Bid Writing Experts
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We strongly believe our role is not simply to 'write' or to respond to tenders but to support our clients to win contracts.
Bid Writing with a wealth of experience
At Thornton and Lowe we are proud to have a wealth of experience working in all the main industry sectors from Construction right through to Office Furniture. Our strong team of tender writers work closely with you throughout the tender and bid writing process to ensure you stand out from your competitors and have the edge in the bidding process.
If you would like to hear more about the sectors we serve, simply click on the links below to access a wealth of information on how we can help you successfully bid for contracts in your sector.
Some of the industries we work with
Some of the services we provide
Bid Review Service
If a business has completed a draft and is looking for an expert, external view point we will often provide a bid review service for our clients.
This can take many forms including:
- Review and comment: this is a lighter touch review where we look at compliance, response structure, unique selling points and added value. We review the draft documents and provide comments and guidance on how our clients can improve their proposal or tender response
- Review and improve: this requires more time as when we take the draft we then manage the bid to completion. We collect further information, re-write and develop.
- Strategy, review and improve: this is the same as the ‘review and improve’ above but with the addition of our involvement at the start of the process. We agree with you the storyboard, structures and win themes of the bid prior to the development of the draft. This means when we get sent the draft (which will be closer to the deadline) there should be less development work required as we are working from agreed starting point.
Bid & Tender Library
Many of our clients ask us to develop or redevelop their core bid library of information and bidding collateral.
As part of our gap analysis we will assess your previous bids and their requirements, along with our best practice sections to ensure when a contract is advertised you spend time tailoring your information and adding value rather than having to find it.
This covers everything from Executive Summaries to Case Studies and CVs, as well as all your frequently asked PQQ and tender questions and answers.
It allows our clients to quickly work from a stronger and up to date set of information which is tailored and developed for their business requirements.
We have recently launched our Tender Library software v2.0 which helps organisations of all sizes to produce better bids.
What is Bid Writing?
The National Careers Service defines a Bid Writer’s role as preparing ‘documents used to pitch for contracts to provide services, or to apply for project funding’.
We see Bid Writing as key within the sales and marketing function for any business involved in formal tenders or contract opportunities. It involves the creation of proposals and responding to formal tender opportunities.
For some organisations, this sits within a larger bid team with Bid Support, Senior Bid Writers, Bid Managers, Work Winning Managers, Capture Managers and Bid Directors. However, for other businesses, the bid writing and management of the bid process belongs to the Senior Management Team or is dispersed across regional sales staff.
Bid Writing is a key skill in an emerging market due to the increasing requirements for value for money, accountability and transparency in public sector contracting authorities and private sector buyers. As a result, more robust procurement rules and procedures are in use. More formal tenders have led to an increased need for a bid and tender solution.
This solution usually comes in the form of directly employed bid professionals, which we supply through our Bid Resource division or through the training of existing staff in Bid Writing, which we offer through our Bid Training division. Outsourced Bid Writing is also a possibility, which we provide via our Bid Writing Consultancy division.
We have recently launched our Tender Library software v2.0 which helps organisations of all sizes to produce better bids.
Talk to us about your bid writing requirements today
Tender Writing Examples
Many businesses who are new to bid writing and tendering have not seen a completed tender response or bid before; an ‘example bid’. As a result, these businesses struggle to know what information should be included and therefore what their response should say and look like.
Thornton & Lowe often get requests for bid writing examples or examples of successful tenders we have submitted. As the vast majority of bids we complete are for our clients, we are of course unable to share their content. However, as part of our Bid Writing Training, we do offer tender writing examples, the content of which has been developed in line with our bidding best practice. We are happy to discuss this once the appropriate NDAs and confidentiality clauses are signed.
Bid Writing Assessment
Another way a business can assess the quality of the bids they produce is by taking advantage of our tender assessment or bid writing reviews. If you have a previous (not live) example of tender writing or a previous bid, we can offer you a tender assessment. This is an opportunity for us to show the value of our tender writing services, whilst giving you a third-party assessment of the quality of your tender submission.
This option gives further insight into how to write a bid by providing you with a brief report highlighting key improvement trends and specific examples, which could have scored more marks within that tender. Demonstrating how you can improve your bid writing going forward, as well as trialling our bid writing services, will ultimately lead your organisation to higher rates of bid success.
