Case studies

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.

In total, 41 suppliers from 36 unique businesses attended this free online event, to learn how to bid for a place on the Repairs and Maintenance Framework. This included 38 attendees from 34 unique Scottish SME businesses. 

In the post-event survey, 84% of respondents said they felt confident that their bid (to join the framework) would be stronger after attending the SDP webinar. Furthermore, after the training almost all (95%) of respondents felt more positive about potentially working with Scottish Borders Council. 

Suppliers in attendance said:

“I definitely feel more confident about undertaking the tendering process now that I have completed the course. I found the whole webinar useful, as I have never had to do this before.”

“I heard about SDP Scotland through an employee of Scottish Borders Council, they encouraged me to tender as they felt I could offer a lot to the Scottish Borders, both in our trade and how our business operates. [Following the training] I am certainly going to go through the tendering process and hope to be accepted on to the list and being able to tender for work.”

Of the 36 unique businesses that attended the training, 78% were successful in winning a place on the 'Repairs and Maintenance' Framework. What's more, 62% of successful bidders were registered with the Supplier Development Programme. 

Thomas Adamson, Scottish Borders Council Senior Compliance Officer, said:

“We are delighted that 78% of the training attendees were successful in gaining a place on the Scottish Borders Council Repairs and Maintenance Framework."

He added: "Scottish Borders recognises that local SMEs are crucial for the council’s repairs and maintenance. It also understands the difficulties that SMEs face accessing relevant contract opportunities, as well as operating tendering systems.

“The Council organised this free webinar, in partnership with SDP, to help SME businesses understand the framework and how to apply to it using both PCS and PCS-T portals. We are encouraged to see such great attendance.”