BWL Professional Bid Services successfully supports SME with UK Power Networks submission

BWL’s Professional Bid Services team has recently supported an SME in the infrastructure sector to successfully submit a bid in response to stage 1 of a priority contract notice with UK Power Networks (UKPN). Following this successful submission, our team then supported the client with stage 2 of the procurement process, designing and drafting a tender presentation for the client to use as part of the formal tender interview process with UKPN.

Managing the Bid Process

Our first step in managing this bid was to review the contract terms and conditions, the specification, and the invitation to tender (ITT), to understand the requirements and constraints of the tender, including the dates for submission, clarifications, and instructions on how the response should be submitted, with word/page counts and format restrictions. The bid consisted of over 35 quality questions, a rates schedule, and standard tender forms and declarations. Taking the stated requirements from the tender documents, we created storyboards for every question, with section headers, key requirements to address, and evidence to submit.

Development of the Bid Strategy

We then launched the bid with a kick-off meeting with the client’s Managing Director and leadership team to discuss the timescales, process, bid strategy and win themes. We talked through the main information and evidence required for each of the questions to make the client aware of the type of information we required to answer each question to achieve the highest possible scores. We gained insight into the client’s company history, services, and capabilities. Several subject matter expert (SME) meetings were also scheduled for the following days with the Client’s Managing Director, Health, Safety and Environmental Manager, and Finance Director where individual questions were reviewed, and specific topics were discussed so that our Bid Consultants could understand their work methods, systems, and processes.

Responding to the Technical Questions

Emphasising health and safety as their main driver for operational success, UKPN included 23 pass/fail quality questions that focused on evidencing the bidder’s health and safety performance and processes. It was of key importance to evidence the client’s excellent health and safety record and their ISO 45001 certified management system. Our team engaged with the client’s HSEQ Manager to capture a comprehensive overview of their processes and procedures and how they align with UKPN working practices. The remaining quality questions were focused on operational delivery, resourcing, quality management and customer engagement. We held meetings with the client’s Managing Director to discuss and fully understand how they operated and the benefits and added value they could bring to the contract.

Our team produced completely new written responses, embedding the key win themes of the client’s experience in successfully delivering previous contracts on UKPN estates and their existing relationships with UKPN personnel and other contract stakeholders. After the final drafts were completed, our responses were submitted to the client’s leadership team for review and feedback.

The client’s Managing Director provided the following formal feedback, “This was the first time we went to an external company to assist with a framework tender. It was the best business decision we have made for some time as the quality of the tender responses we received from the team at BWL was outstanding. I would like to thank the team for their support. We look forward to working with you all again”.

Post Tender Submission

Following our submission, the client was invited to participate in the next stage of the tender process which involved delivering a presentation of their bid and taking questions from UKPNs panel. and final interview with BWL’s support, with

Tender Presentation

Our bid team was engaged again by the client to assist them in designing and drafting the tender presentation document for the interview with UKPN. We immediately set about storyboarding the presentation using UKPNs subject headings. Then we mapped out the slides to focus on the key points in a concise manner and with our key win themes being clear and repeated throughout the presentation. Our design team worked on producing a number of engaging graphics and images for the slides to aid the presentation, summarising key points and highlighting our win themes with professional designs.

To find out more about our Professional Bid Services, please contact us via enquiries@bwlgroup.co.uk