1. An Introduction to Tendering and Collaboration
Claire McLaughlin - P4P Support Coordinator 
An Introduction to Tendering and Collaboration 
Good morning and welcome to the Partnership for Procurement roadshow event, and thank you for attending today. My name is Claire McLaughlin– I help coordinate the P4P programme across Scotland 
Great turnout shows that there is a real appetite in the third sector to consider tendering for contracts, and with working with other organisations to access opportunities.
The purpose of today’s session is to introduce the P4P service, provide you with details of upcoming contract opportunities for Ayrshire based organisations as well as providing you with information how to identify opportunities, and how you could form consortia to bid for contracts that you ordinarily might not bid for alone. 
Today is a fantastic opportunity to network with other like-minded organisations as well as giving you a chance to meet face to face with P4P.
Can I also take this opportunity to thank all of the event partners involved in putting this event together – hayley mearns of Voluntary Action Angus, Susan Smith of Angus business connections and Lesley walker of Angus Council (economic development) whose support has made today possible –
Some house keeping toiets, firealams

2. Agenda 13:00 – 13:15 Welcome and overview
13:15 – 13:30 An Introduction to P4P
13:30 – 14:15 Identify and respond to contract opportunities
14:15 – 14:30 Comfort break
14:30 – 15:15 Collaboration and Partnership Working 
15:15 – 15:45 Collaboration group exercise
15:45 – 16:00 Summary and Q and A 
Quite a packed agenda very much an introductory session.  what sits behind some of the general point lots of legislation etxc that could merit a sess io0n of its own but really trying to give a light introduction with a view tyo showing you where to get further help and support if required

3. About P4P
P4P is an initiative, managed by Senscot, which supports social enterprises and the third sector to:
better access public contracts and other contracting opportunities
build partnerships and consortia.
P4P is a national initiative which supports social enterprises and third sector organisations to better access public contracts and other contracting opportunities and to build partnerships and consortia.
The programme is managed by Senscot but is a partnership between Senscot, Social Firms Scotland, the Scottish Community Alliance and Cooperative Development Scotland.
Senscot is the national organisation which supports the development of social enterprises in Scotland.

4. Background
Established as a direct result of the Scottish Government’s new 10 year Social Enterprise Strategy  which highlighted the government’s aim of increasing the number of social enterprises delivering public services. 
The Scottish Government believes that social enterprises and third sector organisations can achieve much more through collaboration rather than working alone.
Background
The public sector in Scotland spends in excess of £11 billion each year purchasing a wide variety of goods and services.
In recent years there have been a number of changes to procurement law, providing the public sector with some of the tools they require to help third sector organisations to bid for contracts. This came about through the Procurement Reform Act of 2014.
The Act requires public bodies to consider how their procurement activity can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area and facilitate the involvement of third sector organisations in the process. This is known as the ‘sustainable procurement duty’.
But despite this progress, according to the 2017 social enterprise census, the majority of social enterprises (80%) still do not bid and win contracts with the public sector. Most remain small – operating with an annual income of £100,000. 
The Scottish Government’s 10 year social enterprise strategy highlighted the government’s aim of increasing the number and range of social enterprises involved in the delivery of the country’s public services. The Scottish Government believes that social enterprises can achieve much more by working together.
Benefits of collaboration can include securing additional resources, creating efficiencies, better outcomes for clients, improving long term sustainability, and giving you a stronger united voice when approaching funders/commissioners.
P4P was established as a direct result of the Scottish Government’s new 10 year Social Enterprise Strategy, specifically the 3 year action plan ‘Building a Sustainable Social Enterprise Sector in Scotland’ covering the years

5. What support does P4P offer?
Support with developing partnerships or consortia at all stages
One-to-one support to help organisations become 'tender ready' or advice with writing tenders
Research in relation to procurement
What support does P4P Offer 
We offer a range of free services for social enterprises and the wider third sector, including:
Support to become ‘tender ready’ or with writing tenders – this could include research to identify procurement opportunities; developing a ‘bid library’ prior to tendering; training in how to use Public Contracts Scotland; support with planning to write your bid; as well as with reviewing your tender submission drafts.
Support with developing your partnership or consortium at all stages – for example by providing you with a bespoke project plan you can follow; facilitating initial partnership meetings; support to compile a partnership agreement; market assessment to scope out potential tendering or funding opportunities; as well as exploring the range of consortia models you could use.
You can find further details about what services we offer on our website.

6. P4P website www.p4p.org.uk Upcoming events
Current/future tenders and partnership opportunities
Resources database
P4P Toolkits
Ready for Business Third Sector Register
P4P Website
We have recently re-launched the P4P website – which is
The website is a fantastic resource for the sector and has a range of useful information, and resources. This includes:
Details of upcoming events 
Information on current and future tender opportunities
A new page which allows you to post a notice that you’re looking for partners for a particular project or upcoming tender
An extensive resources database which includes case studies, guidance documents, templates, the 10 Stage Guide to Procurement and the P4P Collaboration Toolkit

7. Ready for Business Register
The Ready for Business Third Sector Register (RfB Register) is a searchable database for finding information on third sector suppliers.
Ready for Business Register
The website also now hosts the Ready for Business Third Sector Register. This is a searchable database for the public and private sector to find social enterprise and third sector partners. If you are not registered already then please do. Registration only takes 10 minutes and you can update your profile at any time.

8. 10 Stage Guide to Procurement
Aimed at organisations who are either considering tendering for the first time or would like to improve their skills.
The guide will assist you to build you capacity and capability in relation to tendering and procurement.
Broken down into 10 stages so you can drop in and out at a pace which suits you.
10 Stage Guide to Procurement
The 10 Stage Guide to Procurement is aimed at third sector organisations who are either considering tendering for public contracts for the first time or have some experience in tendering and would like to improve their skills.
The guide has been broken down into 10 stages which means you can drop in and out of it and learn at a pace which suits you.
Both the Collaboration Toolkit and the 10 Stage Guide can be found on the ‘P4P Toolkits’ section of the P4P website.

9. Stage 1 – Understanding your market
Things to consider 
Who will buy my products/services?
What is the Public Sector in Scotland?
With whom do you want to do business? 
Who are my competitors/and or potential collaborators? 
Refer to 10 stage guide  Understanding your market

10. Stage 2 Knowing your Organisation
Things to consider
your current contracts, including customer feedback and current performance;
your strengths and weaknesses; SWOT ANALYSIS 
current geographical coverage;
pricing structures
unique selling point(s) of your organisation;
current sub-contracting undertaken, either by you or to you;
current collaboration e.g. consortium, joint ventures, etc.;
areas of development/expansion for your organisation in the future.

11. SWOT Analysis Strengths What do we do better than anyone else?
What makes you unique?
What do others see as your strengths?
Weaknesses
Where could you improve?
What should you avoid?
Opportunities
Government policy
Do people have a need?
Changes in technology
Threats
What challenges do you face?
What are your competitors doing?
Technology issues?
Financial issues?
SWOT Analysis
In pairs - explain your business and then complete a SWOT then vice a versa 20 mins

12. Stage 3 Finding Opportunities
Public Contracts Scotland
Live tender opportunities (worth over 50k) are published on Public Contracts Scotland
Default tender portal for contracts advertised by Scottish public bodies.
Opportunities under 50k are mostly procured as a ‘quick quote’
Stage 3 Finding opportunities
Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) currently has a list of 1286 buyers shown on its website and users can search for buyers by location and industry sector. Not all of these are public sector organisations but all public sector buyers must use PCS to advertise contracts valued at £50k or over.

13. Stage 3 Finding Opportunities
Key Actions 
Register via
Set Up Alert Profile
Set up organisations Supplier Finder Profile
Events, Networking and Relationship-building
You can identify potential opportunities which are not yet live either through public bodies’ contract registers or forward purchasing plans
Stage 3 Finding Opportunities 
A Contract Register is a list of all live contracts a public body holds
It includes information such as the title of the contract, duration, value, current suppliers and whether an extension could be applied
Contract registers can be used to predict upcoming tender opportunities based on the contract end date
Contract registers can be found either on the public body’s ‘Buyer Profile’ on PCS or on their website’s procurement page

14. Stage 6 Tender procedures
There are a number of different types of procurement procedure including:
- Open Procedure (single stage process)
- Restricted Procedure (two stage process)
Quick Quotes
Stage 6 Tender Procedures 
Refer to 10 stage guide 
Open Procedure a single stage procurement procedure 

15. Preparation is everything
Timescales! 
How to prepare in advance
Develop a bid library 
Template ESPD
PCS Tender extended profile
Preparation is everything  
Refer to stage 6 Tender Procedures 
Open tenders must be advertised for a minimum of 35 days, or 30 days if the tender can be submitted electronically
If the contracting authority first issues a PIN for an upcoming tender then the tender can be advertised for only 15 days
In matters of urgency (and evidence can be submitted to support this) tenders can be advertised for a minimum of 15 days

16. Bid Library Example content Accreditations and Awards
Memorandum and Articles of Association
All relevant identification numbers
Template ESPD
Executive summary
Insurance documentation
Financial documents
Model Answers
Policies and procedures
Staff CVs
Bid Library – make reference to guide 

17. Supplier Bid Process Download Tender Documents Use Q&A Facility on PCS
Bid Team?
Structure & format of Response
Bid or No Bid?
Key Milestones
Value Proposition
Pricing Strategy
Draft Response
Review & Revise
Review & Revise
Submit

18. Stage 8 Writing Your Bid Make sure you understand:​ ​
The needs and objectives of the buying organisation​
The buyer’s selection criteria and decision-making process​  ​
Top Tips!​
Read and re-read the tender documents to ensure you’ve got a clear understanding of what’s required. ​
If there is more than one person working on the bid make sure to communicate effectively regarding targets, milestones, roles and responsibilities.​
Stage 8 writing your bid  read slide out first then - refer to stage 8 in 10 stage guide

19. Stage 9 Pricing For consideration
What is the current pricing/value of the contract?
What might competitors charge?
What level of margin do you require and what might you achieve?
Stage 9 Pricing 
The price of a product or service needs to cover all the costs and allow for a profit, but it must also take account of what competitors are charging and how much customers will be prepared to pay. Setting too high a price can lead to lost sales. Setting too low a price will reduce profits and possibly result in the business failing.

20.     Stage 9 Pricing
There are two main steps to follow when setting a price:
Determine the costs of producing and delivering a product or service.
Set a price that is high enough to cover the costs, but low enough to be competitive.
Stage 9 Pricing 
The price of a product or service needs to cover all the costs and allow for a profit, but it must also take account of what competitors are charging and how much customers will be prepared to pay. Setting too high a price can lead to lost sales. Setting too low a price will reduce profits and possibly result in the business failing.

21. Support available P4P Resources - www.p4p.org.uk One to one support
Supplier Development Programme - 
Just Enterprise - 

22. Why Collaborate? Better able to compete for contracts/bigger contracts
Financial savings through shared overheads and development costs
Diversify your sources of income
A wider geographic reach for your services and/or products
Sharing risks
An ability to network and learn from each other
It could mean you have a stronger, united voice
Why Collaborate?
Read to slide 

23. P4P Collaboration Toolkit
Developed to support organisations who are considering working together.
You can use the toolkit as a quick ‘go to’ guide to collaboration and to track your progress.
It has been prepared with three phases that follow the typical lifecycle of a collaborative project.
P4P Collaboration Toolkit 
Available on-line  along with our survey – self assessment for all partners on-line

24. What is a ‘consortium’?
Definition – two or more organisations working together to deliver services
What is a consortium?
We define a consortium as a collaboration of two or more organisations who are working together to deliver services or products. This often involves tendering for contracts.
Still confused? Check out this diagram.
Think about collaboration as a roadmap. At one end you have ‘networks’ – a loose grouping of organisations who deliver similar services or products, such as a membership organisation. From a network you might have a cluster of organisations in a certain sector or geography– think Silicon Valley in the US, or perhaps the video game industry in Dundee. From within a network or cluster you may then develop a relationship with some other organisations, which could in turn lead to some joint working on an informal basis. From this you may then decide to form a consortium where you see a particular market opportunity, such as a tender you could bid for jointly. 
As you can imagine there are in fact different ways of going about this – and each have their pros and cons.  Just now I’m going to provide some detail on the models you could use, including their pros and cons, and providing some case study examples where I can.

25. Informal network Informal network
An informal network is a loose consortium where organisations come together to bid for contracts but there is no new legal structure and no organisation leads.
A variation on this model is where you could opt to have a rotating lead organisation if you are bidding for multiple contracts. This means depending on the nature or location of the contract a different partner organisation leads the consortium.
Pros
Members retain total independence and control and manage their own contracts – this means they can retain their own strong identity as a result 
It spreads the risk between the members of the consortium 
Often a first step to a formally constituted consortium – it is a way of testing out the concept prior to formalising the structures and establishing a new legal body, or ‘super provider’ consortium 
Cons 
There is no legal entity for commissioners to contract with, so they cannot hold contracts. This means that each individual partner organisation will have a direct link with the buyer organisation. Buyers may find this hard to manage 
It does not allow for coordinated service delivery as well as each of the consortium members are managing their own contracts 

26. Managing Agent Managing agent
This is where an existing organisation bids for contracts and then finds subcontractors to deliver the service. They do not deliver any of the service provision themselves, instead they specialise in providing a contract winning and management solution. 
Think of it a bit like a shell company – it’s there to manage the contract and act as the main contact for the buyer. 
The lead organisation will be the only organisation who holds a contract directly with the buyer. 

27. Case Study – 3SC
3SC bids for and manages contracts on behalf of third sector organisations
It manages the bidding process and builds supply chains of local organisations allowing smaller third sector providers to compete for and deliver large contracts
Operates in the employability, criminal justice and disabilities sectors
England and Wales only
Case Study – 3SC
3SC, which stands for Third Sector Consortium, bids for and manages public contracts on behalf of third sector organisations. It manages the bidding process and builds supply chains of local organisations allowing smaller third sector providers to compete for and deliver large contracts. 
3SC has built supply chains and worked with more than 550 different delivery organisations across 16 programmes in the welfare to work/employment, young people, criminal justice, and disabilities sectors. 
One thing to note is that it currently does not operate in Scotland and there is not a similar organisation here. 

28. Case study – CRNS Reuse Consortium
The CRNS Reuse Consortium comprises 17 accredited furniture reuse members.
The consortium supports local authority areas in providing 34 key household items through the Reuse Lot of the Scotland Excel Domestic Furniture and Furnishings Framework.
Currently supplying 3 local authorities: Fife, Aberdeen and Renfrewshire.
Case Study – CRNS Reuse Consortium
The Community Resources Network Scotland (CRNS) is the national membership body for community organisations managing waste resources at a local level through recycling, reuse, composting, waste reduction and waste education activities.  
In 2016 CRNS decided to bid for a place on the Scotland Excel framework for domestic furniture which local authorities can use for purchasing furniture for domestic properties. The framework also covered reuse goods which provided CRNS members with an opportunity to bid as a consortium.
CRNS took the lead in bidding for the contract and is also the lead organisation for delivery. 
CRNS consulted its membership to find out who would be interested in joining the consortium. 
Once the partnership structure was finalised CRNS took responsibility for co-ordinating all meetings and documentation required for the tender submission. A steering group was formed which agreed the consortium’s pricing strategy and ensured that all consortium members had in place the required processes and procedures. 
Fife Council, Aberdeen City Council, and Renfrewshire Council have all opted to purchase reuse furniture through the Scotland Excel framework. Local authorities can raise an order through a bespoke system CRNS has developed where items for supply are contained within a catalogue on this system.
Key success factors have included:
• Dedicated resource at CRNS helped keep momentum within both CRNS and with the CRNS membership, as well as collating the documentation required to bid and ensuring organisations had in place the necessary policies and procedures 
• External support from sources including Senscot, who helped put together the initial Memorandum of Understanding, and a consultant who supported CRNS with the tender submission 
• CRNS, as a membership organisation, was an obvious choice as lead organisation for the consortium 
• Pre-engagement with both Scotland Excel and existing strong relationships with some local authorities. 

29. Managing Provider Managing provider
‘Managing provider’ is similar to managing agent but the lead body also delivers some of the service and is the main contact for the commissioner.  
This is a common model used for consortia, especially for a live contract opportunity where there are restrictions on the amount of time you have to develop a partnership because you are working towards an immovable tender deadline. Sometimes as a result you are forced into a managing provider model when if you had time to develop a consortium properly you would opt for an alternative. 
Managing Provider - Pros: 
Similar to managing agent in that a lead organisation can bid for the contract on your behalf which means if you are not the lead then it will be less labour intensive and time-consuming 
The lead organisation is an existing organisation with a track record and is already known to commissioners 
There will hopefully be an existing infrastructure that you can tap into if you are a subcontractor 
Again if you are a subcontractor you will not be responsible for managing the contract if successful, or with speaking with commissioners/buyer organisations. 
Managing Provider - Cons 
The lead organisation has sole legal accountability for contracts and bears all the risk 
The lead partner could potentially bring the provision in-house 
Loss of control/autonomy if you are a subcontractor 
Financially the lead provider will most likely charge a management fee which will mean you have less money to spend on delivering the contract 
Loss of identity – again you may feel that you do not get the recognition you deserve for delivering the contract since you are not the prime contractor 

30. Super Provider Super Provider
Under the super provider model, organisations come together to collaborate to set up what we would call a formal consortium, a separate legal structure which embodies collective ownership and control. Through this structure, many separate providers effectively become one large provider. 
Core management functions of the consortium are carried out through a central support unit, leaving the providers to deliver frontline services through a subcontract. This is also known as a ‘hub and spoke’ model. 
Super Provider - Pros 
It is owned and run by the member organisations which means that it avoids the problem of having to find a lead organisation, and with one organisation dominating the consortium as a result 
It protects individual members from risk 
Acts as a single point of contact for commissioners and clients, making it a more attractive proposition for the buyer when writing the bid 
It could mean you have more bargaining power collectively – a single united voice 
Super Provider - Cons 
It can be difficult to prove your track record during the early stages of the consortium’s development. This can give you difficulties when completing the ESPD document as a consortium – the buyer cannot carry out a financial assessment of the super provider consortium because there may be no funding attached yet to the organisation 
Significant development funding and time may be required during the early stages - this is not a model you can often use when responding to live tender opportunity due to the time required in setting up a new legal body 
Setting up a new legal body will require some administration and ongoing maintenance going forward – so you could view it as giving you more work. The new legal body will need a board and will need to submit returns and accounts 

31. Case study – SCHW
SCHW is a partnership organisation which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland. It has 74 community-led partner organisations.
The SCHW consortium approach is made up of 5 stages: Identification, Cooperation, Coordination, Collaboration, and Sustainability.
Case study – SCHW
SCHW is a partnership organisation which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland. SCHW has 74 community-led partner organisations, employing over 500 staff and engaging over 300,000 beneficiaries in health-enhancing activities and events each year.
The SCHW consortium approach ensures has 5 different stages:
1. Identification – when a funding opportunity arises all SCHW members are invited to be part of a group exploring a bid.
2. Co-operation – partners co-design the bid over 3 meetings.
3. Co-ordination – if the bid is successful the delivery team and SCHW meet up to plan delivery, signing a formal Partnership Agreement.
4. Collaboration – during the delivery phase the partners agree a local reporting system and update their progress using Online LEAP on a monthly basis. Partnership meetings are held on a bi-monthly basis.
5. Sustainability – SCHW monitors progress and reports back to funders. This information is also used to plan for sustainability.
Between 2012 and 2016 SCHW was successful in attracting over £300,000 in funding for community-led health programmes. 
Key points to consider:
SCHW itself has no staff or premises which means its capacity to develop the consortium is limited. Instead it relies on a board of 10 volunteers from community-led health improvement organisations
Where the consortium is interested in pursuing an opportunity and if senior staff from each organisation cannot commit to participating in three set days of bid development the consortium will decide not to pursue the opportunity any further
The SCHW board facilitator of the bid development process ensures that there is a climate characterised by openness, trust and friendship amongst the consortium members.

32. Summary Consortia models each have pros and cons
If you value having an equal say a super provider, informal network or co-operative may be best
If you wish to access contracts without setting up a legal body then you could use the managing provider model – you may be forced to use this if responding to a live opportunity
An alternative may be an informal network – and you could use a rotating lead organisation
Summary

33. Group exercise and discussion

34. Workshop Scenario
An employability contract opportunity will be coming out in 6 months, EmployABLE CIC is interested in bidding for this but can only deliver part of the specification.  
EmployABLE CIC know of 2 organisations who they could potentially partner with and together they would be able to meet the full specifications of the contract. 
Whilst EmployABLE has a strong track record of delivering services and a good reputation locally this is the first time they have looked to work in collaboration with other organisations. 

35. First impressions on ANY challenges they will face? 

36. What should they do first?

37. How to get started… Toolkit Phase 1
Assess your readiness for collaborating with others
Appoint someone to lead the project within organisation
Identify potential partners and assess compatibility
Pre start Scoping and Planning 
Establish a working group

38. Preparing… Toolkit Phase 2
Agree project scope, objectives, roles and responsibilities.
Create Collaborative Project Team Environment 
Outline resource requirements to establish, develop and sustain the project 
Agree Consortium Model and Legal Structure 
Develop Processes and Procedures

39. What if they only have six weeks?

40. Collaborating on a live tender
Many of the Collaboration Toolkit steps will not be possible when collaborating with others on a live opportunity with a short deadline
When responding to a live tender you will probably be forced into adopting the managing provider or informal network models
Your focus should be on: assessing readiness, identifying and assessing partners, completing a Non Disclosure Agreement, agreeing roles and responsibilities of partners/finances
Most importantly – you should pull together a Partnership Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding

41. Any questions?

42. Summary and closing remarks
Can I please take this opportunity to thank all of our speakers again and to all of you for attending today. I hope that you’ve found it useful, and has given you some food for thought in terms of looking at tendering for contracts, and with partnering with other organisations to do this.
I thought it would be worth summarising some of the key points raised today:
The public sector spends £11 billion each year purchasing a wide variety of goods and services
You can find contract opportunities either on Public Contracts Scotland, or identify future opportunities by checking public bodies’ contract registers and forward procurement plans
Third sector organisations are often more likely to be able to access procurement opportunities by collaborating rather than working alone
Benefits of collaboration can include financial savings, diversification of income and an opportunity to learn from each other 
There are a range of consortium models you can use to bid for contracts which have each have pros and cons
There is plenty support available – including from ourselves on a one to one basis as well as the workshops delivered by Just Enterprise and Supplier Development programme
Remember to check out P4P’s online resources – including the 10 Stage Guide to Procurement and Collaboration Toolkit.
We will send a copy of today’s slides to all attendees by the end of this week as well as upload a copy onto our website’s resource database.
We would be grateful if you could fill out the feedback forms which are included in your pack and return these to either myself or Claire. Getting feedback from organisations is really important to us – it helps us improve our services going forward.
Lunch is now going to be served – so please help yourself It’s also an excellent opportunity to network and ask either us or any of the other speakers any questions that you’ve got.
Thank you again.

43. Additional support

44. Thank you for attending