BWL Professional Bid Services successfully supports SME with NHS bid for the provision of electrical works
BWL Professional Bid Services (BWL) was engaged by a Midlands-based electrical contractor tendering to Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The tender was for the provision of electrical maintenance works at the hospital over a three-year term with an optional two-year extension.
Our team have previously worked with the contractor and understood the strategic importance of securing the tender as part of their continued growth strategy.
About the tender
In addition to the challenges of providing general electrical maintenance services in a live hospital environment, some of the works included delivery in specialist facilities including the Hartington Unit – an acute mental health care facility with specific requirements for on-site work to ensure the safety of contractors, NHS staff, and patients.
A critical element of the bid strategy was developing a response emphasising the contractor’s experience in delivering electrical maintenance and installation services in the acute health sector, having worked with NHS trusts as prime and subcontractor.
Social value contributed significantly to the overall submission score. To meet this requirement, it was important to demonstrate an understanding of how the contractor’s approach to Corporate Social Responsibility aligned with the themes of the government’s Social Value Model.
Our approach
BWL assigned a dedicated Bid Consultant to manage the tender. They completed a full review of the tender documentation and Social Value Model, to understand the tender requirements and objectives. The quality response consisted of 9 quality questions relating to competency, experience, and social value on the basis of a 45% Quality, 45% Cost, and 10% Social Value split.
Our Bid Consultant assessed the response requirements against our in-house understanding of NHS drivers to develop win themes required to attract the highest scores. They also assessed previous tenders undertaken with the contractor and used the information to develop storyboards for every question, with section headers, key requirements to address, and evidence to submit.
We followed this by hosting a bid kick-off meeting with the client’s Managing Director and leadership team, discussing the timescales and process, and outlining our bid strategy and win themes. We talked through the information and evidence that would be required to comprehensively respond to each question and we set up further meetings with subject matter experts to gather and extract this information.
The Consultant used the evidence collected during the meetings to develop compelling and compliant responses.
The result
In December 2022, the client contacted us to announce that they had been successful and had secured the contract.
Testimonial
We have used BWL a number of times over a span of three years and we have won two very substantial contracts thanks to their expertise and knowledge of the tender process, this has enabled our company to grow and I couldn’t recommend the team enough!