MYTH


Contracts are awarded on the lowest price


T e same suppliers win all the contracts


Contracts only go to big suppliers


T ere’s no chance to talk to buyers face- to-face


FACT


Value for money, and not price alone, decides most procurement decisions


All contract opportunities must be advertised on Public Contracts Scotland, and are not automatically re-awarded. Tenders are evaluated on quality and price, and go to the best supplier


Buyers often split large contracts into smaller lots to create more opportunities for SMEs


Meet the Buyer events are the perfect opportunity to meet public sector buyers face-to-face, introduce your business and learn about upcoming contract opportunities


•Public Sector Procurement in Scotland.


Scottish local authorities, Scottish Government and other public bodies that work together to bring free support in all aspects of tendering to Scottish- based SMEs. SELECT joined SDP in 2019 as its fi rst trade association member and has already hosted one free tender training course late last year.


SDP helps businesses that are often too small to have dedicated bid/tender resources to contemplate bidding for a public sector contract. Through a programme of free training and events, it aims to help them become “tender ready” and improve their prospects when competing for opportunities.


What is Meet the Buyer? Meet the Buyer connects the Scottish business base with senior procurers, decision-makers and infl uencers from


across local and central government and the wider public sector. Partnered by the Scottish Government and Scotland Excel, Meet the Buyer is held on an annual basis. SDP is following the latest COVID-19 advice issued by the Scotish Government and it is unlikely that the next event, due to be held on 2 June at the EIC in Edinburgh, will go ahead. However, Meet The Buyer events allow buyers to engage with suppliers looking to enter into, or grow their share of, the £11 billion Scottish public procurement market. Unlike most exhibition events, the essence of exhibitions is to promote your goods, services and works in a unique ‘reverse-expo’, i.e. the buyer hosts an exhibition space and you make your way round to meet them face-to-face and discuss upcoming opportunities.


How do I access training in bid writing? SDP is the foremost free training programme for procurement and bidding in Scotland, with almost 16,000 businesses registered. Its introductory training helps companies, supported businesses and social enterprises with little or no experience of tendering to decide if it’s for them and, if so, how to go about it. The most popular courses break down Public Contracts Scotland into manageable steps, give tips on fi nding contract opportunities, and how to publish the Supplier Finder profi le – a must if you want to be invited to participate in a ‘quick quote’. The intermediate level of SDP training is aimed at businesses that have some experience of tendering, but would like to become more profi cient. Finally, companies and social enterprises with plenty of experience and success of tendering can access advanced training that helps them explore potential new markets (including overseas), routes of redress and contract management. SMEs are encouraged to self-select training from any level, in any order. After registering for free on the SDP website, they can attend any training event in Scotland. Usually off ered in two formats – face- to-face and digital via webinar – SDP is concentrating on digital delivery from the comfort of your own desk for the foreseeable future. All training is delivered by qualifi ed, scrutinised trainers who successfully bid for the SDP training framework through Public Contracts Scotland. Some of the same private consultants who off er paid-for bid writing are the experts who help SME


businesses for free through SDP.


SELECT will be hosting an Introduction to Tendering webinar later this year. To fi nd out more about tendering and


Meet the Buyer, visit www.sdpscotland.co.uk or call SELECT Training on 0131 445 5577.


CABLEtalk APRIL/MAY 2020 39


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