Bid-writing is the aspect of the procurement process which SMEs tend to find most difficult

Bid-writing courses
Bid-writing is the aspect of the procurement process which SMEs tend
to find most difficult. However, organisations such as BiP Solutions'
Procurement Advice and Support Service (PASS) offer training specifically
covering how to complete tender responses. This can be helpful to SMEs
which do not have experience in this area and/or do not feel in a position
to hire a specialist bid writer. www.bipsolutions.com/pass
Meet the Buyer and networking events
Networking and Meet the Buyer events are useful ways in which
SMEs can form and develop those all-important personal relationships
with the public sector. Ask your local authority for details or visit:
www.bipsolutions.com/events/Supply/meetthebuyer.html
For details of the Supply workshops, which are held at locations around
the UK, visit: www.bipsolutions.com/events/Supply/Workshops
Financial support
Winning public sector contracts can sometimes seem like an uphill
struggle for inexperienced SMEs or those firms which lack the time and
resources to dedicate to the process. However, there may be financial
support available for your business. You should ask your local
Businesslink or local authority for advice.
Part 3
GOVERNMENT’S PERCEPTION OF THE
BENEFITS OF PROCURING FROM SMEs
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Small Business
Service (now the Enterprise Directorate, part of the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)) have produced several documents
outlining the benefits of procuring public services or goods from SMEs.
These fall broadly into the following three categories:
Better value for money:
• Bringing in more suppliers will often stimulate greater
competition in the marketplace, thereby reducing the costs of
procurement from all suppliers;
• SMEs have lower administrative overheads and management
costs than larger firms. Depending on the nature of the
procurement, this can result in lower prices.
Better quality of service:
• SMEs have short management chains and approval routes, so
they can respond quickly to changing requirements. SMEs may
also be highly focused on particular markets, making them
particularly responsive to changes in those markets;
• Business from large organisations is important to SMEs. This
can result in a better, and often more personal, level of service
and in a better relationship with the supplier;
• SMEs may also be more willing and able to tailor a product or
service to meet specific customer needs than a large firm that
sells an established offering;
• Many SMEs, including social enterprises, Voluntary and
Community Organisations (VCOs) and Black and Minority
Ethnic-owned enterprises (BMEs), supply higher quality
specialist products or services than larger suppliers, either
because larger suppliers are discouraged by the limited
demand, or because the SME has skills, originality and
commitment in that field greater than those found in
their large company competitors.
Innovation:
• SMEs can bring innovation through, for example, the early
exploitation of new technology, providing products or services
in new or underdeveloped markets, or by using innovation to
differentiate themselves from established market players.
Despite outlining these potential benefits of SME involvement, BIS is
keen to point out that these are not necessarily true in all circumstances.
The size of the benefit might be hard to quantify, which may explain why
the benefits are not necessarily recognised by public sector organisations.
This is also perhaps because the gain from using smaller suppliers comes
in the form of a ‘willingness to go the extra mile’, and this is an intangible
and unquantifiable quality.