Prepare for Meet the Buyer North 2023

It can be daunting walking through the doors of Meet the Buyer North as a visitor, especially if it is your first time attending a Meet the Buyer event.

With a fantastic range of interesting exhibitors to visit and speaker presentations to entice you, there is plenty you can do in advance to prepare yourself to ensure you make your visit profitable for you, no matter what size your organisation is!

1. Do your homework! Look at the listed Buyers on the Meet the Buyer North event page and consider which Buyers you wish to meet. Once you have decided which buyers you would like to meet, go to their websites, read their contract procurement reports, and have a look at their contract registers to see if they buy things that your business offers already. The SDP’s guide to “Who buys what in Scotland?” is a good starting point and be sure to search the internet for a specific Buyer’s Contract Register.
2. Prepare an informal verbal introduction of your business and what you can provide or supply to the public sector. Open the discussion with your company name, where your business is located (this is important to buyers especially when they are trying to identify local businesses and social enterprises), and what your business or social enterprise does.
3. Prepare a list of questions for buyers. If you have questions for a specific Buyer, or about potential upcoming contract, framework, or Quick Quote opportunities, make a note of these. Questions you may wish to ask buyers include How do you buy /procure my service/ good /works – this is about understanding their route to market, is this via a quick quote, tender or call off from a framework.
4. Prepare your contact information in advance! When you connect with a Buyer or another supplier on the day, you'll automatically exchange your contact information. SDP has created a handy Business Contact template you can view and download.. This year, we will be utilising an app to help you exchange and gather contact details for all of the new connections you will make. So be sure to download the app on the day to simplify this process.
5. A few days before, Check the Meet the Buyer event page on the SDP website to check for any updates.
6. Plan your arrival. With over 400 attendees already registered, we anticipate Meet the Buyer North 2023 to be our busiest yet! To reduce queues and waiting times, we will be introducing a ‘Fast Track’ entry. For ‘Fast Track’ entry, suppliers will be encouraged to print their passes off at home. Don’t have access to a printer? Whilst registration opens at 10:00am, SDP recommends arriving later in the day to beat the registration queues.
7. On the day, join the queues at the exhibition stands and gather Buyers' leaflets, flyers, and information. Buyers are encouraged to display upcoming tender opportunities, business support and other useful information that you can read while you wait.
8. Make a point to connect with other suppliers. Be sure to introduce yourself and "connect" to exchange contact details with other potential suppliers attending the event. (They could become your next customer!)
9. Finally, now you have found out all you need to know about future public sector contracts, brush up on your tendering skills with the Supplier Development Programme's free training! Why not take the next step, and improve your bidding skills with SDP's expert trainers? SDP offers a range of courses to suit every level - whether you are new to tendering or have years of experience. Browse the free tender training on offer from SDP!