InvestNEL: Bid Writing and Tendering Workshops

InvestNEL are happy to announce the creation of two new workshops designed to educate and prepare businesses to win business in the public and private sector through effective bid writing and identifying tendering opportunities.

Delivered by Tender360, these two workshops will empower SMEs with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to identify, respond to, and win public and private sector contracts, including those issued by Local Authorities and their partners. The programme aims to:

• Increase SME participation in public sector procurement opportunities.
• Build awareness of procurement processes, portals, and expectations.
• Equip participants with practical skills to develop compliant and competitive tender submissions.
• Improve local supplier readiness to respond to council and public sector tenders.
• Support economic growth through increased contract wins for local businesses.

Session 1 – Thursday 16 October, 09:30 – 12:30, Europarc Innovation Centre, Innovation Way, Grimsby, DN37 9TT

• Intro to Public Sector Tendering
• What is public sector procurement?
• Key legislation
• Who buys what and how?
• Common procurement portals (Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, regional portals)
• Buyer expectations and terminology
• Top Tips
• Preparing Your Business to Bid
• Getting tender ready: policies, insurances, accreditations, and references
• Developing a bid ready document
• Understanding buyer evaluation criteria (quality, price, social value)
• Avoiding common readiness pitfalls

Session 2 – Thursday 23 October, 09:30 – 12:30, Europarc Innovation Centre, Innovation Way, Grimsby, DN37 9TT

• Finding and Assessing Opportunities
• How to identify relevant contracts
• Bid/no bid decision-making frameworks
• Understanding specifications and requirements
• Intro to frameworks, DPS, and open tenders
• Writing a Strong Tender Response
• Understanding the invitation to tender (ITT) structure
• Responding to method statements
• Demonstrating capability, capacity, and added value
• Practical tips for writing clearly and persuasively
• Pricing, Commercials, and Social Value
• Understanding pricing models
• Basics of commercial strategy
• Social value in practice (local employment, environmental impact)
• Evaluation scoring and weighting

These workshops are eligible to businesses with a registered address in North East Lincolnshire. The two workshops combine to form the complete programme, it is not possible to register for only one workshop session.

There are a limited number of places available on the workshops, unfortunately we are unable to guarantee a place for all interested businesses.

To register your interest please contact enquiries@investnel.co.uk, including:

Registered business name and address
Number of years trading
Number of staff employed
Please include any details about your businesses past experiences with tendering and bid-writing
Confirmation your business can commit to both workshop dates

Businesses offered a place on the workshops are asked to provide a £25.00 deposit. This refundable deposit will be returned on completion of both workshops.

Workshops are funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.