenders matter?

In short, yes. No matter the split on weightings for price and quality, the quality of your written response always matters. Buyers want to be confident that they are choosing the right business for the job at hand. Your tender response must persuade them that you are the best business and be convincing. You should use substantial evidence to back up any claims you are making.

Your written response for a property maintenance contract tender should be clear, concise and persuasive. Successful responses will pay attention to the word and page counts, getting their response as close as possible to them. If a buyer thinks a question should have a 700-word response, simply writing two sentences won’t suffice.

Where can I get support with my property maintenance contracts tenders?

It’s understandable that you may need a little extra help when it comes to writing your property maintenance contract tenders. Not every business has the time or resources in-house to write a winning response. Outsourcing is a great option that can help you win a pipeline of work for your business.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, has over 60 years of collective bid writing experience, boasting an 87% success rate. They can help you stand out from your competitors by writing a winning, quality response. There are four bid writing support packages that can help you win your next property maintenance contract tenders.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. Our Bid Writers will work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

  • A 12-month subscription to Construction 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 result 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 Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect property maintenance contract tender for your business – send it our way. Our Bid Writers will take care of it all for you, letting you know what they need from you. They’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown, and even submit the bid on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

If your property maintenance contract tender response needs proofreading before submission – send it over. Our Tender Mentor service can make sure your response is free of grammar and spelling mistakes before you submit. Our Bid Writers will proof it, checking it’s in line with the specification.

Where can I find property maintenance contract tenders?

Finding the right property maintenance contract tenders can take hours out of your day. Hours that you could otherwise be spending on running your business.

Enter…Facilities Tenders!

Facilities Tenders is a portal that hosts all the live tendering opportunities within the facilities management industry. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload facility tender opportunities from thousands of sources across the UK.

By manually uploading each tender opportunity, you’ll never miss a tender again due to unreliable CPV codes. You’re able to filter and search the results by keyword, location, budget and more. This can be a great time-saving tool, allowing you to find the perfect property maintenance contract tenders for your business.

Below are previous property maintenance contract tenders sourced on our portal:

BOCSI-MNT2-CL – Property Maintenance Services for BOCSI Clare Region – Framework Agreement v2

BCM Business Cost Management Limited- International- Budget: Undisclosed

GB-Boston: Property Maintenance

Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk- Eastern- Budget: £500,000

I-Flair Property Maintenance Framework Agreement 2020-2024

Ferguslie Park Housing Association Ltd- Scotland- Budget: £68,383,879

LAB1 – Provide a Comprehensive Range of Property Maintenance Services and General Building Assistance

Legal Aid Board- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Property Maintenance – Locksmiths

East Dunbartonshire Council- Scotland- Budget: £150,000

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 Industry.
  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about finding property maintenance contract tenders.
  • A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new facilities 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 optimise your 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 property maintenance contract tenders for your business.

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.
  • A 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.

Where to Find Security Contracts up for Bid

Posted on by John Hudson

Security contracts up for bid: 3 things to remember

You may be wondering where you can find security contracts up for bid if you’re thinking about tendering for work. It’s no secret that searching for the right tender for your business can turn into a bit of a headache. Procurement can be confusing, particularly if you’ve never ventured into it before.

However, more and more organisations are tendering for work as they look to grow their business via alternative routes. The COVID-19 pandemic led to more businesses going down the procurement avenue. At the moment, companies can’t do business like they used to. No more networking lunches or face to face meetings.

There are a number of advantages to tendering for work. Winning tenders in the public sector can ensure guaranteed income and help you gain experience. The more experience you have, the bigger the contracts you are able to go for.

Where can I find security contracts up for bid?

You can find security contracts up for bid on thousands of sites across the UK. Searching for the right one for your business can turn into a full-time job. Often these websites will post other industry opportunities that aren’t even close to yours. They can be updated daily and it’s easy to get overwhelmed when searching for the right tender for your business.

5 things to bear in mind when searching for security contracts up for bid:

  1. Industry-specific portals

When searching for security contracts up for bid, you should be looking for a site that hosts industry-specific opportunities. This will save you a great deal of time. You don’t have to sift through all the irrelevant posts, trying to look for the right one.

  1. No reliance on CPV codes

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes are often used to track opportunities. However, they are often mislabelled, resulting in missed opportunities. You will be able to find security contracts up for bid a lot more easily if you can search by keyword.

  1. Results you can filter

Wouldn’t life be easier if you could just filter relevant tenders by location, keyword and budget. This way, you will be able to find relevant security contracts up for bid in an instant. Customising and filtering the results enables you to find the perfect opportunity for your business. The best tender websites will have this as an option – streamlining the process.

  1. Email alerts to new opportunities

A good tendering website and portal will allow you to choose what areas you would like to tender. Daily emails can alert you to new security contracts up for bid posted that day. This can make things even easier, saving you more time to focus on your business.

  1. Access to an Account Manager

Using a site that includes access to an Account Manager can help you find security contracts up for bid. It’s nice to have someone who can talk you through the tendering process if you’re new to it. An Account Manager can advise you on the right security contracts for your business.

You’re able to find all of this on Facilities Tenders. Book a free live demo today to learn how we can grow your business.

3 things to remember when applying for security contracts up for bid 

  1. Changes to the training you need for an SIA licence 

The UK government has announced that there will be four changes to the training you need for an SIA licence. These changes are applicable for front line SIA licences:

  • On the 1st April 2021, they will introduce updated qualifications for all sectors except close protection and vehicle immobilisation.
  • From 1st April 2021, you must have a first aid qualification. Only then can you train for door supervision or security guard licences.
  • On the 1st October 2021, they will introduce updated close protection qualifications.
  • From 1st October 2021, you must have one of the new qualifications or take top-up training. This is applicable before you can apply for door supervisor and security guard licences, including renewals.

  1. Evidence

After identifying security contracts up for bid, you need to be sure that you’re eligible. Do you have enough evidence to demonstrate your experience? Having a bank of evidence can save you time when writing your response. You may be required to produce up to three case studies from within the last five years. These case studies should be examples of past contracts of work that are similar in scope and complexity.

Including testimonials from previous satisfied clients can strengthen your response. If the word count allows you could also include how you overcame any unexpected challenges. This allows you to demonstrate your problem-solving skills and that you are able to work under pressure.

Your case studies should be:

  • Thorough
  • Detailed
  • Demonstrating your businesses abilities
  • Well-developed
  • Include concrete evidence.

  1. Social value

It’s important to remember when tendering for public sector organisations that there’s a mandatory weighting on social value. The minimum weighting is 10%, but depending on the buyer, it can be as large as 30%. The government is focused on sustainable development and procurement. When completing your security tenders, you must consider the social, economic and environmental aspects.

Buyers want to see you making pledges that you can keep, so it isn’t something to be glossed over. Consider including the following in your next social value response:

  • Supporting COVID-19 recovery.
  • Reducing waste.
  • Encouraging recycling.
  • Creating new jobs or skills to tackle economic inequality.
  • Supporting equality and diversity.
  • The environmental considerations you have in place.

Need assistance?

Our Bid Writers at our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. They are tender writing experts and boast an 87% bid success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing any success from your own tendering efforts – we can help!

We offer four bid writing services that can help you see success with your next tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written previous security contracts up for bid, but aren’t seeing any success, Tender Mentor can help. Our Bid Writers will assess and proofread your response in line with the specification. They’ll notify you of any grammar or spelling mistakes before you submit.

Tender Writing

Have you found security contracts up for bid but don’t know where to start? You can send the specification over to our Bid Writers and they’ll take care of it all for you providing you will a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll write the response and even submit it on your behalf!

Tender Improvement

Have you been tendering for security contracts up for bid, but aren’t seeing any success? Our Tender Improvement package can help. During the course of the programme, our Bid Writing Team will assess your previous tender responses and supporting documents. They’ll provide you with feedback and guidance on how to improve for future tenders.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is designed for businesses who have never tendered for work before. This programme works with you, ensuring you have everything in place to tender successfully. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant who can help your business grow.

Below are previous security contracts up for bid that were sourced on our portal:

Homes England – Framework ESPO Call off Information Security Specialist

Homes England (the name adopted by the Homes and Communities Agency)- West Midlands- Budget: £144,000

25-02-2021

Invitation to Tender – Site Security Services

Eden Geothermal Limited- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

23-02-2021

Luton Council Security Patrol and Unlocking / Locking Services – QQ ‘ By Invitation Only’ under the Light Touch Regime (LTR) Schedule 3 of the PCR15 Regulations

Luton Council- Eastern- Budget: £500,000

18-02-2021

Provision of Security Guarding Services in Iraq

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office- International- Budget: Undisclosed

25-02-2021

Mid Sussex DC & Horsham DC – Manned Security Services

Mid Sussex District Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

15-02-2021

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We 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 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 security contracts up for bid.

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
  • 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.
  • A 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.

Can I Buy Cleaning Contracts?

Posted on by John Hudson

You can’t simply buy cleaning contracts, so here’s what to do instead

You may be wondering if you can just buy cleaning contracts, and you are not alone. However, the answer to your question is short and simple – no.

The cleaning business has always been a highly competitive marketplace. This is true now more than ever. The rise of COVID-19 has led to a steep increase in both the public and private sectors putting cleaning contracts. Unfortunately, you can’t just go out and buy cleaning contracts. So, here’s how to go about it instead.

What is tendering?

Let’s start off with a simple question – what is tendering? Cleaning contracts are primarily procured through tendering. This is when a business requires a good or a service that they can’t do themselves. Or, if the business contract exceeds the public sector threshold, they will then be put out to tender. Then, any potential suppliers can respond to this call with their tender response.

A number of businesses may want to procure cleaning services, and the cleaning sector itself is vast. It covers areas such as:

  • Residential
  • Educational Institutions
  • Commercial
  • Corporate
  • Industrial
  • Local government
  • Culture and Heritage Sites

However, don’t despair. This blog will tell you how to secure a cleaning tender instead since you can’t buy cleaning contracts.

A 10-step guide to how to secure a cleaning contract:

  1. Tracking the opportunity

Making sure you are tendering for the right opportunities for your businesses is vital. This ensures consistent growth and development which could lead to expansion. In order to do this, you need to know where to find the right opportunities for your business.

This can be done via tendering portals. We host live cleaning contract opportunities on our Facilities Tenders portal. You can filter the live results via keyword, budget, location and more on one site. This saves you countless hours that would otherwise be spent trawling hundreds of websites daily.

Here are some past cleaning contracts that were sourced on our portal:

ATD Specialist Cleaning 2021

Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency- Eastern- Budget: £60,000

31-01-2021

Cleaning – Dynamic Purchasing System

Advantage South West- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

22-01-2021

Hall Green School – Cleaning Tender

Hall Green School- West Midlands- Budget: £435,000

26-01-2021

Mobile Cleaning Operative

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council- West Midlands- Budget: £5,000

20-01-2021

Provision of Cleaning Services

Leicester City Council- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

18-01-2021

Join Facilities Tenders

We track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

Once you have sourced what you think is the right opportunity for your business, you should ask yourself:

  • Do I have the experience?
  • Can I fulfil this contract?
  • Are there any turnover requirements?
  • Do I have the specified qualifications and accreditations?

If you can answer yes to all of the above, then you should proceed onto the PQQ or SQ stage.

  1. PQQ

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or a selection questionnaire (SQ) are used to establish the minimum eligibility criteria of a business. You may be asked to submit evidence of past contracts your business has carried out, or your businesses financial standing.

  1. ITT

An ITT stands for an invitation to tender. This is the next step of the tendering process if your company is shortlisted from the PQQ or SQ stage. An ITT is a formal document that’s issued by the buyer outlining the scope of the project. This invites a business to submit a formal tender for work.

An ITT is different from a PQQ or SQ because it outlines how you will commit to the project delivery. It often includes quality questions. They’ll ask how you carry out certain processes, what equipment you use, or what policies you have in place.

An ITT is often evaluated using the MEAT.

  1. MEAT

The most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) method means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. They are putting a certain percentage on price but are also looking at the quality of your response, too. A combined score from these two weightings will establish a final score. The organisation with the best overall score is then awarded the contract.

  1. Social Value

You want to ensure when applying for opportunities in the public sector that you have thought about social value. There is now a mandatory 10% weighting on social value within a quality response. In some cases, it can hold a weight of up to 30%. You should take into consideration the social, economic and environmental aspects of the contract.

The buyer wants to know the commitments you’re making and ones you can keep. This new social value model came into use within the UK in January 2021. Perhaps you use eco-friendly products and are passionate about waste reduction.

Within your response, you could note:

  • How your organisation supports COVID-19 recovery.
  • The environmental considerations you have in place.
  • What equal opportunities you’ve implemented.
  • How you’re creating new jobs and developing new skills within the local community.
  • That you pay all employees the UK Living Wage.

  1. Provide Evidence

Up to three case studies may be required when submitting a tender response. It’s standard across public sector tendering for the buyer to ask for at least three past contracts of work. The case studies typically need to have been completed within the last five years.

It’s best to match your case studies to work of a similar scope that you have carried out. Testimonials from happy clients are always a plus. This demonstrates to the buyer that you are able to carry out the contract.

You need to make sure your cases studies are:

  • Detailed
  • Thorough
  • Well-developed
  • Showcase your company’s abilities.
  • Back up what you’re saying with evidence.

For example, imagine there is a contract that is looking to procure cleaning services of a primary school in Cheshire. You could include case studies of cleaning services you’ve carried out in a primary school of a similar location. Or, you could showcase the work you have carried out in other educational institutions.

  1. Relate to the specification

It is vital that you showcase your understanding of the specification in your response. Your response should demonstrate that you can provide the service that the buyer is looking for. The tender documentation for cleaning contracts will often include a specification of the exact requirements for the cleaning task needed. It’s imperative that you reference this in your method statement. This proves that you are aware of the buyer’s requirements and you are capable of delivering them.

For example, a buyer requires a certain room cleaning within an office using a specific piece of equipment. Make sure you replicate this scenario in your response. If you ignore it, you imply that you haven’t read the documentation properly. This will be greatly off-putting to buyers.

  1. Framework agreements

If you’re new to tendering, a framework agreement may be a good place to start. They can help you build up experience if you don’t already have it.

Frameworks are multi-supplier agreements, meaning there are often more places available. They typically run over longer terms ranging from 2 – 10 years. If you secure a place on a public sector framework, it can be a very lucrative opportunity for your business. This is because it is a guaranteed form of income, which can bring you peace of mind.

As you cannot buy cleaning contracts, applying for a framework agreement is a great opportunity that’s not to be missed. Buyers release a framework opportunity and then places are awarded to the best suppliers. Goods and services on frameworks are often divided into ‘Lots’. This means your business doesn’t have to fulfil the whole contract – only the chosen section.

You may find it useful to contact your local council to request to be considered for framework agreements. You should ask if they have any open as a subcontractor. This will allow you to build your company’s experience and is a great place to start if you’re an SME.  

  1. Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS)

DPS’ are similar to framework agreements in that there are multiple suppliers on one system. They can run for years at a time and your business is able to join at any point while it’s open.

  1. Bid Writing Services

If you still need help with writing a cleaning contract response – we can help. Here at Hudson, we are experts in Bid Writing. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have an 87% success rate and over 40-years bidding experience across multiple industries.

We offer four Bid Writing services to help you secure your next contract:

  1. The Tender Ready programme
  2. A Tender Improvement package
  3. Tender Mentor service
  4. Tender Writing

So, instead of wondering if you can buy cleaning contracts, you now know how to apply through the tendering process.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your cleaning business grow.

A Beginner’s Guide to Securing Cemetery Contracts

Posted on by John Hudson

Answers to your frequently asked questions about cemetery contracts

You might not think it, but cemetery contracts can be lucrative opportunities for a groundwork or construction business. Councils and the government are in constant need of cemetery maintenance, resulting in opportunities for cemetery contracts.

Cemetery contracts might cover a broad range of sub-sectors. These could include:

  • Landscaping services
  • Maintenance of graveyards
  • Restoration and renovation work
  • Grave digging
  • Civil engineering
  • Cemetery expansion
  • Fixing of memorial headstones

If you’re new to cemetery contracts, you might be wondering about the process. This blog will aim to answer some of your frequently asked questions.

What’s the difference between an open and closed tender?

The majority of cemetery contracts are open tenders. If a tender is open, it often means that it’s open to all qualified and interested bidders. If there is an open cemetery tender, then anyone can submit a response to the invitation to tender (ITT).

A closed tender is not open to everyone. Only specific parties will be invited to submit a final bid response. A closed tender gives buyers greater confidence that their requirements will be met. A closed tender may be an ITT that’s only accessible to those who have passed the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage. Closed tenders are more likely to be put out for contracts that have specialist or complex requirements.

What does an ITT involve?

An ITT is a formal document that is issued by a buyer that’s looking to procure works, goods, or services. It outlines the scope of the work that’s needed for the project. An ITT invites the potential supplier to submit a formal tender for work. It should outline how your organisation will deliver the project if successful and other things such as:

  • Your organisation’s general information
  • Insurance
  • Financial standing
  • Risk assessments
  • Method statements
  • Technical capacity
  • Health & safety procedures
  • Environmental and equality statements
  • Subcontractors

How are tenders for cemetery contracts evaluated?

An ITT is usually evaluated on two things: quality and price. The weightings for these can vary and you would need to adjust your response accordingly. Weightings can range from 50 – 50 to 80% quality and 20% price depending on the buyer’s needs.

It’s worth noting that for all central government contracts, there is now a mandatory 10% weighting on social value. Social value is included within your quality response and should take into account the social, environmental and economic aspects. For example:

  • The equal opportunity policies you implement.
  • How your organisation supports COVID-19 recovery.
  • Environmental considerations such as reducing and recycling waste.
  • How you are creating new skills or jobs to the local community.

The award criteria for cemetery contracts can vary. Some may be awarded to the lowest price, others to the most economically advantageous tender.

What is MEAT?

Often public sector tenders will award the contract to the MEAT. It’s worth noting, however, that the MEAT does not mean the cheapest bid wins. The MEAT allows the buyer to award the contract based on various aspects of the tender submission. These can include, but are not limited to:

  • Customer service
  • Innovation
  • Accessibility
  • Technical ability
  • Quality
  • Environmental benefits

Each of these aspects can be looked at by the procurer in a mix with other considerations, or independently.

What is my company’s economic and financial standing?

You may be asked for your company’s economical and financial standing when writing your tender response. Buyers need this information to see if your business can afford to fulfil the contract. If you’re wondering what that means, it is usually comprised of three things:

  1. Annual turnover – You may need to attach your most recent audited accounts.
  2. Financial ratios – You can find these in your account. They may include the ratio of your assets to liabilities. For example, acid tests and quick ratios.
  3. Insurance – You will need to attach your insurance documents.

How can I work out if my turnover is good enough to apply for cemetery contracts?

While searching for the cemetery contract that’s right for your business, you might be wondering if your turnover is high enough. If the turnover threshold isn’t stated in the specification, don’t panic, there’s an easy way to estimate your eligibility. Generally, you should not tender for contracts with a value that is more than half your annual turnover.

For example, if you annually turn over £200k, we advise bidding for tenders with a maximum budget of £100k. This is because it’s generally ill-advised to bid for work that’s more than half your annual turnover. This is because they might not be able to deliver the contract’s requirements. For example, working across different geographical areas or they might not possess the number of staff required.

Do I need any specific accreditations and qualifications?

Specific qualification and accreditations that are needed should be mentioned in the specification. They vary from industry to industry, it depends on the works, goods or services that are being procured. Some of the basic qualifications and accreditations that are generally needed are:

  • ISO 9001; 14001; 18001; 27000
  • CHAS
  • RICS
  • RIDDOR
  • Constructionline

How long can cemetery contracts run for?

If your business secures a cemetery contract, it could place it in good stead for years. Some even offer the possibility of extension if the buyer is satisfied with your performance.

Contracts could be offered via framework agreements or Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). These are a type of tendering contract. Tenders often focus on a single supplier delivering the service or goods. Frameworks aim to establish a multi-supplier agreement. These agreements often run over longer-terms – usually between 2 – 10 years.

Buyers release a framework opportunity and award places to the best suppliers. Goods and services that are on frameworks or DPSs are often divided into Lots. So, instead of delivering the whole contract, you only deliver your specific ‘lot’ or section.

Where can I find cemetery contracts?

Searching for cemetery contracts can take a large chunk out of your day. Especially when new opportunities are uploaded every day on multiple portals across the UK.

What makes the Facilities Tenders portal different?

We don’t rely on CPV codes. CPV codes can often be unreliable and mislabelled leading to missed opportunities if relying on them alone. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search through thousands of sources every day to bring you the most relevant contracts.

We then upload them to once, central, easy-to-navigate portal. You need not search for hours every day to find the perfect cemetery contracts for your business. You can search for opportunities and filter via keyword, budget or industry and more. We also uniquely offer account management and industry-specific portals that you don’t get anywhere else. Our portal is fully streamlined, allowing you time to focus on running your business.

Here are some past examples of cemetery contracts that were sourced on our Facilities Tenders portal:

Countesthorpe Cemetery – Re-instatement of Laid Down Memorials

Countesthorpe Parish Council- East Midlands- Budget: £26,000

28-01-2021

Oakwood Cemetery Paths

Maidstone Borough Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

12-11-2020

Glasnevin Cemetery Museum New Installation

Dublin Cemeteries Committee Glasnevin Trust- International- Budget: Undisclosed

01-12-2020

Highgate Cemetery Architectural Projects Competition – Stage 1

Highgate Cemetery- London- Budget: Undisclosed

20-01-2021

Highgate Cemetery Landscape Competition – Stage 1

Highgate Cemetery- London- Budget: Undisclosed

13-01-2021

Leek Old Cemetery – Boundary Wall Repair

High Peak BC & Staffordshire Moorlands DC- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

14-01-2021

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

What does a subscription to Facilities Tenders portal include? 

  • A free, 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert consultants will answer any questions or queries you may have about the tendering process. This could be about a certain requirement needed for cemetery contracts or any other question about the general process.
  • A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll answer any questions you may have about the portal or tendering.
  • Unlimited portal access. You can browse the Facilities Tenders portal to your heart’s content 24-hours a day if you wish. See the opportunities posted daily. They’re intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
  • A daily email bulletin sent directly to your inbox. When you sign up, you can choose the specific areas in which you would like to tender. Then, a daily bulletin is created with all the relevant opportunities that have been posted that day. This makes things even easier, saving you more time so you can focus on the important things.

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

How can I write winning tenders for cemetery contracts?

If you’re at a loss about how to write tenders for cemetery contracts – we can help!

Bid writing services

Our Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed have over 50 years of experience across multiple industries and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing packages that cater to all your tendering needs. These are:

  1. Tender Mentor

Our Bid Writers will look at a cemetery tender you’ve already written as part of the Tender Mentor service. They will notify you of any errors before you submit and provide you with some feedback.

  1. Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect cemetery tender for your business, but are unsure of where to start? Tender Writing can help. If you send it over to them, they can take care of everything for you. They’ll even submit it on your behalf!

  1. Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement programme is for those who are tendering but aren’t seeing winning results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous cemetery tender responses and supporting documents. They’ll then provide you with guidance and recommendations on how to improve.

  1. Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who have never tendered before. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant to answer any questions that you may have. You’ll also get a year’s subscription to our Facilities Tenders portal.

Get in touch with one of our team today to find out how we can help your business grow!

The Ultimate Guide to Lift Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

How to succeed when writing lift tenders

Lift tenders are published in both the public and private sectors. The lift installations and maintenance industry is a competitive one. Lift tendering opportunities can range in scale from universities, apartment complexes to shopping centres.

The lift industry can have many lucrative opportunities. A recent example is that of an HS2 lift and escalator contract last year (2020). Five bidders were invited to tender for the design, delivery and maintenance of almost 300 lifts and escalators. The work is to be carried out in four major new stations. The lift contract was worth up to £267 million and the winners placed onto a framework.

What type of lift services are buyers looking to procure?

Examples of the type of lift tenders that are put out are for the procurement of lift:

  • Repair
  • Maintenance
  • Servicing
  • Installation

You may have already been tendering or might be completely new to the process. Either way, there are some things you need to consider in order to succeed when writing lift tenders.

Case Studies

Having a bank of reliable past examples of contracts, you’ve fulfilled is key. A buyer may require 2 – 3 past case studies from previous work your company has carried out. You will likely be asked to provide works contracts examples from within the last three to five years. Your examples may need to include the following details:

  • A description of the goods, service or works delivered.
  • Contract value and dates.
  • Previous customer details.
  • Methodology and timescale.
  • Approach to the project.
  • Details of where you have been able to demonstrate added value through the adoption of innovative solutions. 

Applicable British Standard and Qualifications 

When completing an ITT for lift tenders, the buyer will likely require you to state any applicable accreditations and qualifications. This, understandably, is because they want to be reassured that you’re adequately qualified for the job and have enough experience. Some examples of relevant British Standard qualifications, accreditations and policies you may need are:

  • BS EN 13015:2001 + A1:2008 – Maintenance for lifts and escalators – rules for maintenance.
  • BS 5656-1:2013 – Safety rules for the Construction and Installation of Escalators and Passenger Conveyors.
  • BS EN8120 – requirements relating to general access and safety.
  • BS EN8128 – requirements for installing, testing and designing alarm and communication systems.
  • BS EN8150 – requirements for test and examination of certain lift components.
  • BS EN8158 – requirements for door and car fire resistance.
  • BS EN8170 – requirements access for people with disabilities.
  • BS EN8173 – requirements for the behaviour of lifts in the event of fire.
  • SAFed Lift Guidelines
  • ISO 9001
  • CHAS
  • RIDDOR

Buyers will want to be confident that the work you’re providing is to the highest health and safety standards. Specific health and safety questions could ask how you handle risk and keep up to date with the new guidance. You need to convey that everything you do regarding health and safety is aligned with best practice.

Economic and financial standing

Your economic financial standing is typically assessed at the PQQ stage. It’s one of two ways the contractor assesses the suitability of the supplier. The other is via the technical and professional capability of your business.  Your economic financial standing is assessed on three factors:

  1. Annual turnover

For this, you usually need to attach your most recent audited accounts.

  1. Financial ratios

Your financial ratios are usually found in your accounts. They may include the ratio of your assets to liabilities for example, quick ratios and acid tests.

  1. Insurance

You usually need to attach your insurance documents.

When looking through multiple lift tenders, you may be wondering if your turnover is good enough. If the turnover threshold isn’t stated within the specification there’s a way you can easily calculate it yourself. Generally, it’s unadvised to bid for work that is more than half your annual turnover. For example, if you turn over £150k, we advise bidding for tenders with a maximum budget of £75k.

Assess your competition

As with any tender, you need to consider your competition. You need to persuade the buyer that you’re the best company for the job. What will you do that your competitors won’t? Do you have a unique selling point? Do you use any innovative solutions or have a particular environmental or sustainability edge?

When assessing your competition, it’s hard not to compare price. You need to remember not to undercut yourself when pricing your services. The cheapest bid doesn’t always win – especially in the public sector where the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) wins.

The MEAT allows the buyer to award the contract based on aspects other than just price. These can include:

  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Quality
  • Technical Ability
  • Environmental benefits
  • Customer Service
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Proposed design 

Make life easier for the buyer and keep your response concise

Buyers may have hundreds of lift tenders to go through depending on the size of the procurement. You’ll want to get into their good books, and you can do this by making their life easier. When writing your response, be clear and concise and clearly highlight your conformance with the specification. For example:

  • Use headings and subheadings that breakdown the question.
  • Don’t allow the buyer to make any assumptions. If you leave room for assumptions, they could make the wrong assumptions losing you valuable marks. Carefully explain your approach to the work at hand.
  • Don’t use filler or fluffy words. Why use three or four words when you can just as well use one. For example, instead of saying “Here at Lift Company Ltd” say “we”.
  • Try and get to as close to the word or page count as possible. It’s there for a reason. If a buyer thinks the answer deserves a 500-word response, don’t just write two sentences.

Where can I find lift tenders?

Good question. Lift tenders are uploaded by hundreds of buyers to many different portals across the UK. Live tenders are uploaded to multiple portals day by day. So, searching for the right opportunity for your business can turn into a full-time job!

Usually, tenders are uploaded and tagged with a CPV code. These tend to be unreliable and you could end up missing out the perfect opportunity for your business. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search for the latest public and private sector opportunities. They then upload them to our Facilities Tenders portal where you can filter the results. You can find a tender that suits your needs by keyword, budget, location and more.

Here are some past examples of lift tenders we have sourced: 

Rivers House, Bridgwater – Passenger Lifts

Environment Agency- South West- Budget: £70,000

05-01-2021

Refurbishment of a Bed Passenger Lift

Health Service Executive (HSE)- International- Budget: Undisclosed

18-09-2020

Riverside House – Passenger Lifts

LGSS- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

17-08-2020

Full Replacement of Single Drive Passenger Lift

Salvation Army Housing Association- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

02-10-2020

Contract for the Provision of Servicing and Maintenance of Lifts and Hoists

Cheshire East Borough Council- North West- Budget: £500,000

30-12-2020

Hopefully, this guide to lift tenders has given you some food for thought. But, if you’re still struggling with what to write for your next lift maintenance bid, we can help. We offer four bid writing services to help you succeed with you next bid.

Bid writing services

Our Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed have an 87% success rate and over 50 years of bidding experience. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or want to improve your current bid, they can support you. Our services include: 

  1. Tender Mentor

Our Bid Writers will take a look at a lift tender response you’ve already written. They’ll then provide you with some feedback and notify you of any errors before you submit.

  1. Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect lift tender, but don’t know where to start with your response? You can send it over to one of our Bid Writers and they’ll handle it all for you. They’ll even submit it on your behalf! This allows you time to focus on running your business. They will provide you with a full tender writing breakdown and let you know if they need anything from you.

  1. Tender Improvement

Our Tender Improvement package can help if you’re submitting lift tenders but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous tendering responses and supporting documents.  They’ll then provide you with guidance and recommendations on how you can improve.

  1. Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who are completely new to the tendering process. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant and a 12-month subscription to our Facilities Tenders portal.

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We’ll send you daily alerts when new tenders are released. You’ll have 24-hour access to our portal, and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

Waste Management Tenders: The Updated Waste Management Plan for England

Posted on by John Hudson

A breakdown of the government’s updated waste management plan and what it means for waste management tenders

As we produce waste in almost every aspect of our lives, there is a constant stream waste management tenders. Waste management includes the storage, collection, transportation and disposal of all forms of waste. Waste management also includes the monitoring and regulation of waste. Such tenders are published by both the public and private sectors.

The UK government has released their updated Waste Management Plan for England (WMPE) for 2021. It’s updated every six years and it reflects the UK’s 2050 net-zero emission ambition and other sustainability goals. This includes the government’s target to recycle 65% of municipal waste, limiting landfill of municipal waste to 10% by 2035.

Waste management tenders have become increasingly competitive with everyone in the industry hoping to get a slice of the action. This has already seen an increase in commercial waste removal, disposal and recycling waste management tenders.

What areas of waste do waste management tenders cover?

Below are just a few examples of waste management subsections that might be put out to tender:

  • Food waste
  • Clinical waste
  • Recycling
  • Waste removal and clearance
  • Technology waste
  • Waste management, support and disposal
  • Wastewater treatment plant construction and equipment works and services
  • Underground waste containers
  • Hazardous waste
  • Scrap waste
  • Chemical waste
  • Residual waste treatment infrastructure solutions

Buyers are ultimately looking for you to meet their bespoke needs while contributing to their overall waste requirements. They want to know how you’ll meet their requirements while maximising innovation, adding value and maximising compliance. You also need to demonstrate how you will keep cost and disruption to a minimum.

What does the updated Waste Management Plan for England include?

The updated WMPE has a primary focus on sustainability, green solutions and the environment. It aims to bring current waste management policies under the umbrella of one national plan.

The new initiatives hope to achieve waste reduction targets helping deal with the ever-increasing amount of waste. They hope through doing this, that it sets a vision to move to a more circular economy.

The Resources and Waste Strategy

The Resources and Waste Strategy aims to preserve material resources by minimising waste and promoting resource efficiency. It hopes to minimise the damage caused to the natural environment. The government hopes to do this by tackling waste crime and reducing and managing waste safely and carefully.

The Resources and Waste Strategy identifies five strategic ambitions in line with the 25 Year Environment Plan. These are:

  1. To work towards all plastic packaging on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
  2. Work towards eliminating food waste to landfill by 2030.
  3. To eliminate avoidable plastic waste over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan.
  4. To double resource productivity by 2050.
  5. To eliminate avoidable waste of all kinds by 2050.

When applying for government waste management tenders, it may be worth thinking about some innovative waste treatment technologies. The government encourages those waste management treatments that:

  • Have efficient waste recovery from residual waste.
  • Have environmental benefits.
  • Reduce carbon impacts.
  • Provide economic opportunities.
  • Have innovative technologies that improve the environmental outcome for the treatment of residual waste.

For example, how you use technologies that could then create transport fuels through the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation.

The Resources and Waste Strategy will unlock the increased investment needed in the infrastructure to support delivery on green solutions. Moreover, they will help support the finance and delivery of those policies and ambitions. This is another thing to consider when writing your waste management tenders. Green, sustainable solutions that reduce waste are what they are looking for.

Waste Management Plan

The Waste Management Plan, known as “the Plan” will fulfil the requirements of the Waste Regulations 20114. It has a focus on waste prevention through policies that support activities that:

  • Reuse
  • Repair
  • Recycle
  • Remanufacture

Waste Hierarchy

  1. Prevention

Prevention within the waste hierarchy means the use of less material in design and manufacturing. It has an emphasis on keeping products for longer, reusing them and using less hazardous materials.

  1. Preparing for reuse

This involves checking, cleaning, repairing, refurbishing whole items or spare parts.

  1. Recycling

Turning waste into a new substance or product. This includes anaerobic digestion and composting.

  1. Other recovery

Other recovery includes material from waste and some landfilling. It also includes co-incineration plants and incineration plants (including gasification and pyrolysis) that have R1 status.

  1. Disposal

Disposal includes landfill and incineration plants (including gasification and pyrolysis) that don’t have R1 status.

Green Finance Strategy

The government’s Green Finance Strategy has been published in accordance with their 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. These combined, set a clear framework for how investment will be increased. They have a focus on key clean growth and environmental sectors.

3 things to remember when writing your government waste management tenders:

  1. Environmental considerations and benefits

If this hasn’t already been made clear, with all waste management tenders, you must consider the environmental impact. All successful waste management tenders will deliver environmental benefits.

For example, if writing a housing waste management tender, in nearly all cases, successful bids proposed delivery enhanced recycling services. You would want to include how you will make it easier for residents to recycle.

  1. Qualifications and Accreditations

Qualifications and accreditations are an important aspect when writing your tender response. The buyer will want to know that you’re qualified to carry out the contract. Some examples of relevant qualifications, accreditations and policies that may be needed are:

  • ISO 9001; 14001; 18001; 27000
  • RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations)
  • CHAS (Contractor Health & Safety Assessment)
  • EMS (Environmental Management Systems)

  1. The Specification

This may sound obvious, but you must read the specification. You need to understand exactly what the buyer requires and clearly state how you supply it. You must demonstrate how you meet, exceed and improve their goals and expectations. Do you offer anything your competitors don’t? You want to convince the contractor that you are the best business for the job.

Pay attention to the word or page count. They are there for a reason. If the question is asking for a 500-word response, you will likely need to go into detail. A couple of sentences just won’t suffice. Write clearly and concisely and don’t allow the buyer to make any assumptions. 

Where can I find waste management tenders?

So, you now know what to include and consider when writing your government waste management tenders. You may be wondering where to find such tendering opportunities. You likely don’t have the time to search through thousands of websites every day.

Enter – our Facilities Tenders portal.

Facilities Tenders is an opportunity tracking platform where we source all tenders from across the UK. We then manually upload them to one convenient place saving you countless hours.

Unlike other portals that use CPV codes, we use manual tracking. CPV codes can be unreliable, thus leaving room for missed opportunities. On our portal, you can filter all live tenders by using keywords, location, budget and more. This takes the headache out of searching for waste management tenders, leaving you time to focus on the important things.

A subscription with Facilities Tenders offers your business:

  • A team of Opportunity Trackers that source waste management tenders from 1000s of sites daily.
  • Access to all public and private sector opportunities across the UK.
  • A dedicated Account Manager to answer any queries or questions you may have.
  • A 20-minute free consultancy call every month with one of our bid experts.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • A daily email bulletin sent directly to your inbox of all the live tenders posted that day. This saves you even more time to focus on running your business.

Here are some past examples of waste management tenders we have recently sourced:

2042 – Provision of Waste Management Services

An Post- Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

25-01-2021

Framework Agreement for General Waste Management Services

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Police- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £5,500,000

22-01-2021

General Waste Management Services

Yorkshire and Humber Police Procurement (Y&HPP)- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

22-01-2021

Waste Management and Waste Recycling Services

7 Forces Procurement- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

25-01-2021

Single Party Framework Agreement for the Provision of Waste Management Services to HRI Racecourses

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI)- Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

30-12-2020

Join Facilities Tenders

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

Bid Writing Support

Here at Hudson, we have over 40 years bid writing experience across a variety of industries. Once you’ve found the right waste management tender for your business, we can help you with your bid response.

Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate and are happy to support you with your waste management tender. Whether this is your first time to tendering or you simply need someone to take a look at your response. We have four packages to suit your needs:

Contact our team today to find out how we can help your business grow.

Window Cleaning Tenders: Everything You Need to Consider

Posted on by John Hudson

7 tips to help you succeed with window cleaning Tenders

Window cleaning tenders can cover a range of services across a variety of industrial, commercial and residential buildings. If you’ve never applied for window cleaning contracts before, it can seem daunting. The procurement world can be confusing, but hopefully, this blog will help if you’re new to the whole process.

Why should you tender for window cleaning tenders?

If you’re a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), there are several benefits you can take from tendering. These include:

  • Gain experience.
  • Guaranteed pay when tendering in the public sector.
  • Sustainability from securing a pipeline of work.

There are a number of different tendering opportunities and it can be confusing to know the difference between them.

Public sector tendering  

The public sector is probably the largest procurer of window cleaners. Examples of public organisations who commission window cleaning tenders are councils, educational institutions and other public-owned organisations like the NHS.

Private sector tendering

There are some private companies that also tender for window cleaning tenders. These companies often have multiple sites that require window cleaning services such as hotels, offices or restaurants.

DPS and framework agreements

Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) and framework agreements are both tendering opportunities often used within the public sector.

A DPS is ultimately a supply chain list. Tenders are published to specific members who have been successful in maintaining a position on the list. Any organisation or group could put out a DPS to outsource work in one or more service areas. These are known as ‘Lots’ often relating to a specific region or service. The buyer can then refer to their set-list of applicants as opposed to going over hundreds of applicants each time. Applying for a DPS is flexible and you can join any time it’s open.

A framework agreement typically asks for multiple suppliers to deliver goods or services across various locations. They also use ‘Lots’ allowing businesses to work alongside other service providers in the contract. The contracts can last for several years and can be lucrative if you can secure a place on one. They’re effective ways to build up experience and places your organisation in good stead for future contracts.

Before you begin applying to window cleaning tenders you need to ask yourself: can you deliver? There’s no point wasting time and money on applying for an opportunity that you can’t fulfil. Read the specification carefully beforehand and double check you meet the minimum criteria before beginning. If you can, then that’s great! Below are seven tips to help you succeed when applying for window cleaning contracts.

7 things to consider when applying for window cleaning tenders:

  1. Health & Safety and Equal Opportunity 

When applying for window cleaning tenders, you’ll need to state your health and safety policies are up to scratch. Accidents can happen and the buyer will just want to ensure that you have taken suitable health and safety measures. These include:

  • CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme)
  • RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations)

You’ll also need to state how your business implements equal opportunities and non-collusion. You will most likely be asked if you comply with the UK/EU Equalities and Discrimination legislation of the:

  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Equality Act 2010

  1. Pricing

Window cleaning tenders have been known to have a greater weighting on pricing than quality. You’ll want to make sure to price your services competitively. Although this isn’t always the case, it depends on whether you are applying for a public or private contract. It’s important to note that the lowest prices don’t always win the contract.

For public sector contracts, it’s worth noting that the buyer is often looking for the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This means the buyer is looking at more than just the price. The buyer could be looking for innovation, customer service, accessibility or the ability to deliver on time and more. Each aspect can be looked at by the client separately or as a mix with other considerations.

  1. Qualifications and accreditations

When applying for window cleaning tenders, you will be asked about the relevant qualifications and accreditations your business has. Relevance is key here and the buyer will want to know you are qualified for the job at hand. You may be asked if you implement certain policies or are members of any federations or institutions. Below are a few examples of qualifications and accreditations relevant for window cleaning tenders:

  • Member of the International Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) or International Powered Access Federation (IPAF)
  • ISO 9001; 14001
  • Safe Contractor
  • British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICS)
  • ISOQAR
  • British Window Cleaning Academy (BWCA)

  1. Safe working

Buyers want to be reassured that you have safe working plans in place, in case something were to go wrong. Some window cleaning tenders may ask for well-written risk assessments, method statements and proof of adequate insurance. You may be working from considerable heights if cleaning high-rise buildings. If this is required, you may need to state how you will minimise the risk of working from a height. 

  1. Resources to be used

You will typically need to disclose what resources you are going to use while delivering the window cleaning contract. For example, the proposed equipment and cleaning solutions you will be using. You may need to detail any safety considerations when handling cleaning fluids.

  1. Delivery of service 

For the delivery of service, a business will need to state how they plan to deliver the service to the buyer. For example, the details of the staff working on the contract and your proposed operating hours.

You may want to consider the location of the contract when you are applying. For example, say a contract is based in Stoke but you’re based in Bournemouth. The buyer will want to know you’ll be able to fulfil the contract obligations in a timely manner.

Detail is key and you want to be as close to the word count as possible. There’s a reason they have included a word count. You don’t want the buyer to assume anything, so being clear and concise is paramount.

What quality controls do you have in place when delivering the contract? 

  1. Social value 

Social value now has a minimum weighting of 10% for government contracts as of the 1st of January 2021. In some contracts it could be considerably more. This means you will need to consider how your organisation increases the social value when carrying out a contract. This can include social, economic and environmental considerations such as:

  • COVID-19 recovery.
  • Environmental management – details of cleaning materials and chemicals you will use and how these are the most environmentally friendly option.
  • How you would add workforce and skill based development to the local area – for example, through apprenticeships or workplace training.

Environmental awareness is increasingly important and it’s worth really thinking about your businesses’ impact. Buyers in the public sector will want you to demonstrate you are committed to a sustainable future. The best responses will include how this commitment will coincide with the buyer’s own environmental goals.

Below are some examples of window cleaning tenders we recently sourced on our portal:

BCHC-20-0015 Trust Wide Window Cleaning

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust- West Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

04-01-2021

Close & Window Cleaning 2021-24

Ochil View Housing Association- Scotland- Budget: £100,000

22-01-2021

Hafod Window Cleaning Services

Hafod Housing Association- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

04-12-2020

Provision of Cleaning, Window Cleaning and Pest Control at UK Astronomy Technology Centre

UK Shared Business Services Limited – South West- Budget: £340,000

18-01-2021

Window Cleaning

Phoenix Community Housing- London- Budget: £8,000

18-12-2020

Need help writing window cleaning tenders?

So, you’ve found the right window cleaning contract for you but you’re not sure where to start – we can help!

Our tendering experts at Hudson Succeed can help take your business to new heights! They offer four bespoke bid writing services whether you’re completely new to tendering, or you aren’t seeing any success. They have an 87% success rate and over 40 year’s bid writing experience. The four services are:

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We know you’re busy! Our goal is to save you both money and time by manually searching for new business opportunities for you. We’ll send you daily alerts when new window cleaning tenders are released. You’ll have 24-hour access to our portal, and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

A subscription to our Facilities Tenders portal includes:

  • 20-minutes of free consultancy every month with our bid experts.
  • A dedicated Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about the tendering process.
  • A team of Opportunity Trackers sourcing public, private and unique window cleaning tenders from 1000s of sites.
  • No reliance on algorithms or unreliable CPV codes. Our team manually upload each tender. This makes sure you have access to all public and private window cleaning tenders.
  • The ability to filter bid opportunities easily via keyword, budget, location and more!
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed – our bid writing division.

How to Succeed in Writing Grounds Maintenance Contracts

Posted on by John Hudson

Everything you need to know to win grounds maintenance contracts

Grounds maintenance contracts are a great way to secure a long-term pipeline of work. Grounds maintenance is a service that is often regularly outsourced by both private and public organisations. This generally means there is a constant stream of contract opportunities.

Grounds maintenance contracts are often commissioned for both labour and grounds maintenance equipment. Contracts could include lawn care, hedge trimming, weed control and more. No two businesses will have the same needs. It’s vital that when writing your grounds maintenance contracts, you customise your response to the needs of the buyer.

Opportunities for SME’s

If you’re an SME who’s new to the tendering world, it can be tricky to know where to even begin. You might be wondering if there’s any point in applying for contracts when there are larger businesses out there. You shouldn’t be disheartened by this.

The UK government has implemented a scheme to award more work to SMEs. They have a target to see at least £1 in £3 being spent with SMEs. This means that public sector organisations are actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses. This is great news, and it can be a lucrative opportunity if you’re able to secure a contract. Some grounds maintenance contracts last for several years at a time with the possibility of extension.

Below are some helpful tips on the types of things that are required for grounds maintenance contracts.

  1. Health and Safety

Health and safety are important aspects to consider within any tender. Buyers want to be confident that the work on their site is to the highest health and safety standards. You, no doubt, want to minimise the risk to your employees and the general public when working.

You may be asked what risk assessment practices and health and safety measures you have in place. These could be via:

  • CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme)
  • RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations)

  1. Method statements

A method statement is a critical part of all grounds maintenance contracts. This is used to detail the way a task is to be completed. It should outline the hazards involved and include a step-by-step guide on how to do the job safely. Your statement should detail what controlled measures have been implemented to ensure the safety of all involved in the task. It must state how employees carry out work in a safe manner to prevent injury to themselves or others.

You will need to include a full list of machinery and equipment to be used within the contract. For example:

  • Hedge cutters
  • Lawn mowers
  • Leaf blowers
  • Fork
  • Blowers
  • Ladders.

Method statements may include how your organisation handles:

  • First aid
  • Manual handling
  • Material handling
  • Preparation and induction
  • Staff and training
  • Tools and electrical equipment
  • Welfare
  • Noise
  • Vibration
  • PPE.

Method statements allow you to detail how thorough your business is. It allows you the opportunity to prove why you are the best for the job. You need to demonstrate how you are better than your competitors when carrying out each task.

  1. Qualifications and accreditations

Your businesses’ qualifications and accreditations are highly relevant. You need to be able to demonstrate that you are qualified to undertake grounds maintenance contracts. Below are some of the general and industry specific qualifications and accreditations you may need:

  • ISO 9001; 14001; 18001
  • CHAS
  • BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) accreditation
  • RHS (Royal Horticulture Society) training
  • IoG (Institute of Groundsmanship)
  • Constructionline
  • SSIP.

  1. Case Studies

There’s a great deal of healthy competition when applying for grounds maintenance contracts. Due to this, your level of experience and business capabilities matter. You don’t want to waste resources and time on tenders that your organisation has no chance of winning.

Generally speaking, you will always be required to provide up to three case studies of relevant completed contracts. If you can show a proven track record of projects of a similar stature, it’s a better indicator of capability. You should keep it relevant and include past work that is similar in scale, or geographical location.

You should include past case studies over the last five years, no later. When detailing previous case studies, it would also be a good idea to state any challenges you overcame. This enables you to demonstrate that you have taken the initiative to predict potential challenges and planned ahead.

  1. Social Value

Social value is ever important. UK government contracts now carry a compulsory 10% minimum weighting on social value. On some contracts, social value can be weighted up to 30% within the quality response. Contractors want to know what steps your organisation is taking to think beyond your own internal objectives. Public sector organisations want you to demonstrate that you’re committed to a sustainable future. Businesses will be impressed if your responses align with their own social value goals.

Social value in tender responses will be assessed on:

  • How your organisation supports COVID-19 recovery.
  • The equal opportunity policies you implement within your business.
  • How you are creating new jobs, skills to tackle economic inequality. You could do this via apprenticeships or workplace training, for example.
  • The environmental considerations you are taking to reduce waste and tackle climate change.

As grounds maintenance is based within the natural environment, you will need to demonstrate you have robust environmental awareness. This could include your commitment to using environmentally friendly consumables or strict waste management procedures for example. Can you provide evidence to support these claims? You could try to calculate the specific environmental impacts of your service for the buyer. For example, how much less waste will go to landfill than your potential competitors?

Ultimately, your business should be committed to reducing any negative environmental impact. This could be done via:

  • Reducing consumption
  • Increasing recycling
  • Reconsidering how you manage activities
  • Encouraging biodiversity.

  1. Innovation

Contractors are looking for suppliers to deliver a better service to both themselves and their customers. Most grounds maintenance contracts will include questions for suppliers to demonstrate innovative solutions to everyday problems. They want to know what improvements you can deliver over the contract term. You will want to show supporting evidence of how your innovative methods have been used to save previous clients’ money. You could also state how such innovative solutions have delivered better quality.

Such increased interest in innovation and sustainability coincides with the increase of interest in social value. For example, some businesses have invested in battery powered equipment over petrol/diesel machinery in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.

Landscaping contracts 

If you’re bidding on grounds maintenance contracts, you may specialise in landscaping. You may be wondering how to bid on landscaping jobs, and you aren’t alone. Bidding on landscaping jobs can have advantages and enable you to secure a pipeline of work for your business.

Buyers may release tenders for landscaping services that cover a range of work such as:

  • Grounds maintenance
  • Grass cutting
  • Trimming hedges
  • Weed removal
  • Tree trimming
  • Debris removal
  • Tree stump removal.

If you’ve never tendered before, you may be confused about where to begin. Procurement methods can vary, and different buyers will ask for different things depending on their needs.

It is likely that to bid on landscaping jobs, you will need to detail the same information above. This includes your business’:

  • Health and safety policies and procedures
  • Method statements
  • Relevant qualifications and accreditations
  • Social value responses

Below are some more things that you can expect to see when you bid on landscaping jobs:

Site visits

When you bid on landscaping jobs, you may have the opportunity to conduct a site visit. Depending on the buyer and the site, they may be optional or compulsory. However, it will be detailed within the tender documents. Site visits can be greatly beneficial to your bid response. They’re a great opportunity to go and see the proposed working environment for yourself.

It’s strongly advised that if there’s an option to conduct a site visit, that you participate. They allow you to gain an insight into the buyer, accessing information you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. It may even result in you being able to price your services more accurately.

Framework agreements

One thing that you can expect when you bid on landscaping jobs is that it is part of a wider framework agreement.

A framework agreement is a multi-supplier agreement used by the public sector to procure a range of goods and services. They are frequently used within the grounds maintenance sector. The length of a framework can vary from a few months, but landscaping frameworks more often run for years. Due to this, securing a place on a framework agreement can be a lucrative opportunity for your business.

Framework agreements are split into different lots. Each lot can either be a specific good, service, work or geographical location. They allow suppliers to apply to be part of a wider contract without needing to supply all areas. The number of suppliers for each lot varies and can be anything from four suppliers for one lot to ten. Suppliers need only apply for the specific lot[s] they specialise in.

Depending on the buyer, suppliers may be able to bid on any or all of the framework lots available. This will be stated within the tender documents and tender specification released by the buyer. If this is an option, a supplier must be able to demonstrate that they’re able to undertake all works. They must have the appropriate capacity and resources to undertake the works across all selected respective lots.

A higher weighting on price

When you bid on landscaping jobs, it’s not unexpected for the price to be weighted more than quality. However, that doesn’t mean a buyer doesn’t care about the quality of your response. In fact, it means quite the opposite. You should always put your all into your quality response when you bid on landscaping jobs.

Remember:

Hit as close to the word/page/character count as possible

It’s there for a reason. If a buyer is expecting a 1,000-word response, simply writing 200 words won’t suffice. The same applies to writing a 1,500-word response. Follow the instructions given.

Avoid overly technical jargon

A lot of the time, a buyer isn’t an expert in your area, hence why they’re outsourcing for a solution. They won’t necessarily understand what you’re talking about. So, using laymen’s terms is the way forward.

Be detailed in your response

The devil is in the detail. Buyers are often expecting you to break down your answer and have detailed responses. The best tender responses will include a step-by-step response if they’re asking how you do a certain process. The more in-depth the better (within the word/page/character count).

Break up the text format

If a question is asking three things within it, break it up. Make the main points subheadings. This will help both you and the evaluator to signpost you have answered every aspect of the question. Put yourself in the evaluator’s shoes. If you’re confronted with pages of block text you aren’t going to favour it over one that’s broken up. Using bullet points, subheadings, tables and graphs can help.

Stick to the guidelines

Make sure you’re adhering to the formatting guidelines within the specification. Contracting authorities can be very strict with this. To avoid being rejected over a small matter, read the specification carefully. Before you submit, make sure you have the correct font, size of the font and anything else they note.

If you follow this advice, you’ll be well on your way to securing your next landscaping job. If you need any support writing your next bid for landscaping jobs – we can help.

Bid Writing Support

Are you new to tendering? Do you struggle to see success from your tendering efforts? If you answered yes to either of the above questions, then you may be interested in our bid writing service.

Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate. They have over 60 years of experience and are more than happy to help you with your grounds maintenance contacts. Whether you’re a first-time tenderer, or simply need advice on improving your success rate – we can help. We offer four bid writing packages:

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready programme takes place over 4-weeks. It’s perfect for those who are completely new to the tendering process. Our Bid Writers will help you with your corporate literature and identifying opportunities.

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package is for businesses that aren’t seeing success from their tendering applications. Our Bid Writers will assess a tender you’ve written and work with you to improve the content.

Tender Writing

Simply send the tender specification to our Bid Writers. They’ll write the responses and even submit it on your behalf leaving you time to focus on your business.

Tender Mentor

Our Bid Writing Team will analyse your grounds maintenance contract. Through Tender Mentor, they’ll then give you guidance and feedback noting any errors before you submit.

Where can I find grounds maintenance contracts?

So, you’ve taken all of the above into consideration. Now is the perfect time to start searching for grounds maintenance contracts. We get that you’re busy. You don’t want to be searching through thousands of different websites to find a suitable opportunity. That’s where we come in!

Our goal is to save you both time and money. We do this by manually searching for new business opportunities for you. We then publish them all on our sector-specific Facilities Tenders portal.

You can search for new opportunities via keyword, location or budget. This means you don’t have to rely on incorrectly labelled CPV codes. This allows you to access all private and public grounds maintenance contracts easily.

We’ll even send you daily alerts when new grounds maintenance contracts are released. You’ll have 24-hour access to the portal and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

Below are some past examples of ground maintenance contracts and landscaping jobs we’ve sourced on our portal:

GB-Consett: Landscaping and Grounds Maintenance

Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association- North East- Budget: £500,000

06-01-2021

Grounds Maintenance Service

NHS Golden Jubilee- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

22-01-2021

Leaseholder Grounds Maintenance

Accent Housing- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

19-01-2021

Pickering & Ferens Homes – Grounds Maintenance

Pickering & Ferens Homes- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

18-01-2021

Grass Cutting and Landscape Maintenance Contract

Hjaltland Housing Association Ltd- Scotland- Budget: £105,000

15-01-2021

Adam & Eve Hard Landscaping

University of Winchester- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

Barcud – Landscaping 2021-2022

Barcud Cyf- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

Land West of Woodhouse Lane, Hedge End: Construction of Natural Turf Sports Pitches, Footways and Landscaping

Eastleigh Borough Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

Landscaping Project Phase 1 at St Peter’s Garden

Chalfont St Peter Parish Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

Landscaping Services – Lot 3 Argyll and the Islands

Highlands and Islands Enterprise- Scotland- Budget: £101,250

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We also track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

The Fundamentals of Waste Disposal Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Everything you need to know when applying for waste disposal tenders

Waste disposal tenders can cover a range of services across a variety of homes, businesses, buildings and public facilities. They are often noted as waste collection, disposal and recycling service contracts. The cleaning sector, in general, is vast and waste disposal tenders could be needed in areas such as:

  • Private and domestic
  • Commercial
  • Industrial
  • Corporate
  • Local Government
  • Education
  • Hospitality

Almost every aspect of life has an output of waste in some way. It is paramount that the disposal of this waste is done in the most environmentally conscious way as possible. Waste disposal tenders are abundant due to the necessity of the job.

There are significant subsections that waste disposal tenders could cover, such as:

  • Hazardous waste
  • Landfill waste
  • Inert waste
  • Scrap waste
  • Builders waste
  • Green waste
  • Recyclable waste
  • Laboratory waste
  • Chemical waste
  • Hospital Waste
  • Food Waste
  • Incineration
  • Biological reprocessing waste

The UK has a significant waste disposal issue and it’s taking its toll on the climate. The UK government estimates that over 26 million tonnes of waste is generated in the UK per year. Only 12 million tonnes of that are recycled and 14 million tonnes are sent to landfill. Because of this, the government has set multiple goals to try and address the UK’s waste production and disposal problems.

They hope to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035, with no more than 10% ending up in landfill. Moreover, they have a commitment of working towards eliminating all food waste to landfill by 2030. They hope this will tackle the problem of landfill emissions head on.

The basics of waste disposal tenders

Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)

The procurement process can be tricky to navigate if you’re new to it. Processes can vary from tender to tender. A PQQ covers the status of your organisation. Typically, when waste disposal tenders are released, a business will need to complete a PQQ.

The PQQ will often ask for your company’s:

  • Information

Here, you will be asked to include general information about your company including:

  • Business name
  • Registered address
  • Contact information
  • Insurance details

  • Economic and financial standing

Buyers will want to assess your organisations financial standing at the preliminary stages of tendering. You will have to provide your organisation’s financial information. This is to make sure that your business can afford to fulfil the contract at hand. Buyers usually assess your economic and financial standing by asking for your:

  1. Annual turnover
  2. Financial ratios
  3. Insurance

  • Technical Capacity

Within the technical capacity section, you may be asked about your:

  1. Annual staffing and number of managerial staff.
  2. Educational and vocational qualifications of managerial staff.
  3. Tools and technical equipment that you’ll use for the project.
  4. Case studies.

  • Case studies

The PQQ will ask for your businesses’ technical capacity and you will need to include relevant case studies. These will need to demonstrate your experience on previous jobs of a similar spec. You may be asked for up to three past examples that your organisation has completed within the last five years.

Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Once your organisation has completed the PQQ, and it has been accepted, you will then be sent an ITT. This is a formal document issued by the buyer which outlines the scope of the project. It invites the supplier to submit a formal tender for the work.

It should outline how you will commit to the project delivery and often includes quality questions. These questions will ask how you carry out certain processes relating to the project at hand.

The weighting of the tender can range from 70% quality and 30% price or 80% quality and 20% price. If you are submitting a waste disposal tender for central government contracts, there is a mandatory 10% on social value. The social value is included within the quality response.

Social Value

When evaluating tender responses for government contracts, departments will use the new model to score potential suppliers. This scoring will focus on the wider, positive impact businesses will provide when delivering the contract. Organisations will be assessed on:

  • How your organisation supports COVID-19 recovery.
  • The environmental considerations your organisation takes to help fight climate change and reduce waste.
  • How you are creating new jobs or skills to tackle economic equality.
  • The equal opportunity policies you implement within your business.

If you’re still unsure about how to proceed with your waste disposal tenders – we can help!

Our team at sister company, Hudson Succeed, are experts in bid writing and have an 87% success rate. They have over 40 years of experience across multiple industries. They offer four bid writing packages catering to your every tendering need. These are:

  1. Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who are completely new to the tendering process. We have a three-stage process that can help you prepare for the process. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant and a 12-month subscription to our Facilities Tenders portal.

  1. Tender Improvement

Have you been submitting your own waste disposal tenders but haven’t been seeing results? Our Tender Improvement package is for you. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous tendering responses and supporting documents. They will then provide you with recommendations and guidance on how to improve.

  1. Tender Writing

Have you come across a waste disposal tender you want to go for, but don’t know where to start? Why not send it to one of our Bid Writers? They can do everything for you, and even submit it on your behalf! They’ll provide you with a full tender writing breakdown which will let you know if they need anything from you.

  1. Tender Mentor

Our Bid Writers will take a look over a waste disposal tender you have already written as part of Tender Mentor. They will provide you with feedback, guidance and notify you of any errors before you submit.

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We know you’re busy! Our goal is to save you both time and money by manually searching for new business opportunities for you. We’ll send you daily alerts when new tenders are released. You’ll have 24-hour access to our portal, and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

We track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

The Difference Between Public and Private Security Bids

Posted on by John Hudson

Three Myths Surrounding Private Security Bids

Public and private security bids are often used when companies are looking to outsource security services. They are after the expertise and experience that a dedicated security company provides. This ultimately saves them money and training costs from directly employing security personnel. Both public and private security bids can increase your business prospects, helping you to further develop a security service business.

What’s the difference between public and private sector procurement?

Public Procurement

Public procurement is conducted by not-for-profit (NFPs) organisations, also known as the public sector. It’s often affiliated with the government both local and central.

Private Procurement

Private procurement is completed within for-profit organisations (FPs). This happens within privately-owned companies who are looking to outsource their needs. This is known as the private sector.

Budget

The budgets of private and public procurements are often the biggest difference between them. Public procurement that’s driven by governments tend to have a lot less flexibility on how they spend their money. The private sector has a lot more flexibility within budgeting.

Due to this, it’s easier to procure goods and services based upon their price and competitiveness. As there is an underlying focus on procuring to increase top-line value, there’s a need for wiggle-room. At the end of the day, the private sector wants to make a profit. This means they tend to favour the most economically advantageous tenders (MEATs). The public sector also prefers MEATs. However, the private sector can choose a supplier without the regulations that the public sector is bound by.

For any private security bids, guards will need a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. You need to have an SIA licence relevant to the nature of the job in hand. For example, key holding, manned guarding or door supervision. The organisation will need to be registered with the SIA as well. The SIA is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK. They report to the Home Secretary under the Private Security Industry Act of 2001.

SIA licencing covers the following activities:

  • Manned Guarding
  • Key Holding
  • Vehicle Immobilising

The SIA doesn’t currently licence the following activities, although the Private Security Industry Act 2001 allows for:

  • Security Consultants
  • Precognition Agents
  • Private Investigation Activities

Tendering for work in the private sector

Several myths are surrounding private and public sector tendering. If you’re a small and medium enterprise (SME), these myths might put you off the tendering process. We hope we can straighten some of these out.

Myth 1 – “You have to be on the inside to get access to private sector opportunities”

It can be easy to understand why some people might think this. There can be fewer opportunities within the private sector, and they can be even harder to find. This is particularly relatable when talking about private security bids.

Luckily, our talented team at Facilities Tenders are skilled at finding both public and private sector tendering opportunities. They then upload them onto our portal, so you don’t have to trawl through thousands of sites.

Myth 2 – “There are no rules or governing principles for the private tender process”

You might think that when comparing it to public procurement. Luckily, this isn’t actually the case. Although significantly less strict than public procurement, which has strict rules and regulations, there’s still important legal principles that apply. Particularly when turning over a specific amount.

Myth 3 – “Private sector tenders don’t use structured tender processes”

This isn’t strictly true. Like public procurement, private tenders can use basic ITT formats, RFTs, RFPs or similar. However, there’s one big difference. Even if the contract is worth more than the EU threshold, you’re not lawfully required to fill out a PQQ. You may be asked to fill out a simplified form concerning your basic company information. But it’s highly unlikely to be as detailed as the requirements for public procurement.

The disadvantages of private procurement

Despite these myths, there can be some disadvantages to private procurement. The private sector is not bound by the same rules and regulations that the public sector is. As mentioned above, they can choose a supplier without having to implement a fair process such as PQQs.

There is another disadvantage of private procurement that’s worth thinking about if going for private security bids. This is a matter of payment. There aren’t as many regulations around payment as the public sector, like the prompt payment code.

These points are worth thinking about when going for a private security bid. There are obvious advantages when going for public security bids instead, such as more opportunities. However, if you’re concerned about how to complete a private security bid, don’t worry. It could be a fairly simple process. But if you have any qualms, we can help.

Here at Hudson, we have over 40 years’ experience across a variety of industries and an 87% success rate. Our Bid Writing Team can help you! Whether this is your first-time tendering, or if you simply need someone to take a look at your bid response. We have four packages to suit your needs:

Join Facilities Tenders

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK.

We know you’re busy! Our goal is to save you both time and money by manually searching for new business opportunities for you. We’ll send you daily alerts when new tenders are released. You’ll have 24-hour access to our portal, and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

We track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

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

A subscription with Facilities Tenders can offer you:

  • A team of opportunity trackers sourcing public and private security bids from 1000s of sites.
  • A dedicated account manager on-hand to answer any questions or queries you may have about the process.
  • No reliance on CPV codes or algorithms. Our team manually upload each tender, making sure that you have access to all public and private security bids.
  • The ability to filter bid opportunities by keyword, budget, location and more.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy every month with our bid experts.

Janitorial Cleaning Bids: 7 Things to Consider

Posted on by John Hudson

7 Tips for Winning Janitorial Cleaning Bids

Janitorial cleaning bids can cover a range of services across a range of buildings, homes, and public facilities. At Facilities Tenders we source tenders for public and private sector janitorial work, including:

  • Government and public service bids, i.e. cleaning public sector care homes.
  • Commercial bids, i.e. cleaning museums.
  • Outdoor bids, i.e. gutter cleaning.
  • Transport bids, i.e. bus washing services.
  • Education bids, i.e. school cleaning.
  • Energy and utility bids, i.e. supplying gas and power.
  • Construction bids, i.e. deep cleaning of a company’s units/vans.
  • Industrial bids, i.e. cleaning power station facilities.

See a service your company provides? Great. If not, this is just a small selection of available opportunities for cleaning services – we source hundreds! Book a free live demo to view which live tenders are currently available near you.

Why should you tender for janitorial cleaning work?

Tendering isn’t just for large companies – solo service providers and small to medium enterprise (SMEs) can benefit too! Our bid writing division, Hudson Succeed, have worked closely with a range of cleaning businesses to win janitorial cleaning bids. There’s potential for huge business growth through tendering, and there are always contracts out there to bid for. The Opportunity Trackers at our tender tracking branch, Facilities Tenders, source new public sector janitorial opportunities every day!

Here are 7 things to consider before – and during – a janitorial cleaning bid!

  1. Research the industry.

What are the implications for the cleaning industry after a year like 2020? Firstly – cleaning service providers deserve national praise for the exceptionally important role they’ve played throughout the pandemic in 2020! Many cleaning and hygiene key workers have been on the frontline, fighting the virus, throughout the year. In 2020, cleanliness is more crucial than ever. Delia Cannings, representative of the Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) said:

Cleaning operatives in the healthcare sector played a key role during the pandemic and have done an incredible job. Many have gone above and beyond, working longer hours, taking on extra responsibilities and adopting new standards and practices to prevent COVID-19 contamination.

Has demand changed in the industry?

There’s no doubt it’s been a trying time for the industry. Service providers have been forced to react and adapt. Lauren Kyle, representing the Business Services Association (BSA), discussed the shift in demand for cleaning bids in the cleaning industry:

Our members operate in a wide range of sectors, some of which – such as sports and leisure, transport, and retail – have seen a downturn, while others – such as schools, and hospitals – have seen heightened demand for cleaning and disinfection. 

In light of shifting trends, can your cleaning service adapt to meet new demands? For instance, can you seek experience in a healthcare setting to strengthen your case studies when tendering for in-demand services? Are you qualified to provide janitorial cleaning work in schools?

Using a sector-specific tendering portal which allows for keyword filtering will help you find relevant work, quickly and easily. We’ve seen a surge in public sector work on our Facilities Tender portal recently. There is always a steady stream of janitorial cleaning opportunities, particularly for schools and healthcare. Get in touch for more information on our portal and start finding live tenders available near you!

  1. Prepare your documentation.

Janitorial cleaning bids can be tricky. There are some things you should consider in advance to make sure you’re not wasting your time. Ensure your company is prepared to tender. For instance, a few areas of documentation worth considering before you even begin tendering are:

  • Accreditations.

Do you have the relevant accreditations for janitorial cleaning bids? Tender specifications will often require that your company has a specific set of accreditations. There are also government requirements you must comply with for trading, including relevant insurance. You should prepare your company for tendering by ensuring you comply with all the requirements for your sector. This may include:

    • A detailed health and safety manual
    • Public liability insurance
    • Professional indemnity insurance
    • Employers’ liability insurance.

  • Turnover.

Is your turnover good enough for the job? Buyers may set a turnover threshold in the specification to ensure your company is capable of taking on a job. This is particularly likely for large contracts. As a general rule, we never advise bidding for a contract that is more than half your annual turnover. For example, if you turn over £100k, we advise bidding for tenders with a maximum budget of £50k.

  • You may need to attach your most recent audited/unaudited accounts as proof of turnover. This is usually required early on in the process of a tender, i.e. the PQQor SQ. It should therefore be made clear whether your company’s turnover meets the threshold early on. This is always worth double-checking before going any further and wasting time with a tender.

  • Corporate literature.

Does your business have the relevant corporate literature, ready to submit in a tender response? Is it well-designed and easy to read?

At Hudson, we can fully prepare you for tendering. We’ll create high-quality and company-branded content for you through our Tender Ready service. We’ll first create a checklist to determine what is needed to succeed with any janitorial cleaning bids. Then, we’ll work in collaboration with your team to produce detailed, precise, and concise documents, ready to tender!

  1. Showcase your past experience.

Another area you should ensure you’re prepared for when tendering for janitorial cleaning bids is demonstrable past experience. Do you have past experience in similar jobs that will prove you’re the best candidate? Are you certain this experience is relevant? How many previous contract examples does the specification request? Make sure you fit the bill here.

If you do have the credentials, you’ll need to provide evidence to back-up each claim. This will often be done through case studies. Our free Tender VLE masterclass walks you through how to set out your case studies effectively in a tender response.

Usually, it can be expected that you’ll to be asked to provide at least three relevant case studies. This applies to each service you provide. Make sure you describe and evaluate your experience in a way that that demonstrates why you’re the most qualified provider. Keep the information as relevant and fitted to the bid as you can! There’s no room for any irrelevant information on a past job, even if the overall experience itself is relevant. Every word counts!

  1. Consider the scope of work – fully!

The scope of work is an important element of any bid. Janitorial cleaning bids, especially, have a lot of elements to consider. You will need to consider every aspect of the job to accurately generate a price and timescale. You should read and digest the full tender specification and supporting documents before you begin your tender response. To ensure the job is worth tendering for, you must be confident you’re the best service provider for the job!

Read carefully. You don’t want to miss an important element of the tender that disqualifies you. Neither should you ignore any aspects of the tender that may be out of reach for your services.

For example, the buyer might require cleaning services for 100+ schools across multiple counties. Are you certain you have the workforce and resources to deliver a job of this scope? And if so, do you have the experience to back this up and prove yourself on paper? Always be realistic and responsible in your tender responses. Only bid for work you know you have a solid chance of winning.

Some things you may need to query for a janitorial cleaning bid, for instance, include:

  • What equipment and supplies are required?
  • The number of staff members required to complete the work.
  • How large is the facility in square feet?
  • How many separate rooms require cleaning?
  • What kind of flooring is in each room?

Ask for as much information as possible on the building or facilities which are to be cleaned. Is something not specified in the tender, such as floor type? If you feel this would be helpful in judging the scope of work, ask for clarification!

  1. Visit the site, whenever possible.

Can you arrange a site visit with the buyer where you can visit the facility and assess it first-hand? If so – great! You’ll be in a much better bidding position. Site visits can be a very useful tool while tendering for janitorial cleaning bids.

As we’ve just mentioned, the more information you have before bidding, the better. Physically seeing the floor types, for instance, gives you a clearer view of the scope of the work. There’s only so much you can envisage from the black and white words of a tender specification. In a site visit, you can physically assess all parts of the building(s) where the job will take place. In doing so, you may want to consider:

  • Size of the rooms
  • Fixtures
  • Surface materials
  • Item counts, i.e. How many dining tables? How many toilet facilities?

A first-hand assessment of the site allows you to create a much more meaningful proposal. You can note the difficulty levels of different areas and better prepare for how the job will unfold, for instance. This helps you to finetune your timescale and workforce, to be as accurate as possible.

Remember to follow all necessary safety precautions during site visits, such as wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.

  1. Price your bid accurately.

At its heart, the tendering process is designed to help buyers find the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). While the process offers suppliers a fair chance of winning, your pricing will always be compared to your competitors. Pricing is always an important aspect of a bid.

Check the weighting of how your bid will be evaluated in the award criteria of the tender specification. The bulk of the weighting will often be split between cost and quality. For example, janitorial cleaning may be assessed by 60% price and 40% quality, or vice versa. Some bids may even be based 100% on price.

Regardless of its weighting, you should always calculate your price accurately and competitively.

Consider the direct costs of the work (i.e. wages, supplies, equipment) and quote a price that allows you to make a profit. There are two don’ts to remember here:

  • Don’t overcharge to boost your profits, or you’ll end up wasting time on a tender that you’ll inevitably lose. The tendering process can be very time-consuming. Always aim for the lowest price you can, whilst still making a profit.
  • Don’t undercharge either. Slashing your prices dramatically may seem like a good way to become the MEAT, if you’re bidding for experience. However, this will likely scupper your chances. If your price is dramatically lower than the other bidders (who have all quoted similar prices), this will look odd. Buyers will become suspicious of particularly low prices and assume foul play, or incurred costs later down the line.

  1. Ensure your writing is precise, concise and high quality.

There’s a lot to consider in janitorial cleaning bids. However, you should never skimp on the quality of the writing and presentation of a bid. The proof is in the prose! A well-written, precise and easy to read proposal can be essential to the success of a bid.

Don’t worry if you don’t have natural writing prowess. Our bid writers at Hudson Succeed can provide you with a range of tender support. Our experts have an 87% success rate and are experienced with janitorial cleaning bids. Through our Tender Writing service, our Bid Writers will:

  • Write your tender response;
  • Answer any clarification questions you may have;
  • Advise on supporting documents and attach them;
  • Submit the final bid on your behalf.

One cleaning service provider we saw success with is APM Cleaning. We worked closely with them to secure work on multiple lots on a framework agreement. They provided the following feedback on our services:

The Hudson Team were very reactive in their ways of working and handled all communications very effectively and efficiently. This partnership is credit to the recent win for the Prosper DPS for Facilities Management, which we were successful on all LOTs applied. We would recommend Hudson to any company who require bid support of any kind!  

– Samantha Reid, Director, APM Cleaning.

Our bid writers also produce successful bids across a range of sectors, helping clients see results such as:

  • Securing £200million over a 5year period
  • Increasing the organisation’s turnover by 20% from one bid submission
  • Securing 4-years of sustainable income
  • Winning a contract for £350k on their first bid
  • A guaranteed £6million of income, over four years.

Find more results on our testimonials page. Call or email us for a free quote.

Conclusion.

Tendering for janitorial cleaning bids is an excellent way to grow your business. The best way to see success is to ensure you are well-prepared and well-supported for the tendering process! We offer a range of support to carry you through, from finding the tender to becoming the successful bidder.

Join Facilities Tenders.

At Facilities Tenders, we source sector-specific tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK. We know you’re busy! Our goal is to save you both time and money by manually searching for new business opportunities for you. We’ll send you daily alerts when tenders are released for services in your sector. You’ll have 24-hour access to our portal, and a dedicated Account Manager on hand to help.

We track opportunities for the following sub-sectors:

Below are some previous janitorial cleaning tenders sourced on our portal:

Cleaning & Janitorial Services 2020

ITSLIGO- International- Budget: Undisclosed

06-03-2020

Cleaning and Janitorial Materials and Washroom Services

National Procurement Service (Welsh Government)- Wales- Budget: £12,000,000

22-01-2020

Cleaning and Janitorial Supplies

North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium Limited- North West- Budget: £12,000,000

20-12-2019

GB-Leicester: COVID 19 Related PPE and Janitorial

University of Leicester- East Midlands- Budget: £100,000

31-07-2020

Provision of Cleaning and Janitorial Services at the British High Commission Islamabad & British Deputy High Commissions at Karachi and Lahore

Foreign & Commonwealth Office- London- Budget: Undisclosed

13-07-2020

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