Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Maintenance

Type of Project
PQQ and Tender Writing

Delivery model
Remote working (100%), with one day site visit

Lead writer
O’Neill

Duration of the bid
Four weeks

Value to the client
£500,000 per annum for three years

Service
Air-conditioning and refrigeration

Main Challenges
Must-win bid

A short deadline for completion

A large number of new narrative responses required, including many data-led sections

The large number of policies, procedures, evidence and supporting documents required to support each question

Geographical region – South East England

Output – Quality section and implementation plan

Weighting – 70%/30% quality/price

Submission – Electronic upload

Outcome – Won

This project involved a large principal contractor involved in the repair and maintenance of air conditioning and refrigeration units throughout the South of England, with over 30 years’ experience. They were bidding for an air conditioning maintenance framework and retained our services to improve and maintain the level of quality in their bid writing services.

We provided PQQ, tender writing and design services for several submissions over a two year period.

This project was particularly important, as the contractor was the incumbent supplier, and had delivered this contract over five years. Due to the length of the contract a positive relationship with the contracting authority had been established, and the client’s business
practices had improved. They had developed specific capabilities and evolved their organisational architecture around the contract specification. The decision to engage the services of a professional bid team was an attempt to ensure that they successfully retained the contract. The contract formed a substantial percentage of their £4 million turnover and they therefore considered it to be a ‘must win’.

The company had 46 directly employed employees who operated across the South of England. Their work predominantly comprised:

• air conditioning
• heating
• refrigeration

At the time, the company had limited experience in successfully completing PQQs and Tenders. We completed the PQQ, focusing on these specific sections:

• Customer satisfaction: we analysed how they collected and collated customer satisfaction data
• Company capabilities: we reviewed current contracts and previous experience that could be used to demonstrate capabilities
• Organisational structure: we created a company organisational chart and also a project specific plan with clear lines of reporting, communication and authority
• Management team CVs: we standardised and developed the company CVs so that they were of the highest quality, using our tried and tested CV template
• Sustainable procurement policy: we created a bespoke sustainable procurement policy after monitoring and reviewing their practices, which helped ensure full compliance with all bidding and legislative requirements.

We assigned two writers to the PQQ, Neil and Luke. This was due to the volume of fresh narrative required and the short submission deadline. The PQQ also posed a variety of other challenges, as it was heavily data led which meant it quickly turned into a bid management project. Neil and Luke visited the client to gather information for the responses and to
review the client’s policies and procedures, ensuring that we could gather all information and identify where improvements could be made. Key staff were interviewed to obtain their knowledge and experience, so the responses could be strengthened as fully as possible. We created a corporate submission template to be used for all future submissions that
incorporated their company logo, colours and address.

This is a service we provide for clients when required, adding a professional sheen to each submission.

Luke managed the submission, using information gained from the site visit and the site visit. For questions where we did not have the necessary information, Luke liaised directly with the client to obtain the answers to the questions. Information gathering was achieved through a combination of emails, phone calls and the creation of information request matrices which broke down exactly what was required for each specific question.

The submission was delivered on time and we were successful in assisting the company in progressing to the Tender stage. We were not only successful, but we were awarded top marks in the quality section against much larger rival companies. This feedback was used to standardise bid writing processes and procedures within the company, helping to maintain quality for future bids.