The client, who did have experience bidding for public sector tenders, was looking to add another framework agreement to their portfolio of contracts. For this bid, the contracting authority was a purchasing organisation facilitating procurement for public sector authorities, such as local councils and housing associations.
Whilst the client had previously completed tenders on several occasions, they struggled with social value questions specifically and contacted us for support as this area was worth 10% of the overall bid. Following a meeting with a member of our sales and marketing team and quotation which outlined our scope, the project was scheduled in to be completed.
Main challenges
Some challenges specific to the project included:
- Lack of client experience in social value, the difference between social value and broader ESG or CSR policies, and monitoring, measuring and reporting on social value targets against commitments
- Ensuring proposals were targeted, tangible and proportionate to an example contract listed in the ITT, which gave the contract value and anticipated percentage of social value to offer
- Focus on previous experience delivering social value in addition to what the client could deliver as a result of award of a framework place – ensuring bidders could not ‘double count’ offerings
Our client’s subject matter knowledge paired with our own expertise in completing high-quality, competitive social value submissions ensured we were able to complement their strengths and meaningfully add value to their framework bid.
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Geographical region::
Nationwide
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Output::
Two social value method statements comprising 1,000 words
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Weighting::
70% quality, 20% price, 10% social value
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Submission::
Electronic, portal-based
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Outcome::
Outstanding
Overview
Katie Shipley was appointed as bid writer for the opportunity, and a handover with our sales and marketing team apprised her of our scope of work, key client contacts and their experience completing tender submissions using their own bid resource.
In accordance with our approach developed over supporting clients with over 8,000 SQ, PQQ and ITT submissions, Katie mobilised the project by:
- Reviewing the tender documents in detail to assess our scope and identify key social value elements of the specification, tender documents and other documents forming the tender pack
- Produced answer plans for each response, breaking the question down into constituent parts and anticipating key elements evaluators are likely to expect based on our experience
- Conducted independent research on the client, purchasing organisation and tender opportunity to supplement the client representatives’ knowledge of the bid and ensure holistic, comprehensive and highly targeted responses.
Katie arranged the information-gathering call to discuss the questions with the client’s bid teams. Interestingly, the social value element of the submission was split into two disparate questions:
- Current approaches to delivering social value, including demonstrating an understanding of the principles of social value, schemes or policies currently in place, and processes to measure the effectiveness of schemes
- Social value initiatives to be offered as part of call-offs and contract awards under the framework, including examples of offerings, how these will be marketed and how the client will monitor and measure the effects of social value delivery.
For clients who are completely new or have little experience in social value, monitoring and measuring the impact of commitments in particular can be challenging aspects of a strong social value tender response. Given the nature of the framework where different buyers utilised the call-off function, this introduced an additional challenge, as social value would need to be monitored on a project-by-project basis.
On the call, the client and Katie agreed the best approach would be to propose a dedicated social value register, monitored monthly by a senior member of the team to ensure compliance with KPIs and progress against commitments. Equally, the client proposed producing an annual social value impact report which demonstrated the success of initiatives to current and prospective clients.
On this basis, Katie drafted the social value responses which went through our quality assurance process. Quality Reviewer Hannah Robinson conducted line-by-line reviews of responses, returning them with comments based on enhancing and improving the content and overall persuasiveness of the submission.
The first versions of responses were sent to the client for revisions well in advance of the deadline, enabling a close review and approval of all content. Given the extensive interview, research and close collaboration between Katie and our client, this was minimal, and responses were finalised quickly to support a smooth submission.
Outcome
Places on the framework have not been awarded – however, the indicative deadline for award is due out in a couple of weeks’ time.
Our client was extremely pleased with the quality of our work and wider bid management support from Katie, and soon engaged with our Training Services Manager Stephen Murray for further social value training – Katie is also sharing notices which may be of interest to the client.