Bids, Tenders and Proposals: Winning Business through Best Practice (Bids, Tenders & Proposals: Winning Business Through Best)

The categories of information to be supplied will vary from client to client and will usually reflect the scale of the contract. Contractors may be asked to provide material on the following points, as appropriate:

Corporate data

• Name, ownership, nationality and structure of the organization; details of company registration; year of establishment; identity of parent company, directors, partners, key personnel, associated companies, retained subconsultants.

• Name of the responsible contact person.

• Office locations (head and regional), with phone, fax and e-mail details.

Experience, skills and performance

• Experience and past performance (similar contracts, relevant expertise, work in comparable environments, related technologies, etc), indicating roles and contract values plus the names and addresses of client officials or managers responsible for the work. Clients may stipulate a minimum or maximum number of contracts to be listed. They may require evidence of successful team working and partnering arrangements, quality management and experience of coordinating the activities of subcontractors and specialist consultants.

• Evidence of areas of specialist skills and competence.

• Evidence of quality accreditation and quality systems in use.

• Current project commitments, with names of clients.

• Evidence of breadth and quality of recent project performance: eg the past two years' work in list form.

• Contract performance record - specifically any failure to complete a contract or termination by a client, with an explanation of the reasons.

• Statements on professional conduct issues and experience, including any history of arbitration, litigation or industrial disputes.

Resources

• Strength, quality and availability of staff, including CVs of key personnel.

• Charge rate information for key personnel.

• Specialist resources and facilities, eg IT, laboratories, training.

• Copies of policies on professional development and training, equal opportunities, health and safety, environmental issues, industrial relations, etc.

• Information on insurances and professional indemnities.

• Staff turnover for the last two/three years.

Financial status

• A banker's reference.

• Published or certified accounts for the last two/three years of trading, plus a copy of the latest management accounts or other evidence of financial status. In line with its policy of helping small firms to gain access to the public sector marketplace, the UK government advises authorities to request only two years of accounts and to accept other appropriate information if accounts are not available.

In addition, contractors may be required to include statements declaring their intention to submit a bid if invited to do so (this is intended to reduce the incidence of abortive shortlists), and confirming that neither they nor any individual or organization associated in the pre-qualification request is liable to be faced with a conflict of interest if selected to undertake the contract. If the pre-qualification request is being put forward by a consortium or group of contractors, information will normally be required from each member of the group.