Recession Negative, Procurement Positive

From Suppliers Manual

There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the press recently regarding spending cuts, VAT rises, fuel costs and inflation, which is affecting nearly every single one of us, but there is always a chance to see the silver lining. Buyers in the public sector have an increasingly tight budget resulting in the money available being stretched as far as possible - procurement solutions can help suppliers win business from these buyers.

The Tender Notification Service TNS alerts suppliers of available tenders every working day. The tenders go straight through the In-tend database which means there are no delays for the supplier receiving the tender. The tender notifications that are received can be filtered by key words or regional area, so in a time when business is hard to find, spreading services thinly and covering many sectors will help businesses stay stable. Profit margins may be lower to encourage trade and keep businesses afloat but this gives suppliers a head start when buyers eventually have more money to spend as they have increased their customer base.

Making a business more credible will also encourage more trade when times are that extra bit harder and public sector buyers are more careful with the public purse. By completing a National Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (NPQQ), suppliers can raise their exposure to win more public sector contracts. The NPQQ helps suppliers gain experience in completing questionnaires under tendering conditions.

Buyers evaluate a tender on best value for money which includes the full price offered for the works but also how capable the supplier is in carrying out the contract. This may include past experience with similar contracts, the length of time it may take to complete the contract and any other answers given in the tender submission. Information given and evaluated at PQQ stage may not be considered for evaluation by the buyer at this ITT stage.

Value for money is very often more important for buyers than the lowest price so it’s not always the big international companies that will survive the recession, with the right tools it’s still possible to find trade even if the company is small.