Guidance for suppliers
If you have dealings with the Sheffield Homes Procurement Team you can expect the following:
- We will treat you and your organisation with impartiality, honesty and integrity in a spirit of co-operation, not adversity.
- The highest standards will be clearly visible, consistently.
- Competitive tendering conforming to international obligations will be the norm.
- Within the bounds of commercial confidentiality, we will, on request, debrief winners and losers on the outcome of the tendering process to help you deliver an improved performance on future occasions.
- Our contract terms will prevail, but they are reasonable and sometimes negotiable.
- Contract management will be proactive not punitive – we act as partners not policemen.
- A positive response to change, underpinned by common sense.
The best types of organisations for us to deal with are those who:
- Are fair and open in their dealings with customers.
- Put in bids which address the absolute essentials and cover all of the issues in an easy to follow format.
- Fulfil all of the contract conditions that fall to them.
- Recognise, and are seen to recognise, that the key to success lies in the two-way relationship between contractor and customer.
- Share ideas to help us, and them, to improve.
Preparing an Effective Tender
Your tender proposal is the only way you can put forward the case of your organisation in a competitive tendering exercise. Unless you get it right first time, it can become a lost opportunity - leaving you exposed to failure, with a cost but no return. How you prepare and present your tender proposal can be a crucial factor in securing a contract. The following general guidance may help you to understand what can turn a tender into a winning tender.
- Read the Invitation To Tender (ITT) properly – preparation is the key, so understand fully what is being asked of you.
- Respond in the required format – follow the layout requested, keep to the order for documents if one is given, send it to the person named and get the address right.
- Please provide full answers to the questions in the ITT – it's your only chance, so give solutions rather than create more questions. Answer the question but be concise - if people have to work too hard to find the answer it creates a poor impression.
- Be upfront – our ITT will be as honest about the requirement as possible. In return we look for honest bids with no hidden costs. Organisations that 'make the money' through contract variations have a short shelf life in Sheffield Homes.
- If you decide you don’t wish to tender, please tell us why. We can then learn from that for future requirements.
- Time is of the essence – planning ahead to ensure you meet the deadline is essential. In Sheffield Homes timing can be critical - and if you can't meet the bid delivery deadline, what else can't you meet?
- Debriefing – if you don't quite make it this time, ask why. We can all learn from failure but in a positive way. Start your preparation for next time now.
- Bulky bids often mean freebie advertising. Don't use the bid as a vehicle to issue glossy but meaningless brochures about your organisation. It is a waste of your money and our time.
Like others in the public sector, procurement exercises have no hidden agenda. All that we want is to identify suppliers who can work with us to help us achieve our business objectives.
Tender Evaluation
You will under normal circumstances be informed of the broad evaluation criteria used for assessing bids. Rest assured that all bidders are assessed against the same criteria.
We would aim to award a contract as soon as possible after the assessment process has been completed. This might involve you attending an interview when you will be given the opportunity to present your bid in more detail – and the evaluation panel may ask you clarification questions on certain aspects of it.
Debriefing
Within the limits of some commercial confidentiality, Sheffield Homes will always offer unsuccessful tenderers the reasons why their bid failed. This can be by letter, by phone or face to face.
Feedback should be viewed as a two way process. Our comments should be viewed as constructive. They are aimed at making unsuccessful tenderers aware of certain weaknesses (and strengths) and enable them to compete better for future work.
Support for Small to Medium Enterprises
This Department of Trade and Industry website (new window) provides practical advice and support for small to medium enterprises.