Case studies
Here are case studies, stories and testimonials received from Scottish SMEs that have benefited from attending SDP’s training.
Have you won a contract after participating in SDP training? Would you like to share your success story? Submit your details here and your business could be SDP’s featured business of the month!
You can also read and download case studies on different local authorities, and the approaches used by the Supplier Development Programme on a local level across Scotland. Contact info@sdpscotland.co.uk for more information, or learn more about how local authorities and member organisations can support your SME business in procurement and business development by exploring our site.
Outside the Box Grows with SDP Help
Background
Outside the Box provides training, evaluations and development support to community groups to help them start using new services and activities or adapt to changing circumstances. It also helps public service providers engage with their service users.
Since participating in SDP tender training and events, Outside the Box has won £117,000 of public sector work.
Early Days
Outside the Box was founded in 2004, then in 2020, when its team sought to bid on more public sector contracts, it utilised the support of The Supplier Development Programme, which its team had seen advertised on Public Contracts Scotland.
Ruth Noble, Community Development Adviser, Outside the Box said: “We were at the start of our journey into tendering and the SDP training was a great introduction. SDP training helped with navigating the procurement process and planning our bid, it was just what we needed.
“We appreciated the range of training on offer – from the starting point to more in depth, specific topics.”
SDP Training
In April 2020, Outside the Box joined the SDP Core Training webinar Planning Your Bid, before going on to complete the Improving Your Bid Score module in May that year, and then revisiting the module with other colleagues the following month.
Ruth recalled: “SDP training gave us an excellent starting point. It helped us discover how to find relevant opportunities, how to break down a bid, and how to approach costings and policies.”
Contract Wins
Soon the team set about putting their learnings into practice, by submitting more public sector bids, and in 2022 Outside the Box won work on the £25k East Lothian Council Dementia Strategy Consultation contract.
Continued Training
Keen to build upon this momentum, the team took further SDP training, by joining the How to Write Outstanding Tenders webinar in October 2023.
Ruth said: “Soon after attending How to Write Outstanding Tenders we won the contract with East Renfrewshire to set up an Equalities Forum.”
As well as winning the £13k Equalities Forum contract in 2023, Outside the Box was also awarded work on the East Lothian Adult Learning contract, worth £25k, that year.
The success didn’t stop there, the following year Outside the Box won work on the Wild Strathfillan Nature Restoration Initiative £8k contract and the NatureScot National Park Consultation £30k project.
Ruth said: “Winning these pieces of work gave us new contacts across Scotland and increased our confidence to apply for more; it also helped by providing unrestricted revenue to try out new business development. These pieces of work now serve for our organisational CV when tendering for future opportunities.”
SDP Events
Not content to just write about its portfolio success in bid documents, the Outside the Box team raised the profile of its work, by spreading the word at SDP networking events.
In March 2025 the team joined delegates at West Dunbartonshire Meet the ‘Real’ Buyer and the next month they attended Glasgow Meet the ‘Real’ Buyer. These events connected the team to council buyers and procurement officials, allowing them to get updates on their upcoming opportunities.
Having enjoyed both events, the Outside the Box team is already looking to their next SDP engagement.
Ruth said: “We will continue to recommend that all staff attend relevant SDP events and training. We already have members of our team signed-up for the Understanding and Bidding - Frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) training, to continue our learning. We have also started a register so that we know what staff attend what training.”
Advice to Suppliers
This structured approach has served Outside the Box well, and it’s one that Ruth recommends to any suppliers looking to start their tender training journey.
She concluded: “SDP training has good content and delivery, as well as a range of webinars and e-learning packages. I’d recommend keeping notes from training sessions for your team’s reference.”
24/7 Elite Healthcare Wins Place on NLC Flexible Framework for Self-Directed Support
Background
24/7 Elite Healthcare Ltd is a Scottish home care provider that registered with the Care Inspectorate in June 2024. In Autumn 2024 the business renewed its SDP tender training, and by February 2025 it had won a place on the £800m, Self-Directed Support Flexible Framework in North Lanarkshire.
Early Days
When first planning her business in 2020, registered nurse Jesca Masiyazi knew that she wanted to continue to work in health care, and to operate within the public sector, but she was unsure which route to take to market.
She said: “I discovered SDP through my Business Gateway Adviser Mark Wright, and I found that on the SDP website there are a lot of training resources. I am quite a keen learner, and I like to do things right, and SDP helped me to do this with its live tender training and recordings.”
While participating in training, Jesca discovered that local authorities advertise their healthcare opportunities through Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) and use Framework Agreements to procure services.
SDP Training
Armed with this knowledge, Jesca participated in the SDP webinar Understanding and Bidding - Frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), to learn how to apply to a Framework Agreement. She also joined SDP webinars that helped improve her bid writing and helped her understand the Single Procurement Document (SPD).
Jesca recalled: “Before SDP training I had no clue where the council tenders were advertised, how to get on Public Contracts Scotland, or how to get on a framework! I did not dream that one day I would be able to write a tender myself!”
With her sights set on winning local authority contracts, Jesca worked tirelessly to find the right business model and team to fulfil this dream. In 2020 she established 24/7 Elite Healthcare, and got it registered with the care Inspectorate that June, 2024.
Revisiting Resources
Once her business was formed, Jesca went back to the SDP website to double-down on her learning.
She said: “I followed through the training from the introductory Level 1 course, right through to the end Level 3, and at times I even repeated training just to refresh my knowledge.”
In Autumn 2024, Jesca joined SDP training webinars that covered Working with the Public Sector, Using PCS, Getting Your Business Tender Ready, Planning Your Bid, Frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems, Improving Your Bid Score, Responding to Tender Policy Requirements and Understanding Your Role in Contract Management.
Networking Events
After gaining confidence in training, Jesca signed up for SDP networking events, to introduce her business to local authority buying teams. Between October and November 2024, Jesca attended SDP Meet the Buyer South as well as Fife and Lanarkshire Meet the Buyer events.
During these events, Jesca learned of contract opportunities from council procurement teams, but she also connected with business support bodies, who offered advice to help grow 24/7 Elite Healthcare.
She said: “I met people from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and got information on insurance and policies.”
Winning a Place on a Framework
After months of training and networking, Jesca felt ready to bid when the North Lanarkshire Council Self-Directed Support Flexible Framework tender was advertised.
Putting her skills to work, she submitted the bid in December 2024, and in February 2025 she was notified that she had won a place on the Framework Agreement.
Jesca said: “The overall framework has an estimated value of £800m, lasting 10 years, with annual entry points, and it is on year five. The framework had 26 suppliers joining it this year, and 24/7 Elite Healthcare has won a place under two separate lots of work, one for Adults and one for Care at Home. I am hopeful that we will deliver a good service and we will continue to develop a good professional relationship with NLC and the Care Inspectorate and other stakeholders”.
By joining this Framework, 24/7 Elite Healthcare entered into a shortlist of suppliers who can be selected to provide care and home care services for North Lanarkshire Council.
Jesca reflected: “That was my first tender application and I am thrilled to have won it. I moved from having zero clients, when I started my business, to being on a framework and that is very exciting.”
Future Plans
Jesca is happy to have increased her chances of working with North Lanarkshire Council, and now she is looking to do the same with other local authorities.
She said: “I am quite keen to get onto other council frameworks; at the moment I am trying to get on to one through Scotland Excel for East Renfrewshire Council.
“At the SDP Meet the Real Buyer Glasgow event I was also speaking to Glasgow City Council and they explained the opportunities that they have coming up in the near future, so I would like to work with them too.”
Advice to Suppliers
Looking to the future, Jesca plans to continue her networking, learning and bid writing.
She said: “I would encourage every business, new and experienced, to work with SDP and use their training and events. The Programme is marvellous! The training is very inclusive, and trainers are patient enough to answer any question. Everyone feels respected and valued!”
“Without SDP training I would not have understood how frameworks work or how to apply for a tender. But now I am getting more and more confident, and I still register and continue to participate in the training in order to polish up my skills.”
Scottish Borders Council Partners With SDP to Support Local SMEs
In partnership with the Supplier Development Programme (SDP), Scottish Borders Council helped local SMEs understand how to bid for its Repairs and Maintenance Framework, by hosting a free Aligned Tender Training webinar in April 2023.
NHSGCC Procurement Leads the Way in Increasing Supplier Diversity
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Background
From January to September 2022, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) worked with the Supplier Development Programme, and six Health and Social Care Partnerships (including Glasgow Centre for Population Health, and Glasgow City Region Project Management Office) on a project to diversify the NHSGGC supply chain.
NHSGGC was keen to increase diversity in its supply chain because a Talent Inclusion and Diversity Evaluation study scored it 21% in the procurement domain, against a UK average of 23%. The Health Board covers the most diverse population in Scotland, so NHSGGC knew there were opportunities to improve upon this score.
What’s more, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is the largest health board in Scotland and spends £811 million per annum, with third party providers, so the opportunities it knew it could offer these minority groups were high.
The Project
NHSGGC worked with SDP to outline the goals of its diversity in procurement project. The project aimed to promote wider participation in the NHSGGC supply chain from SMEs. As well as this, it encouraged businesses led by, for and with people with protected characteristics (as defined by the Equalities Act Scotland & Fairer Scotland Duty) to work with NHSGGC. Finally, the project outlined measures to help small businesses understand opportunities that are tendered by the NHS.
To achieve the project goals, SDP hosted six supplier engagement and tender training webinars with NHSGCC, its project partners, and potential suppliers. Businesses, including social enterprises of all sizes, particularly those that are owned or led by women, minority, disabled and LGBTQ+ individuals, were invited to participate.
The Results
Over the course of these webinars, there were 136 attendees, from 127 Scottish businesses. Overall, 64% of the Scottish SMEs that attended identified as being 50% or more owned or led by individuals with protected characteristics.
81% of those suppliers who responded to the post-training survey said they were more likely to bid for future public contracts as a result of participating.
Following the training, an NHSGGC partner engagement event was also held, and a free promotional toolkit was given to them. This toolkit was offered so that NHSGGC partners could share news about the SDP and NHSGGC project, as well as sharing updates on future SDP training webinars. By sharing these resources with their wider network, the partners helped spread the news about the contract opportunities at NHSGGC to a wider supply chain.
Qualitative feedback on all of the SDP and NHSGGC events highlighted significant learning, growing participant awareness, and increasing intentions to become a part of the NHSGGC future supply chain.
Community Wealth Building Raises the Roof
Old Plean Roofing originally registered with the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) in 2018 and the business has attended multiple events since, including tender training, and Meet the Buyer events, with the intention to better understand the public sector bidding process. The small business attended Stirling Council’s Community Wealth Building Supplier Event in July 2022 to renew its approach to public sector tendering.
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