Case Studies

“‘We’ve lost confidence in bidding’”

The Bluewater Partnership, North Yorkshire

The Background:

The Bluewater Partnership delivers tailored leadership training for managers and their teams working in public and private sector organisations around the world. They were nervous of bidding, having invested a significant amount of effort in the past without much success.

The Challenge:

The Bluewater Partnership was persuaded to re-enter the tender process by the opportunity to deliver a ‘leadership and management development programme’ for Oxford City Council. Bid Pro Quo’s job was to restore the bid management team’s confidence and help pull the bid together in a tight timeframe. In addition, the project was under-resourced due to an unforeseen family tragedy.

The Solution:

As with all BPQ’s bids, we used the tender process as a vehicle to test and improve management systems as well as challenge thinking and build stronger teams. There was no doubt that the bid management team's confidence had taken a hammering, so BPQ mentored the company’s leadership to instill a positive approach while conducting a rigorous analysis of the invitation to tender (ITT).
As the contract was an assessment centre project rather than a programme, we had to ensure that what the company proposed would be delivered. We prepared a strategy document to help the bid management team hone in on what was required and helped them come up with a targeted response. Faced with a tight deadline and limited client resources, once BPQ had the necessary information in place, our bid presentation specialists then took over to design a professional bid document.

The Outcome:

Working through the tender process with BPQ restored the team’s confidence to such an extent that it went on to bid again in its own right. The bid itself served to highlight an area of opportunity for work within the public sector that the company had not previously identified - one that it has now diversified into.