Case studies

Wean's World: Procurement Time

Through the Supplier Development Programme, North Lanarkshire Council arranged for two Public Contracts Scotland training sessions in March 2019 to provide practical assistance to SMEs interested in apply for a place on its 1140 Hours interim Framework.

Weans World Childminding participated in this free training and was SDP’s featured SME business for the month of March 2019. Weans World Childminding confirmed that its bid was successful in June 2019.

Weans World was established in 2011 and is located in Shawhead, Coatbridge.

Geraldine Duffy, Owner of Weans World Childcare, really enjoys her job, despite it being challenging at times. She loves helping young children reach milestones and teaching the wee ones, especially those who have no siblings, to share and be part of a team. Together with her husband, Chris, who works as her assistant, Geraldine’s childminding business goes from strength to strength, and Weans World received an excellent grading in its annual inspection from SCSWIS. Geraldine attended the Supplier Development Programme’s training workshop on how to bid for North Lanarkshire Council’s 1140 Hours interim Framework opportunity through Scotland’s public sector procurement website, alongside more than 60 public and private early learning providers in March 2019. She subsequently submitted a bid through PCS and found out she was successful in June 2019.

Five years ago, Geraldine tendered for a similar contract for North Lanarkshire Council, which was not a good experience. She had not undertaken any training for that previous opportunity, and harboured serious concerns that the 2019/2020 early years public contract would result in a similar negative experience. All of her fears were dispelled when she attended the Supplier Development Programme’s training, delivered in a calm and warm manner by trainer Gill Joy of Intend Business Development. This training gave Geraldine the confidence she needed to use the PCS-Tender portal and submit a bid to continue to deliver her services for North Lanarkshire Council.

Geraldine said: “Learning how to use PCS-Tender was really good. Words can be difficult to turn into our terminology so going step-by-step alleviated my fears about online bidding. I was so nervous about bidding online that I brought my son so he could potentially help me fill everything in online, but now that I’ve had this training I feel much more confident to bid online myself. I would definitely recommend SDP training to help other childcare providers find the confidence to bid for early learning contract opportunities in other local authorities.”

As part of a phased 1,140 hours expansion implementation strategy, North Lanarkshire Council Education and Families Committee approved the procurement of an interim Framework for 2-5 year olds which will last for one year. Geraldine said: “If it wasn't for SDP Scotland, God knows how my tender application would have turned out. A million thanks for the support SDP gave me to win a place on this Framework!”