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Begin your tendering journey with SDP's refreshed course content

Supplying to the public sector can be a great way to grow your business. Each year, everything in the public sector is bought – there are very few in-house services across Scotland. The public sector spend adds up to a total spend of £13.3 billion!

The Supplier Development Programme (SDP) has developed a range of introductory courses to help Scottish SMEs, supported businesses and third sector organisations become ‘tender ready’ for any opportunity.

The introductory courses are designed to take you through the process of what you need to know before you even start to write your bid. SDP has expert trainers with years of experience from both the supplier side and buyer side of tendering. At the end of each training session, there will be a Q&A session, where you will have the opportunity to ask the trainers any questions you may have. The Q&A session is also a good opportunity to hear what other businesses are asking.

After the event, you will receive an email asking you to complete one of our feedback forms. Once you have completed your feedback, you will be given access to the presentation slides and the training recorded from the SDP YouTube Channel!

All the introductory courses are suitable for Scottish SMEs that are new or inexperienced in bidding. No previous knowledge or experience is required to attend this training. However, even if you are an expert at tendering and want to refresh your knowledge, you are more than welcome to join the courses.

1.1 Working with the Public Sector – ‘All You Need to Know’

This course is excellent for anyone new to bidding. It provides a comprehensive overview of the public sector marketplace in Scotland and beyond.

• What is the Public Sector?
• Routes onto the Public Sector
• How to find opportunities
• How to create a pipeline of work
• Pre-engagement activities

Book your free place on this next Working with the Public Sector – ‘All You Need to Know’ webinar.

1.2 Using Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) – How to Find and Bid for Opportunities

Public Contracts Scotland is the national public sector tender portal for Scotland. It lists contract opportunities for all sector bodies and has a “Quick Quote” function for lower value contracts. If you want to succeed in working with the public sector it is vital that you know how to properly navigate the PCS and also know how to generate business from it.

• What is Public Contracts Scotland (PCS)
• How to set up your business on PCS
• What functions do you need to use on PCS
• What is PCS-Tender (PCS-T)?
• What is a Quick Quote?
• How does e-invoicing work?

Book your free place on the next Using Public Contract Scotland (PCS) – How to Find and Bid for Opportunities webinar.

1.3 Getting Your Business Tender Ready – The Checklist

To compete effectively for public sector work, you need to have certain information and processes in place before you can begin to bid. This training will help you to understand what the public sector requires and how to work according to the requirements.

• What information and you need to have in place to be able to tender for public sector work
• A supporting checklist to create an action plan for your own business

Book your free place on the next Getting Your Business Tender Ready – The Checklist webinar.

1.4 Planning Your Bid – Time and Resources

The biggest learning curve in tendering is understanding the time, energy, and resources that go into creating a winning bid. The more planning you do before you put pen to paper the easier you’ll find it when you begin to write your bid.

This training will walk you through the steps of how to plan and manage your bid, from capture planning to forming a bid team to creating a bid time plan. Hopefully, equipping you with the skills to make the process as stress-free as possible.

• What work can be done re-tender to make the process of creating the bid less stressful
• How to make objective decisions while managing a bid
• How to create a bid time plan

Book your free place on the next Planning Your Bid – Time and Resources webinar!

Next Steps

The Supplier Development Programme also has a range of Intermediate and Advance training courses. The intermediate courses are ideal for businesses who have some experience of tendering but have had varying success and would like to become more proficient. While the advance courses are for businesses who have a lot of experience in tendering and want advice on how to deliver on your contract successfully or how to expand into new markets.