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Public Transport Tenders: A Guide to Sourcing and Winning Bids

Posted on by John Hudson

After reading this guide, you’ll be more prepared to win public transport tenders

Due to COP26 and the move for more green transport options, we expect to see more public transport tenders.

With this guide on securing public transport tenders, you’ll be on your way to winning those contracts.

What’s different about public transport tenders?

If it’s rail, bus, or anything else, public transport tenders are short in their timeframe, especially after the pandemic.

Where before contracts would range over years, now it’s usually 18 months long.

Also, the diversity of contracts within public transport tenders can be dizzying, with for instance rail contracts including:

  • Engineering
  • Construction
  • Refurbishment
  • Cleaning
  • Carriage removal
  • Maintenance
  • Essential materials
  • Specialist training
  • Management of services.

The first step is conducting your research into the industry and looking into the specific requirements of the contract.

How do you source public transport tenders?

You could search through the government websites; however, their search engines have a certain flaw. CPV codes. We’ve found through experience that these codes are inaccurate and incredibly inefficient in finding tenders.

But there’s another way.

Our service, Hudson Discover. Specifically, our Transport Tenders portal.

Every day, our portals are manually updated and researched by our team of Opportunity Trackers. We don’t use CPV codes, which means you can filter your search via keyword, budget and location.

These findings can then be sent to your mailbox, once you subscribe.

For your queries around public transport tenders or any industry within logistics, Transport Tenders is an efficient solution.

 9 tips for winning public transport tenders

  1. Read the question carefully

It is important to read and understand exactly what the question is asking.

Then, you can highlight the core requirements and derive relevant sub-headings from this.

  1. Respond in full to the question

Again, using sub-headings will help you significantly with this, ensuring that each requirement is fully addressed.

Make sure you demonstrate your understanding of the service required by providing recent and relevant information.

Where does your company add value?

How would they serve the public transport tender?

  1. Don’t assume the buyer already knows about you

Address your company’s capabilities, strengths and resources as if they are unknown.

How are your resources appropriate for the buyer’s specific needs?

  1. Provide specific examples

Ensure you are providing specific case studies, relating directly to the key requirements set out by the buyer.

  1. Embrace duplication 

It is important to answer each question in full – even if it sometimes seems repetitive.

Repetition can reinforce your company’s experience and capabilities.

  1. Submit a complete response

Don’t risk being disqualified because you neglected the quality check. The best thing to do is to make a clear, defined submission checklist of the required tender documents.

  1. Make the right impression

Your bid is not only about the quality of your responses, but also about the impression you give the buyer.

Every instance of contact will be your chance to impress the buyer!

When you’re asking clarification questions on the portal, make sure your spelling and grammar is top quality.

Remain professional and ensure that every question you ask is original and not repeated.

Asking the right questions helps build the best bid for your organisation.

8.  Use time wisely and plan your deadlines  

The buyer can’t view any documents on tendering portals until the deadline has passed, so use this time!

Quality aside, technical issues won’t be looked upon favourably, and the time invested will have returned nothing.

Most systems are open to a draft bid submission, which you can then finalise with any information you’re waiting on.

It might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised just how many failed submissions there are due to poor time management.

Keeping on top of the following components will help to improve your chances of success with public transport tenders:

A good rule of thumb is to factor in enough time for any potential unexpected delays. This extra time should allow for any last-minute changes before you submit the tender response.

Ultimately, time management is key to bid submissions – it’s no different if you’re bidding for public transport tenders.

  1. Feedback

If you’ve lost a bid, the contracting authority can elaborate on why.

It’s wise to check the reasons behind the successful bid winning the contract. You can then cross-reference this with your bid and see where you went wrong.

Not many know this, but it’s the government’s legal obligation to provide feedback. Any feedback that’s given puts you one step closer to winning your next bid. And public transport tenders are no exception.

In Summary

After reading this blog, you have a greater idea of what it takes to source and win public transport tenders.

Although you’re a bit more familiar with the tender process, you might still be looking for some bid writing support.

Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing your tender to bid specialists can help you secure your next contract.

At our sister division, Hudson Succeed, they pride themselves on being bid writing experts.

They hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience.

They offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need.

You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply want someone to proofread your response before submission. They can help with that too.

Our services include:

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender response and want someone to double-check it for errors, then Tender Mentor is for you. One of their Bid Writers will proofread it for any grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also check it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender for your business, but don’t know where to start – send it our way. Their Bid Team will take care of it all for you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll let you know what they need from you and even submit it on your behalf!

Tender Ready

Their Tender Ready programme is designed for those who are completely new to the tendering process. This programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. The programme also includes bid writing support and a 12-month Discover subscription to a portal of your choice.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve already been tendering for work, but aren’t seeing success, their Improvement programme can help. During the programme, their Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll then give you feedback and guidance on how to improve.

Both Tender Ready, and Tender Improvement offer:

  • A 12-month subscription to the sector-specific portal of your choice.
  • Access to our Global Bid Director and Senior Bidding Professionals with 60 years of bidding experience.
  • A dedicated Bid Consultant with the programme, lasting up to three months.
  • The development of an organisation-wide bid library. This includes 3 case studies, 5 company CVs and 8 policies.

Try their free live demo to see how their portals work for you!

A Guide to Winning a Tender Transport Contract

Posted on by John Hudson

How do I win a tender transport contract?

If you’re bidding for a tender transport contract, you may be wondering what you need to know about them. There are lots of tender transport contracts out there such as courier services or train tenders .We’ve put together a guide on tips to win a tender transport contract.

The tender procedure

If you’re not familiar with the procedure when it comes to a tender transport contract. Here is a breakdown of how it goes:

There are typically two types of tender procedures used by buyers to procure the goods or services they need. They are:

Open tendering procedure

Step 1: An invitation to tender is released (ITT)

A tender transport contract can be done via an open tendering procedure. This procedure is often used to procure more ‘simple’ goods or services. Any supplier can apply for the contract when the invitation to tender(ITT) is released. Suppliers must submit a response as to why they should be awarded the contract.

The buyer then evaluates the responses and decides who should be awarded the contract. If tendering in the public sector, the contract is awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This is when the buyer is seeking to get the most value for money. This doesn’t necessarily mean being the cheapest bidder. Other factors come into play such as:

  • Quality
  • Accessibility
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Environmental factors
  • Technical ability

Restricted procedure

This next procedure is used for more complex goods or services and is split into two stages.

Step 1: The buyer releases a PQQ/SQ  

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or a selection questionnaire (SQ) need to be completed by prospective suppliers.

PQQs and SQs are essentially box-ticking exercises. You will need to include a copy of your business relevant policies and procedures for tenders for transport services. Contract examples will likely be required so a buyer can assess your capabilities. Your economic financial standing will also be assessed. This is to ensure you’re financially able to deliver the contract.

Step 2: Eligible businesses are issued with an ITT

After a supplier meets the minimum eligibility criteria, they will be issued with an ITT. They can then produce a more detailed response to quality questions and give their pricing. Tenders will then be evaluated, and a successful supplier will be awarded the contract.

Top tips

Read the tender documents

 Our first tip to winning a tender transport contract is to make sure you read through the tender documents thoroughly. Make sure you can deliver what the buyer is asking for.

Managing your journeys

When transporting people or goods you need a way of managing your journeys. The last thing you want to turn up late for all your pick-ups and drop-offs. It makes you look unreliable which doesn’t look good to a buyer.

Here are some things to think about:

  • How do you coordinate your journeys?
  • What technology do you use?
  • How is your system efficient and does it save you money?
  • How can you prove to the buyer you’ll be on time?

Provide evidence

Evidence is key to proving to the buyer what you’re capable of and how you meet the requirements. The buyer will want to see evidence of similar projects you’ve worked on. They’ll be looking for your methodology and how you dealt with any challenges faced.

You should be looking to provide at least 2 – 3 relevant case studies from the past 3 – 5 years. The case studies you attach should be relevant to the contract at hand. If the contract is to deliver school transport services, you should use case studies relevant to that. You should always back up your points with evidence.

Demonstrate a robust quality service

If you’re looking to secure a tender transport contract, make sure you can demonstrate a robust quality service.  Transport buyers are looking for a supplier who can provide outstanding quality and performance standards. Demonstrate how you track and monitor your service. What management information and reporting systems do you use?

Answer all the questions

Leaving answers blank or half answered isn’t going to sit well with the buyer. And it certainly won’t win you the bid. If a buyer is asking for 500 words for an answer that’s exactly what they are expecting. Submitting 200 words just won’t cut it. The answer won’t give the amount of detail the buyer is looking for and won’t answer the question in full. Be sure to consider all points of the question and do your best to reach the word count.

Time Management

Time management is an essential skill if you want to secure a tender transport contract. The tender process is long and complex, so you need to allow yourself plenty of time for the whole procedure. The writing and submission process will take up a considerable amount of time.

It’s wise to put a plan together if you’re going to devise your time throughout the process. The last thing you want to do is rush the bid as it will only add to the pressure.

Proofreading

The final step you need to take is making sure you’ve proofread your bid before submitting it.

We can’t stress enough how important it is to double your bid response once complete. This can be quite time-consuming so be sure to allow plenty of time to complete the task thoroughly.

You should be checking for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. When working on a long document it can be hard to spot them whilst working. That’s why it’s important to go back to your work and check again. It will look unprofessional if you submit your response full of errors. You will lose marks as it will be hard for the buyer to read.

In conclusion

We hope you’ve found this guide to a tender transport contract useful. Remember to take onboard our tips for winning your next tender. If you still need help our team are on hand to assist.

Need assistance when writing a tender transport contract?

You may not have the time or resources in house to write a winning tender response in house. Outsourcing to tender writing specialists can help you secure your next contract.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, provide four levels of bid writing support services. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re new to tendering or need your response proofread – we can help.

Tender Ready

Tender Ready is the perfect programme for those who are completely new to tendering. You’ll have access to an expert Bid Consultant to answer any questions that you may have. You’ll also get a year’s subscription to our Transport Tenders portal.

Tender Improvement

If you have already been applying for tenders but aren’t seeing success our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Writers will go over your previous submissions and provide feedback and guidance.

Tender Writing

Have you found the perfect courier delivery contract for your business but are struggling to start? Send it over to our Bid Writing team and they can write the whole response for you. If you use our Tender Writing service, they’ll even submit it on your behalf!

Tender Mentor  

Our Bid Writers can look over a bid response you’ve already written, checking it for errors before you submit. Sometimes you just need another pair of eyes to go over your response and our Tender Mentor service can help.

Where can I find tenders for logistics services?

If you’re wondering where to find tenders for logistics services, you’ve come to the right place. Transport Tenders hosts hundreds of new tendering opportunities from the logistics industry across the UK.

A subscription to Transport Tenders could increase your chances of securing school transport contracts. With the time saved and numerous opportunities found, Transport Tenders can feed seamlessly into your business development strategy. With a subscription to the portal, you receive:

  • Unlimited access.
  • A dedicated Account Manager.
  • A free 20-minute phone consultation.
  • A daily email bulletin.

This way, you can save your precious time and focus on the more pressing matters on your plate.

Below are previous tender transport contracts sourced on our Transport Tender portal:

Transportation Services

IDA Ireland – Republic of Ireland – Budget: Undisclosed

Home to School Transport

Cumbria County Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Passenger Transport Services

Northumberland County Council – North East – Budget: Undisclosed

Home to School Transport

Cumbria County Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Pupil Referral Unit Transport

Cumbria County Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

On Transport Tenders, we post contracts for:

Book a free live demo today for a quick tour of our portal. Get in touch to learn more about our bespoke bid writing services.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can save you even more time, helping you identify tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate.

Contact us for more information on how we can help your business grow.

How To Get Courier Contracts in the UK

Posted on by John Hudson

Everything you need to know about how to get courier contracts in the UK

If you’re wondering how to get courier contracts in the UK, we can help. The courier industry has grown significantly in the last year and online deliveries are on the up. We’ve put together a blog for everything you need to know about how to get courier contracts in the UK.

Important points to consider

You may be wondering how to get courier contracts in the UK. Below are some points worth considering when it comes to tendering:

  • Investment in technology

Technology is always growing and changing the way people and businesses operate. Whilst technology is shaping all industries, there are big changes in the logistics industry. More companies are being asked to provide evidence of their use of technology and what it can bring to buyers. Some examples of technology becoming more common in logistics include:

  • Vehicle tracking software

 This is vital for couriers, as you are delivering goods from one place to another. No matter the size or value of the goods, this is a great piece of technology to invest in.

Buyers will ask for evidence of how you record how products are collected and delivered on time. Using a tracking system will show that you monitor and track all items in transit effectively. It also shows how you monitor your delivery times. This software is crucial in seeing success over your competitors. If you’re unable to demonstrate this, you may lose marks.

  • Route optimisation software

This is a great way of how to get courier contracts in the UK. This is a great tool to reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions. The buyer wants to know how you’re going to deliver items on time, factoring in traffic or other delays.

We are all becoming more aware of how our transport contributes to our overall carbon footprint. By having route optimisation software in place, you can show how you’re actively reducing your emissions.

If you deliver in busy cities such as London and Manchester, you’re more likely to face congestion. This becomes a major challenge when delivering goods.

  • Elastic logistics

Simply, this term means the ability to expand and shrink logistics capabilities to align with current demands.

For example, this may involve products in demand or market fluctuations. For example, during the coronavirus outbreak, the demand for face coverings and hand sanitiser significantly rose.

A buyer wants to know how you will keep up with any market advancements or trends. You should have software in place to help you keep up with trends and demands.

Now you understand important factors of how to get courier contracts in the UK, how can you be successful?

Managing your journeys

As you’re a courier service, you need to demonstrate how you’re able to manage your journeys effectively. Some things to think about include:

  • How will you coordinate your journeys?
  • Will you use any technology to help with journeys?
  • How is your system efficient and will it save you money?
  • How will you deal with delays?
  • How will you record delivered or collected items?

Read the tender documents carefully

If you don’t read through the tender documents thoroughly, you may misunderstand what the tender is asking for. You need to make sure you can meet the requirements. If you can’t, it isn’t worth bidding. Once you have read the documents you can decide whether or not you’re going to tender.

Answer the question in full

Leaving any questions blank or half answered doesn’t look good to the examiner. Not answering the question in full or at all will tell the examiner you aren’t capable of delivering the contract. If the questions are asking for a 4-page answer and you submit 1 page, you haven’t answered the question fully. The examiner is looking for a detailed answer. If you’re struggling to answer the question, break it down. If the question has 5 points to it, break it down into 5 smaller questions. This will help you answer the question better and consider all points.

Research your competitors

Understanding who you are up against when it comes to tendering allows you to plan your tendering approaches. Research your competitors and see what technology they use or what their Unique Selling Point (USP) is.

Proofreading

The final step of how to get courier contracts in the UK is proofreading your bid. Although the writing process is done, the work isn’t over yet. Before submitting your bid, check it and check it again. It’s easy to miss mistakes when typing a long document. The last thing you want to do is to submit a bid full of spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. You could lose marks which could have easily been avoided. Ask someone else to take a look at the document to see if they spot anything you may have missed.

Transport Tenders

Still looking for ways of how to get courier contracts in the UK? A subscription to Transport Tenders could help. With time saved and numerous opportunities found, Transport Tenders can feed seamlessly into your business development strategy. With a subscription to the portal, you receive:

  • Unlimited access to the Transport Tenders portal. Increase your chance of success.
  • A dedicated Account Manager on hand to help you with any and all courier contracts in the UK.
  • A free 20-minute phone consultation. Chat to one of our team about a courier contracts in the UK you’re interested in. We can provide expert advice, insight and guidance to support your tendering efforts.
  • A daily email bulletin of all the logistics tenders published that day helping you stay ahead of the game.

Transport Tenders is a time-saving tool that allows you to focus on running your business, while we source tendering opportunities, directly relevant to your service offering. It’s because we’re passionate about business growth. Every company should have the chance to succeed – and we know that Transport Tenders will fit perfectly into your business growth strategy.

On Transport Tenders, we post contracts for:

Book a free live demo today for a quick tour of our portal. Get in touch to learn more about our bespoke bid writing services.