London Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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The Public Procurement The Public Procurement Crash Course: 10 Top TipsCrash Course: 10 Top Tips

Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity AreaLocal Procurement Event 19 June 2012

Stephen RegaladoCorporate Procurement Officer: Customer Engagement

Lambeth Corporate Procurement

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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Welcome!

Stephen Regalado, Lambeth Corporate Procurement Officer: Customer Engagement; working in public sector procurement for 15 years and in private sector for 6 years:

• London Borough of Lambeth• Tate Britain• National Trust• Blockbuster Video• US Marine Corps

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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The Public Procurement Crash Course

My goals today:• To provide you with some tips on getting through the

public procurement process so you can win more work from Lambeth, Wandsworth and the rest of the UK public sector.

• Give you resources for preparing a winning tender or PQQ document.

• Answer any questions you may have about procurement at Lambeth.

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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Hot Topics

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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Lambeth Hot Topics

• Savings• Collaboration – partnerships, consortia• Efficiency Agenda – Cabinet Office initiatives• SMEs, third sector organisations• Procure 4 London• Shared Services• Community benefits – apprenticeships, job creation and development• The Cooperative Council – co-production, community commissioning• E procurement• Innovation, flexibility

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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Community Benefits

• Community benefits are initiatives, schemes or programmes that suppliers can provide in addition to the service they provide - for the benefit of the communities affected by the service.

• Suppliers will be asked what they can do to ensure that their service benefits the community.

• Different types of contract will have different community benefit opportunities. Some examples:– Social: apprenticeship programmes, Section 106, training

opportunities– Economic: employment opportunities, use of local supply chains– Environmental: environmental programmes, carbon emissions,

recycling, alternative energy sources

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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10 Top Tips

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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1. Do Your Homework

• Find out all you can about the public body who is awarding the contract.

• Look at their website and read their aims, goals and strategies so you can understand their priorities, processes and requirements. See the Lambeth website here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/

• Where relevant, use and support that information in your tender.• Read through “Selling To The Council”, guidance on the tendering

process at Lambeth: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/Selli ngToTheCouncil.htm.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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2. You Must Be Pre Qualified

• All suppliers tendering with or providing quotes to Lambeth must be prequalified.

• The Lambeth Business Questionnaire (BQ) is used for tenders valued at £25,000 and greater and suppliers must complete it online. The best scoring BQs create a shortlist for invitation to tender.

• For quotes valued from £0.00-£25,000 suppliers need to complete a 2 page Supplier Self Certification Form.

• Advice:– Answer all questions honestly, briefly and in full.– If you have any questions, contact the officer who sent out the BQ– No blank spaces!– Complete the BQ in full and submit it on time.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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3. Read & Understand

• Read all the tender documentation clearly to understand what you will be required to deliver.

• An officer will be assigned as first point of contact on the procurement exercise. Contact them if you have any questions.

• Consider the time commitment when tendering and how it might affect your business and your life.

• Try to decide early on if the contract is one that you can deliver.

• There are NO STUPID QUESTIONS!

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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4. Provide The Right Information

• The tender will ask all suppliers to provide some very specific information about the quality and price of the service they can provide.

• Provide all of the information requested and do not leave any blank spaces. If you cannot provide some of the information, for whatever reason, ask for advice.

• All Tenders will be scored and a blank space always gets ZERO POINTS.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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5. Get Ready To Go Online

• Lambeth and other local authorities are working towards increasing the number of tendering exercises that are conducted online.

• At Lambeth all tenders valued at £25,000 and greater must be completed online.

• The EU Supply system we use is easy, flexible and secure. Login and register onto the Lambeth portal here: https://lblambeth.eu- supply.com/login.asp?B=LBLAMBETH.

• Find the user guides and read more on our eProcument portal on the Lambeth website here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/ePro curement.htm.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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6. Follow The Format

• When you open your tender pack, carefully read through the specification – it is the most important document in the ITT.

• Follow the format of the specification exactly and respond to the specification in the order it is presented.

• This will make it easier to evaluate!• Tenders that cannot be understood can be deemed

“ambiguous tenders” and may be removed from competition.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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7. Show Me The Money

• Be clear on your pricing model and state any assumptions you have made when pricing - for example, resources required by you and/or the Council, timetables, etc.

• Present your prices exactly as they are requested. If you do not understand from the documentation HOW you are meant to express your pricing, ASK.

• Where possible, add any possible pricing improvements:– Price capping– Fixed prices– Volume discounts, etc.

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8. Watch The Clock

• All tenders will have a date for return – make a note of this first and schedule in the work you need to do on your ender.

• You must complete and upload the documents by the given time and date and make sure to sign anything that should be signed.

• In most cases, late tenders will not be considered for further competition. But do not be afraid to ask for more time….

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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9. Get Feedback

• If you are unsuccessful, the authority will offer you a debrief on your tender.

• This will help you to understand how where your tender submission was strong and the areas where you can improve for future tender applications.

• If you are not offered a debriefing, ASK FOR IT.• Debriefing will contain only information about your tender

– not the other suppliers competing for the contract.

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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10. Increase Your Options

• Register with all the local authority and government supplier portals you can!

• These provide organisations with the opportunity to register an interest in supplying goods and services with many councils:– Procure4London– CompeteFor– Exor

bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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What We Want To See From You

Completed tenders that are well presented and completed on time

When preparing your tender, think about the BEST PRICE that you can offer. In public sector procurement we do not negotiate after tenders have been returned

Community benefits

Suppliers who can be flexible and innovative

Collaboration, partnerships, consortia, use of local resources

Sustainability – join the Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code: http://www.greenprocurementcode.co.uk/

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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If You Do Not Win A Contract, Don’t Be Discouraged!

• If you are unsuccessful do not be discouraged - competition for public sector contracts is usually quite strong.

• Public bodies do not retain a “banned list” of suppliers.• Contact the procurement officer concerned for feedback

on which elements of your tender were your strengths and which areas can improve.

• Use the de-briefing information to your advantage.• Keep trying to get your foot in the door…

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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Your Resources

• Procure 4 London: https://www.procure4london.com/• South Bank Employer’s Group: http://www.sbeg.co.uk/• GLE One London: http://www.gle.co.uk/onelondon/• CompeteFor: https://www.competefor.com/business/login.jsp• South London Business: http://www.southlondonbusiness.co.uk/• Contracts Finder: http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/• Lambeth Tenders & Contracts:

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/• Exor: http://www.exorms.co.uk/

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bLondon Borough of LambethCorporate Procurement Team

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My Contact Details

Stephen RegaladoCorporate Procurement Officer: Customer EngagementLondon Borough of LambethThird Floor Olive Morris House18 Brixton HillLondon SW2 1RLPhone: 020 7926 2937Fax: 020 7926 0245Mail: sregalado@lambeth.gov.uk

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