Blo*dy Council Tenders!!!!
Discussion
Right, I'm seriously peed off.!!
Yet again, we have been turned down on a tender application from the same county council, despite providing a proposal that exceeds their requirements in every aspect.
This latest one has really got to me!:
We are probably the country's leading provider of this particualr sector of marketing services yet we haven't even gotten through to the next stage - just a "no"! WHY??? They won't even tell us that!
The ones we've lost before have all resulted in work and deliverables that are clearly sub-standard to what they could have had with us.
Believe me, this is not sour-grapes. I don't mind loosing on a level playing field but this clearly isn't.
Anyone else gone through this?
Any tips?
How much should we bung them?
Arrrgghhhhh!
Yet again, we have been turned down on a tender application from the same county council, despite providing a proposal that exceeds their requirements in every aspect.
This latest one has really got to me!:
We are probably the country's leading provider of this particualr sector of marketing services yet we haven't even gotten through to the next stage - just a "no"! WHY??? They won't even tell us that!
The ones we've lost before have all resulted in work and deliverables that are clearly sub-standard to what they could have had with us.
Believe me, this is not sour-grapes. I don't mind loosing on a level playing field but this clearly isn't.
Anyone else gone through this?
Any tips?
How much should we bung them?
Arrrgghhhhh!
We do quite a bit of public sector work, though none for councils. But I would expect there to be very few differences. I've found it's all down to politics and favouritism in a lot of cases, and if you ain't flavour of the day, no matter how marvelous your proposal/tender/whatever it may as well be written in Klingon for all the good it will do.
Where I'm based, the sector we work in was dominated by one company for a long time because of their connections and the longer it went on, the more they became the 'obvious' choice. But they got arrogant and pissed off too many people; now people only deal with them because of the deals they're tied into.
Where I'm based, the sector we work in was dominated by one company for a long time because of their connections and the longer it went on, the more they became the 'obvious' choice. But they got arrogant and pissed off too many people; now people only deal with them because of the deals they're tied into.
My g/f's dad does a lot of public sector work - building care homes and running the contract for councils. The hoops they have to jump through are unbelievable.
They ended up employing ex council and NHS staff to make sure the work was pitched at the correct level.
Each council has different ways of working and this doesn't help matters. As a matter of course if they are invited to tender, they will stipulate that they want feedback if they lose the bid. Unfortunately smaller firms/contracts will not have this bargaining power and are in the hands of an antiquated and corrupt system. In my experience of public sector IT projects there are about 80% of employees can be categorised into 2 types: those who do it because of the feel good factor and those who can't cut it in the private sector and have a chip on their shoulders.
This is limited only to councils, not police, nurses etc.
They ended up employing ex council and NHS staff to make sure the work was pitched at the correct level.
Each council has different ways of working and this doesn't help matters. As a matter of course if they are invited to tender, they will stipulate that they want feedback if they lose the bid. Unfortunately smaller firms/contracts will not have this bargaining power and are in the hands of an antiquated and corrupt system. In my experience of public sector IT projects there are about 80% of employees can be categorised into 2 types: those who do it because of the feel good factor and those who can't cut it in the private sector and have a chip on their shoulders.
This is limited only to councils, not police, nurses etc.
Anyone ever had a word with the Audit Commission?
If the tendering process has been conducted properly, the Council should easily be able to explain to each applicant why their tender has been rejected in terms that would not breach commercial confidentiality with other applicants or the succesful tender.
This kind of feedback is invaluable. It helps the individual firms improve. Surely it is the duty of public servants to encourage this where they can?
I am not one to yell conspiracy at the drop of a hat, but I'm afraid to say experience leads me to believe that petty corruption in many councils is rife.
If the tendering process has been conducted properly, the Council should easily be able to explain to each applicant why their tender has been rejected in terms that would not breach commercial confidentiality with other applicants or the succesful tender.
This kind of feedback is invaluable. It helps the individual firms improve. Surely it is the duty of public servants to encourage this where they can?
I am not one to yell conspiracy at the drop of a hat, but I'm afraid to say experience leads me to believe that petty corruption in many councils is rife.
I have had this umpteen times, and often the companies who end up winning the tender are barely fit to do the work. one time we wrote (twice!) asking why we did not get through to the short-list stage, despite being obviously capable to do so, and got no more than a fob off. They may as well have admitted that nothing we said or did would make them change their minds and the process was a complete waste of time from the start. Very much like the idea of a quick letter to the audit commission though 
. Next time, next time....
. Next time, next time....
Dick Dastardly said:
Bloody great, I've just agreed to take over the tender process from my boss and will be looking at over 1 a month
I knew I should have consulted PH first
Dick, I note you are in the same bus' as us but in a different part of the country. Mail me if you need any tips on this (apart from "don't do it!!").
It's possibly got something to do with the "we must be seen to be going through the appropriate selection process" but we know that Auntie Sally's son can probably do the work, and he hasn't got much on at the minute.....so lets waste everybody's time and money by pretending that we are really looking for the best people for the job.
We have also been turned down on a number of occassions for Council Tenders, then when an application came through "sent from our (their) files" that we had not applied for, the Council in question called us in for "an informal chat" and we got the work ! Funny how life works sometimes !
Good luck.
We have also been turned down on a number of occassions for Council Tenders, then when an application came through "sent from our (their) files" that we had not applied for, the Council in question called us in for "an informal chat" and we got the work ! Funny how life works sometimes !
Good luck.
Such people are simply incompetent, timid, unable to make decisions or unable to accept responsibility. Which of course is why work there in the first place.
I had a 7-page video brief from a Govt Agency. 6 pages of equality/copyright stuff that was clearly copy/pasted, and I still didn't have a clue what they wanted.
I told them that the distance between us would not hinder the project or increase costs. I didn't make the shortlist because I was 'too far away'. WTF can you do???? It was quite clear they were not only terrified of meeting anyone face to face (ie salesperson) but they admitted they knew nothing about what they were trying to buy.
AAAAARRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! And they're all living off my taxes!
I had a 7-page video brief from a Govt Agency. 6 pages of equality/copyright stuff that was clearly copy/pasted, and I still didn't have a clue what they wanted.
I told them that the distance between us would not hinder the project or increase costs. I didn't make the shortlist because I was 'too far away'. WTF can you do???? It was quite clear they were not only terrified of meeting anyone face to face (ie salesperson) but they admitted they knew nothing about what they were trying to buy.
AAAAARRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! And they're all living off my taxes!
Did lots of tender work for a printing firm in Cardiff and in two years got a 2% success rate. The two biggest ones we 'won' because of the best package and price got given to the incumbent becuase the authority 'didn't want to move suppliers'.
Big bunch of arse. They all say they can't accept bribes but the councils we took to lunch certainly put us at the top of the pile (not naming names, but they're all in Wales!)
Wait until you have to do an e-tender. Now that is funny- did a Europe-wide one for Unilever, very very frightening prices being offered.
Big bunch of arse. They all say they can't accept bribes but the councils we took to lunch certainly put us at the top of the pile (not naming names, but they're all in Wales!)
Wait until you have to do an e-tender. Now that is funny- did a Europe-wide one for Unilever, very very frightening prices being offered.
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