Frequently Asked Questions

A tender is a formal, competitive process an organisation uses to buy goods or services. The buyer publishes its requirements and how bids will be scored, suppliers submit written bids by a deadline, and the contract goes to the bid that offers the best combination of quality, price and, often, social value.

Public bodies such as councils, NHS organisations and government departments usually have to tender contracts above certain values. Private companies run tenders too, often called requests for proposal (RFPs).

Bid writing focuses on the written responses to the tender questions. Bid management covers the whole process around them: qualifying the opportunity, planning, coordinating contributors and evidence, compliance checks, reviews and submission. We provide either service, or both together.

The Procurement Act 2023 is the law that has governed most public procurement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 24 February 2025, replacing the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. For bidders, the main changes are:

• one registration on the Central Digital Platform, where you keep your core company details up to date;
• a shorter Procurement Specific Questionnaire for each tender in place of the old Selection Questionnaire;
• contracts awarded to the most advantageous tender, with an assessment summary for every bidder;
• more notices published across the life of a contract, and stronger rules for excluding suppliers.

Procurements that started before 24 February 2025 can still follow the old rules, and healthcare services arranged by NHS bodies in England follow the separate Provider Selection Regime.

Most UK public sector opportunities are advertised on Find a Tender, the government's Central Digital Platform for notices under the Procurement Act 2023. Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements that started under the previous rules. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also run national portals: Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI.

The tender documents themselves usually sit on the buyer's own e-tendering portal, and many contracts are awarded through frameworks and dynamic markets. Our opportunity identification service searches these sources for contracts that suit you.

We work across three areas:

• Bid & Proposal Management: tender and bid writing, opportunity identification and expert review of your drafts.
• Compliance & Virtual Assistance: CQC registration, policy management, Carbon Reduction Plans, data entry and management, and care plans.
• Digital Presence: website development, social media management, email marketing, and SEO and analytics.

You can use a single service or combine them, for example a Carbon Reduction Plan and a refreshed website alongside a tender.

Yes. We explain each tender document, help you register on the relevant portals, gather the policies and evidence buyers usually ask for, and guide you through your first submission step by step.

Yes. We support public sector tenders, framework applications and private sector proposals and requests for proposal (RFPs).

We start by learning what makes your organisation different: your track record, your people, your quality systems and the results you achieve for clients. Then we map those strengths to the buyer's specification and scoring criteria, so every answer shows how you meet a stated requirement, backed by evidence such as case examples, data and accreditations.

Your website isn't usually scored as part of a tender, but buyers can look at it when they research suppliers, check a submission or carry out due diligence. Out-of-date services, missing policies or contact details that don't match your bid can raise questions.

A clear, current website that is consistent with your tender helps your submission be read the way you intend.

Yes. You can choose a single service, such as a new website or social media management, or combine several so that your website, social media, email and search work together. We recommend where to start based on your goals and what you already have.

It depends on the number of pages, the features you need and how quickly the content is ready. We agree a timeline with you at the start. Content is often the step that takes longest, so we help you prepare it early.

A redesign doesn't have to cost you your search visibility if the move is planned properly. Before launch, we map every old web address to its new one and set up permanent (301) redirects, keep the content that already performs well and check that search engines can crawl the new site. After launch, we monitor Google Search Console to catch any problems early.

Yes. After launch, we can provide ongoing support and maintenance, including security updates, backups, content changes and checks that the site stays fast and accessible. We agree the level of support that suits you before the project starts.

For most businesses that sell to other organisations, LinkedIn matters most, because it is where buyers, commissioners and business owners are active professionally. Facebook and Instagram can work well for recruitment and local audiences, which suits many care, cleaning and security businesses.

It is usually better to keep one or two platforms active and consistent than to spread your effort across many.

Yes. We agree a content calendar with you in advance, and you approve posts before they go live. We also agree how comments and messages are handled, and pass enquiries and anything sensitive straight to you.

It depends on who you are emailing. Under PECR, you can send marketing emails to employees of limited companies, LLPs and other corporate bodies without prior consent, provided each email identifies your business and offers a simple way to opt out.

Sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals, so you need their consent or a valid soft opt-in. The UK GDPR applies in both cases, because a named work email address is still personal data.

We don't recommend it, and we don't send to purchased or scraped lists. For individuals, a bought list can't meet the soft opt-in, and consent given to unnamed third parties is not valid. Most email platforms also ban bought lists in their terms, and sending to them damages your domain's reputation.

We help you build your own list from clients, enquiries and website sign-ups instead.

Common causes are a domain without SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, sending to old or unengaged addresses, a missing unsubscribe link and content that looks like spam. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft expect authenticated email from businesses that send in volume. We check your set-up and your lists and fix what is holding your emails back.

SEO builds over time. Technical fixes and better page titles can show an effect within weeks, while improvements from new content and local search usually take several months. We agree realistic goals with you at the start and report on progress every month, so you can see what is changing.

No, and you should be cautious of anyone who does. Google decides rankings using many factors that no agency controls, and its own guidance warns against SEO providers that guarantee rankings. We focus on the improvements that make your website more useful and easier to find, and we report honestly on the results.

Usually, yes. Under PECR, analytics cookies need consent unless they meet the narrower exception introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 for statistics used only to improve your own website, with clear information and a simple way to object. Whether your set-up qualifies depends on how the tool is configured and how the provider uses the data, so we check this before choosing an approach.

Our compliance and virtual assistance work is done remotely, through shared documents, phone and video calls and secure file transfer. This keeps our support flexible and lets us fit around your team's working day.

At the start, we agree with you how we will access information and systems, in line with your data protection procedures.

Both. Some clients ask us for a single policy, a Carbon Reduction Plan for a particular tender or a one-off records project. Others prefer ongoing support, with documents reviewed on a schedule and regular administrative tasks handled for them. We agree the scope with you before any work starts.

In most cases, yes. Most providers of regulated activities in England must have a registered manager, who applies to CQC as part of the registration process. There are some exceptions, for example where an individual provider manages the regulated activity themselves.

We can help your registered manager understand their responsibilities and prepare for their part of the process.

It depends on CQC's workload, the type of service and how complete your application is when you submit it. We cannot control CQC's timescales, but a complete, consistent application with well-prepared supporting documents helps avoid unnecessary questions and delays.

We recommend starting early, before you commit to start dates for staff or contracts.

A statement of purpose is a document every CQC-registered provider must have. It describes your aims and objectives, the regulated activities you carry out, the people you support and the locations you provide services from. You submit it with your registration application, keep it up to date and tell CQC when it changes.

It depends on the contract, but buyers commonly ask for policies such as health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion, data protection, safeguarding, business continuity, environmental management and quality assurance. Larger organisations may also need a modern slavery statement.

We check the tender documents with you and make sure the policies you submit are current, relevant and consistent with your written responses.

A common approach is to review each policy at least once a year, and straight away when legislation, guidance or the way your organisation works changes. Some contracts and regulators expect more frequent reviews of particular policies. We set a review date for every policy and can carry out the reviews for you.

Under Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 006, central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies ask for a Carbon Reduction Plan when they procure contracts expected to be worth more than £5 million a year. NHS organisations have their own requirements under the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, and other public and private buyers increasingly ask for a plan or a net zero commitment too.

If you are not sure whether a tender requires one, we can check the procurement documents with you.

A plan prepared to the PPN 006 standard reports Scope 1 emissions (from sources you own or control, such as company vehicles and gas boilers), Scope 2 emissions (from the electricity and heat you buy) and five categories of Scope 3 emissions: upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and downstream transportation and distribution.

Yes. Under PPN 006 the plan must be signed off by a director or equivalent, approved by your board, published on your UK website with a clear link from the home page, and reviewed and updated every year. If you do not have a website, you must provide a copy when asked.

We work within your own systems wherever possible, with access limited to what each task needs, and we follow your data protection procedures. Before we start, we agree how information will be shared and stored, and where we handle personal data on your behalf we put a written data processing agreement in place, as UK GDPR requires.

We can work with the tools you already use, such as spreadsheets, shared drives and online business systems including CRM, HR and care management platforms, provided you can give us secure access. If your records are on paper, we can digitise them into a format that suits you.

Your service is. We write and review care plans from the assessments, records and information your team provides, and the people you support, or their representatives, should always be involved in agreeing their plan. Care and clinical decisions remain with your registered manager and qualified professionals.

Care plans should be reviewed regularly, at the interval set in your own policy, and whenever a person's needs, health or circumstances change, for example after a fall, a hospital stay or a change in medicines. Commissioners may also set review requirements in their contracts.

Every tender is different, so we quote per project. Our pricing depends on the scope and complexity of the tender, the number of questions, the research and preparation needed, the deadline and any extra services you ask for. Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote.

The earlier the better. Ideally, contact us as soon as the tender is published so there is time for analysis, evidence gathering and review. We can sometimes support shorter deadlines depending on the scope, so get in touch as soon as possible.

We take confidentiality and data security seriously. Access to your documents is limited to the people working on your bid, and we use secure methods to share files.

Yes. We can help you answer clarification questions from the buyer, prepare for any presentation or negotiation stage, and review the feedback you receive, so the lessons carry into your next bid.

No one can honestly guarantee a contract award: the decision rests with the buyer and depends on price, competition and the service you offer. We make sure your submission is compliant, well evidenced and written to score as strongly as possible.

We read every enquiry as it arrives and reply personally, by phone or email, as soon as we can. Messages sent outside office hours are picked up on the next working day.

If your tender deadline is close, call us on +44 7466 063564 so we can prioritise your request.

We support businesses bidding in seven sectors: healthcare and social care, transport, cleaning, education and training, security, facilities management and building maintenance. See the sectors we work in for the contracts we help with in each.

If your sector is not listed, get in touch: the principles of a strong bid are the same, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.

Yes. We help new health and social care providers in England prepare to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We guide you through the process, help you prepare the documents CQC asks for, review your application forms before you submit them and support you with compliance afterwards. The registration decision rests with CQC.

See CQC registration for how it works.

It depends on the tender. Most care contracts require you to be registered with the CQC for the regulated activities involved, and some frameworks also ask for a rating of Good or Outstanding. Others accept newly registered providers that have not yet been rated.

We check the selection criteria with you before you commit time to a bid, and our opportunity identification service looks for contracts you are eligible for.

The Provider Selection Regime (PSR) is the set of rules NHS bodies and local authorities in England have used since 1 January 2024 to arrange healthcare services, such as community health and public health services. It replaced the previous competition rules for these services and allows contracts to be awarded through direct award processes, a most suitable provider process or a competitive process.

Social care contracts commissioned by local authorities are usually procured under the Procurement Act 2023 instead.

Many councils buy home-to-school and SEND transport through a dynamic purchasing system or, for procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, a dynamic market. Operators join once and then bid for individual routes as they are released.

Each route or lot is usually priced and scored separately, often with questions on safeguarding, vehicles and contingency. Joining early and keeping your documents up to date means you are ready when new routes come up.

For central government contracts worth more than £5 million a year, PPN 006 makes a Carbon Reduction Plan a condition of taking part. Many other public buyers, including NHS organisations and councils, also ask about emissions, fleet plans and net zero commitments.

A plan that measures your emissions and sets out realistic reduction steps helps you answer both. See our Carbon Reduction Plan service.

TUPE, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, usually applies when a cleaning contract changes hands. Staff working on the current contract normally transfer to the new contractor on their existing terms and conditions.

The tender documents often include anonymised information about those employees, which you need to reflect in your pricing, staffing plan and mobilisation response.

In England, NHS healthcare settings follow the National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025, published by NHS England. They set out how cleaning is risk-rated, audited and reported, including the display of star ratings.

Healthcare cleaning tenders usually ask how your methods, training and audits will meet them, and we help you answer with evidence from your own service.

Much adult skills funding is devolved to mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority, with the Department for Education funding provision elsewhere. Councils, colleges, employers and employability programmes also buy training, and schools and academy trusts tender for education support services.

Each buyer has its own priorities, so we read the local skills plans and the specification before we start writing.

Not always. Many tenders ask for your most recent inspection outcome where you have one, and some set a minimum standard for taking part. Newer providers can often still bid by showing their quality assurance, staff expertise and readiness for inspection. We check the selection criteria with you before you start.

Not always. Every officer carrying out licensable work needs an individual SIA licence, but the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) is voluntary for companies. Some buyers make ACS status a requirement or award extra marks for it; others accept equivalent evidence of your standards. We check the selection criteria with you before you start.

BS 7858 is the British Standard code of practice for screening people employed in a security environment. It covers checks on identity, right to work, employment history and criminal records. Many security tenders ask you to confirm that your officers are screened to BS 7858:2019 and to explain how you do it.

Hard FM covers the building fabric and its systems, such as mechanical and electrical maintenance, fire systems, plumbing and heating. Soft FM covers services for the people who use the building, such as cleaning, security, catering, reception and waste. Integrated FM contracts bring both together under one provider, and tenders often split them into lots.

A strong plan sets out a timeline from contract award to service start, with named leads, TUPE consultation and staff onboarding, asset and site surveys, helpdesk and CAFM set-up, subcontractor arrangements, health and safety documents and how you will report progress to the client. Buyers want realistic timescales and to see the risks you have planned for.

Awaab's Law requires social landlords in England to investigate and fix certain hazards within fixed timescales. Its first phase, covering emergency hazards and significant damp and mould, took effect on 27 October 2025, with more hazards added in later phases.

Landlords now expect repairs contractors to show how they will meet these timescales, record their work and keep residents informed.

It depends on the work. Gas work must be carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers, and electrical work is usually expected to be done under a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. Many buyers also ask for a health and safety assessment through a scheme such as CHAS or SafeContractor, or for Constructionline membership. We help you check the requirements before you bid and present the accreditations you hold.