Tendering TogetherGlasgow 11th October 2011

WELCOME

Who’s Who• Martin Grigg, Jillian Moffat: Scottish Enterprise• Pauline Wallace, Supplier Development Prog• Jim Maxwell, Co-operative Development

Scotland• Gill Joy, Intend Business Development• Gavin Tosh, Clerwood Legal Services• Ruth Webber, The Very People• Graeme Cook, Scottish Government

Aim of the Tendering Together programme

Roundtable

Public Sector Procurement – Collaborative Buying Trends

Gill JoyIntend Business Development

• Procurement Reform – Scotland, UK, EU

• Collaborative Purchasing – who? what?

• Regulations for consortium bids

Procurement Reform Scotland

Since 2006 McClelland report:• e-Procurement system (ePS etc)• Standard PQQ format (sPQQ project underway

for 2012)• Public Contracts Scotland + Quick Quote• Procurement Toolkit + Capability Assessments• Single Point of Enquiry• Community Benefit clauses• Collaborative buying organisations

Procurement Reform UK

• Contracts Finder portal >£10K central govt.• SME product surgeries• Greater use of Lots/outcome based specifications• Mystery Shopper • 14 departments have completely eliminated use

of PQQ (below £100k)• Published Departmental spend with SMEs 09/10 • Early indications of greater use of open procedure

Procurement Reform EU

Revised Public Procurement Legislation foreseen for end of 2012 (part of Single Market Act 2012)

Consultation with all Member States re changes to improve Regulations

Evaluation of impact of current PP Regulations47% increase in use of LotsFrameworks increase four foldSMEs won 34% of OJEU contracts

Scottish Response to Consultation

• Allow broader view of value for money to include local economic impact

• Simplify rules for rural based contracts• No compulsory targets for SME involvement

or Lots• Raise thresholds for OJEU contracts (from £156K)

• More leeway for dialogue with suppliers

Public Sector Procurement Vision

Category A

Category B

Category C1

National Procurement

Where a single interface with the public sector facilitates efficiency and competitiveness of suppliers.

E.g. IT HW, Telecoms, Office Equipment & Supplies

Sector Specific CGCoPE

APUC; Scotland Excel; NHS National Procurement

Regional Collaboration at local levele.g. Tayside Consortium

Where interface coordinated via a sector CoE. e.g. Wheelie bins,

Medical Equipment

Category C

Where interface coordinated via regional hub or

local organisation

ProcurementScotland

Local185 Major procuring organisations; in excess of 900 in total

Scottish Procurement

Scotland Excel, APUC NHS Services, Scottish Police

Fire & Rescue Scotland

Collaborative Contracts in PlaceCentral GovtDesign, Print, Publishing & Assoc ServicesOffice SuppliesMarketing ServicesMedia BuyingPress cuttingApplications & Web developmentWeb hostingVideo & TV production unitNationalCourier Services http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/directory

Collaborative Contracts in Place

APUC (Universities and Colleges Scotland)IT Applications & WebExternal PrintMedia BuyingAPUC Contracts register download

Scotland ExcelSignageAdvertisingScotland Excel register

UK Collaborative Buying Organisations

Buying Solutions http://www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk/frameworks/

Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (general supplies) www.ypo.co.uk

NE Procurement https://www.qtegov.com/procontract

NHS Collaborative Procurement Hubs

Procure Plus (social housing)

Sell2Wales www.sell2wales.co.uk

Regulations for Consortium bidsConsortia 28. —(1) In this regulation a "consortium" means two or more persons, at least one of whom is an economic operator, acting jointly for the purpose of being awarded a public contract.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a contracting authority shall not treat the tender of a consortium as ineligible nor decide not to include a consortium amongst those economic operators from which it will make the selection of economic operators to be invited to tender on the grounds that the consortium has not formed a legal entity for the purposes of tendering.

(3) Where a contracting authority awards a public contract to a consortium it may, if it is justified for the satisfactory performance of the contract, require the consortium to form a legal entity before entering into, or as a term of, the contract.

(4) In these Regulations references to an economic operator where the economic operator is a consortium includes a reference to each person who is a member of that consortium.

Why Collaborate?Gavin Tosh

Jim Maxwell

What is collaboration?

“Two or more parties working together to achieve a common goal which would be

difficult to achieve individually.”

Group Discussion

• What are the benefits of collaboration?• What are the risks?• What might the customer be concerned

about?

Benefits• Get larger contracts• Increasing trend by public sector to aggregate

contracts• “20% rule”• Widen resources & skills available –

complementary or supplementary• Share costs, burden, hassle• Look and act bigger

• Focus on your core strengths• More eyes to spot opportunities

Risks of collaboration

• Less profit• Disputes• High level of commitment• Overwhelmed by partner• Blocking possibilities of relationships with

alternative partners• Exposure/Disclosure

Customer perspective

• Risk-averse – Confidence– Security– Reputation

• Management – Economy – One point of contact – Responsibility

Wider opportunities:

The collaborative journey.......

7 Steps to Collaboration

1 Identify opportunity and interested parties

2 Developing / confirm shared purpose

3 Feasibility  

4 Business plan / identify financial needs

5 Structuring and establishing the consortium

6 Commencing operations

7 Ongoing support and monitoring

BREAK

Types of Collaboration

Forms of Collaboration

• JVC (Joint Venture Company)• Partnership• LLP• Company Limited by Guarantee• Contractual• Informal

Consortium Company Limited by Guarantee (CCLG)

• Limited liability

• Recognised legal structure

• Durable framework for collaboration

• Includes confidentiality provisions

Also.........

• Some expenses payable by members• Administration• Directors personal liability• Commitment• Likely to pay VAT• Relative customer unfamiliarity• Contractually binding

Teaming Agreement/Lead Contractor Model

• Contracts required between the parties following award

• Liability borne by lead contractor and apportioned contractually

• Pre-award exposure – Agreement itself probably not legally binding

• No expenses incurred by relationship• Terms of relationship need to be agreed

Also..........

• Flexibility• Separate binding Confidentiality Agreement

required.

Common to both models

• Requires agreement of members’ duties and responsibilities, e.g. – Basis of apportionment of work– Roles of tender lead and supporting members– Customer interface arrangements

• Arrangements to split work not legally binding until main contract awarded

Next......

The Consortium Co-operative

The Consortium Co-operative

Jim Maxwell

Key Features …

Members are independent businessesShared ‘agenda’

Consortium is legally separate from members

Governed on co-operative basis by members

Usually free of corporation tax

Limited liability

Consortium

F

A

E

D

B

C

Consortium

F

A

E

D

B

C

Consortium

Consortium

F

A

E

D

B

CConsortium

Consortium

F

C

A

E

D

B

C

Supplier or

CustomerContract

Consortium

‘Buying’ Model

F

C

A

E

D

B

C

Supplier

£

£

£

Contract

Consortium

‘Selling’ Model

F

C

A

E

D

B

C

Customer

£

£

£

Contract

Consortium

• Opportunity for scale• Opportunity for cost reduction • Low financial risk• Low reputational risk• Low bureaucracy• Easy in – easy out

Membership formats

‘All the same’ v ‘All different’

(complementary)

• Open membership v Closed membership

Recent start-ups

Yellow Brick House High In Demand

PUC Design Interactive Learning institute

CDS Support (all free!)

• Idea development • Advice on structure / governance• Legal documentation • Feasibility / opportunity analysis

Think about collaborative working…

• Buying• Selling• Marketing• Sharing premises• Sharing other facilities

Thank you

www.cdscotland.co.uk

jim.maxwell@cdscotland.co.uk

Case study of Successful consortium

“The Very People”

Ruth Webber

The Buyers’ Perspective

Graeme Cook

Scottish Procurement

Disclaimers

These slides do not refer to any current or future tender. This presentation contains generic suggestions on what procurement

departments might hope to see in collaborative bids for contracts.

The messages here are based on past tenders for professional services but should be applicable across all procurements

Who are Scottish Procurement?The Scottish Procurement and Commercial Directorate (SPCD), also known as Scottish Procurement is responsible for developing and advising on procurement policy for the public sector in Scotland. We also ensure that procurement processes within the Scottish Government are effective and efficient by ensuring that staff are aware of their responsibilities and authority, and have the necessary information and tools.

Our Goal - To lead and enable public sector procurement reform in Scotland, working creatively and collaboratively to deliver value for money, promote best practice in project delivery, and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Objectives

– CAPABILITY – COMPETITIVENESS – CAPTURING SAVINGS AND BENEFITS – COVERAGE– COLLABORATION – CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMMUNICATIONS

Collaborative Bidding in a Strategic Context

• Scottish Procurement recognises the significant contribution of SMEs to the Scottish economy and is therefore committed to “Improving access to public sector contracts, particularly for SMEs”

• This commitment is set against a background of statutory requirements which require equal treatment of all bidders, regardless of their size or country of origin

• The result is a commitment to encourage and facilitate competition from SMEs (including collaborative bidding) but not to award business to SMEs

• Good public sector procurement awards business to the bidder that meets the basic financial and statutory requirements and that is able to offer the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), as defined in the Procurement regulations. Current EU rules define MEAT as a balance between cost and quality. All bids, regardless of who they come from, are evaluated in the same way.

What are Procurement Departments Looking for?

• Coverage – Geographical & service range and a clear understanding of the technical requirement

• Reduced Risk - See the next slide• Reduced Costs - Internal costs for the buyer’s organisation,

e.g. administrative costs associated with placing orders with and processing invoices from multiple firms

• Fair & Open Competition - Public bodies in Scotland must adhere to EU directives and to procurement regulations in Scots law. Procurement will therefore seek to remove those legal risks that are associated with non-compliance. The majority of procurement regulations relate to transparent and open competition

• Competitive Pricing

What are Procurement Departments Looking for?

Reduced Risk– PROFESSIONAL procurement might be better thought of as

‘commercial risk management’ as it is responsible for identifying high-risk goods or services and ensuring that the risk of non-delivery or service failure is minimised. Professional procurement is a dynamic and varied space in which there are no hard-and-fast rules other than the procurement regulations

– Some goods or services are will present greater or more numerous risks than others. Even within the same general commodities risk profiles can vary:

• The delivery of the food & drink required for school meals might be considered high risk while the food and drink required for a school’s vending machine might be low risk. This is because the children’s parents are unlikely to be too upset if their the children can’t get snacks during the day but will be very concerned and vocal if lunches aren’t provided

• It’s likely to be more or less impossible to second-guess the risk factors that a customer attributes to particular goods or services

What are Procurement Departments Looking for?

Reduced Risk (cont’d)

– Risk, from Procurement's point of view, can include threats to: price; quality; supply; staff & public safety; the buyer/supplier relationship and reputation.

– Different firms present different sets of risks. Large firms have their own particular risk profiles while small companies with low turnover values MAY:

• Have less experience with a varied customer types• Be more susceptible to financial/cash-flow issues• Not be able to respond quickly to “disaster” scenarios (Major IT

failure)• Be more susceptible to loss of key personnel (account manager hit

by a bus)

What are Procurement Departments Looking for?

Risks Particular to Collaborative Bidding- Complex collaborative supply arrangements present additional risks into a supply chain. For example:

• Dealing with multiple account managers• Multiple order and invoice procedures• Unclear or multiple complaints procedures• Uncertain accountability for defaults or breaches of contract• Financial probity and stability can be harder to evaluate

The above bullets represent some of the unnecessary risks and administrative costs that poorly planned collaborations can bring. These costs can mean that working with partners will not necessarily achieve extra points during tender evaluations. All bidders, regardless of their collaborative status, should think carefully about the customer’s requirement and present the customer with as simple a model as possible. This doesn’t mean that the tender documents should be basic but rather that the operating model should be easy to understand, implement and use.

What are Procurement Departments Looking for?

Present a Simple Proposal– Provide assurance on:

• Financial and statutory probity (e.g. directors may not have convictions for fraud; bidders must comply with equal opportunities regulation). Financial probity is particularly difficult to demonstrate – discuss options with the procurement team and ask them what will be acceptable (this may vary by the risk profile of the goods and services being purchased)

– Try to ensure that there is ONE ‘individual’ (in a legal sense) to get issues resolved and to carry the can if things really go wrong. This ‘individual’ might be:

• A ‘lead’ contractor (sub-contracting relationships); • A single contact backed-up by unambiguous and binding agreements between

collaborative parties determining who is responsible for indemnifying each risk; or • A new legal entity formed by all members of the collaboration

– Try to present your collaboration as a single entity to the customer. Leave the customer in no doubt as to when and how they should interact with you as their supplier. Keep is as simple as possible for them, even if this means having very difficult conversations with your collaborative partners before submitting your bid.

Once you Understand the Requirement

BEFORE starting to write your response

Considerations for ANY tender bid― Understand the requirement― Understand the customer AND the procurement team – sell what they want, not what

you happen to have available― Understand risk from your own point of view, from that of the customer AND from that

of the procurement team― ASK – If something’s not clear, don’t assume, ask for clarification― Put it in writing – if it’s not stated in your response, you can’t get credit for it― Use all the space provided – if you’re given ‘up to 500 words’, use 500 words in your

answer― Look carefully at the weightings of each question and/or evaluation criteria and use

your time & resources accordingly― Be realistic:

• Do you have demonstrable experience of delivering all aspects of the requirement?• Do you have the ‘capacity’ to meet the requirement? For example, do you have enough

staff and financial wherewithal to take on the required scale of business?― After the tender decision, ask for feedback, whether you’ve been successful or not

Once You Understand the Requirement

Specific Considerations for Collaborative tender bids— Ask whether or not collaborative bids are acceptable and if so, what form

they may take— Be open and transparent with your collaborative partners – a poorly

constructed collaboration will result in a poorly constructed tender bid— If a financial turnover threshold has been set, ask the Procurement team

whether or not they will accept the collective turnover of all parties in a collaborative bid as meeting their requirement – NB: they may not!

— Determine what parts of the requirement you have demonstrable experience of and what parts, if any, would be better demonstrated by a collaborative partner’s experience

— You and your collaborative partners will still be required to demonstrate the required ‘capacity’ – if you still can’t do this, consider getting more partners

— Different customers and their procurement teams will consider different goods and services to carry different risks. This is reasonable but will mean that their approaches to collaborative bids will vary. ALWAYS ask up-front what forms of bid are acceptable before spending too much time considering and preparing your collaborative bid

National Frameworks for Temporary Staff and Consultancy

CASE STUDY

• Customer feedback and market research indicated that smaller firms often offered better value than larger firms

• Generally speaking, large firms offered reduced risk, reduced (internal) administrative costs and wider coverage (service and geographical range) relative to small firms

• To ensure wide competition we encouraged larger firms to match the value standards of smaller firms and encouraged smaller firms to reduce their risk profile and increase coverage and capacity. This required additional commitment of resource from both Scottish Procurement and from the supply market

• Well before we published or even drafted our tender documents, we engaged with the market to understand how they operated and to identify how improvements could be made to both their and our operations

National Frameworks for Temporary Staff and Consultancy

CASE STUDY

• The bids received varied widely in quality, cost and structure• Many firms appeared to have ignored the challenges we set them and simply

submitted their standard “off-the-shelf” answers• Many consortia bids did not provide the standard financial and statutory assurances

for all partners• Several bids claimed to be collaborative but demonstrated no joined-up thinking and

seemed to be based on a single firm’s answers with the name of an additional firms merely appended as an afterthought

• The best collaborative bids had clearly overcome past rivalries and had spent time understanding how best to structure their collaboration in order to meet our requirement. They were innovative and obviously based on meeting the customer requirement rather than a need to be seen as part of a collaborative bid – They offered best value over-all (MEAT)

• 15 consortia won places on the frameworks• 33 further firms are named as consortia members or sub-contractors• Up to 46% price reductions were achieved

Take Home Messages• There is no set of simple rules for winning business • Always work hard to understand the view of the customer AND that

of their procurement team (don’t assume anything)• Always ask the customer and procurement team what business

structures and what methods of demonstrating financial probity will be acceptable (these will vary according to the level of risk ascribed to the goods or services)

• Collaborative bidding can help to remove some of the ‘risks’ that smaller firms can sometimes present to procurement teams

• By their nature, collaborative bids can present additional risks but with a bit of planning and preparation between the collaborative partners, these risks can be minimised or even removed

• Before submitting a tender, it’s better to ask too many questions than too few

• If it’s not written down in your tender submission you can’t get any points for it

LUNCH

Approaches for Partner Assessment & Selection

Gill Joy

Finding Partners & Subcontractors

• A “needle in a haystack” - Suggestions?

Finding Partners

• Existing partners, sub-contractors• Own networks (incl Linked-In etc?• Professional/trade associations• Referrals from trusted organisations/people• Public sector contract award notices• Public sector contract registers• Suppliers to target organisation types • etc

Requirements Mapping

• Must be specific to the contract (use Invitation to Tender doc or Contract Notice to create a partner requirement)

• Map generic needs first – avoid “shoehorning” an existing partner into team immediately

• Look at the Buyers perspective • Consider the skills/experience mix that competitors

will be presenting• Prioritise criteria for assessment (Essential,

Desirable, etc or similar)

Group Exercise

• For sample contract: what combination of partners – lead/subcontracts possible?

• What criteria for the assessment / selection stage of partners?

Requirements Mapping• TECHNICAL SKILLS RELEVANT TO

CONTRACT• QUALIFICATIONS• TRAINING COMPLETED• MEMBER OF PROFESSIONAL

ASSOCIATION OR ACCREDITED• LANGUAGE SKILLS• MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE• EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE

EXPERIENCE:• IN RELEVANT SECTOR• WITH SIMILAR CLIENTS• DELIVERING SIMILAR SERVICES OR

GOODS• DELIVERING ON SIMILAR SCALE /

REGIONAL SCOPE• USING SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT /

SYSTEMS

ADDED VALUE – PERFORMANCE:• COMPETITIVE PRICING• INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS OR

PROCESSES• CORPORATE & SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY• AWARDS ACHIEVED• EVIDENCE OF MEETING KEY

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

COMPLIANCE:• ALL POLICIES IN PLACE FOR PUBLIC

SECTOR REQUIREMENT• EVIDENCE OF QUALITY

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM• BUSINESS PROBITY INCL CREDIT

CHECK• CLIENT/CONTRACT SPECIFIC

COMPLIANCE ISSUES

Assessing PartnersCRITERIA ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE COMMENT, SCORING SCHEME, MINIMUM STANDARD

MET/NOT MET

Skills criteria---Experience criteria---Added value criteria---Compliance criteria--

Presenting a collaborative team or consortium in a tender

Gill Joy

Topics

1. Key challenges in presenting group experience, capacity and suitability for the contract

2. Presenting added value 1+1=3

3. Tips for presenting a joint bid:– Joint methodology– Roles in project and quality management– Risk and contingency– Team experience & CVs

Challenges

• PQQ and tender forms geared to single bidder approach

• Countering perceptions of risk associated with joint bid

• Choosing the right lead partner • Compliance – who has Financials/ Health &

Safety/ Insurance/Credit check cover? • How to demonstrate added value of

collaborative approach?

Presenting Added Value

• Structured approach to make roles and responsibilities clear for the client

• Map your skills and experience to client’s specific requirements

• Match consortium strengths to key risk areas for project

• “Elevator pitch” for each contract

Tips for presenting a joint bid

Joint Methodology

Joint MethodologyWP1 Data Collection

WP Leader Intend Business Development

Task 1.1 Data Collection Plan

• Describe• Describe• Describe

Task 1.2 • Describe• Describe• Describe

Task 1.3 • Describe• Describe• Describe

Deliverables Data Collection Plan [date]Analytical Framework [date]

Joint Methodology

Joint Methodology

Joint Methodology

MONTH

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

                       

WP1: Title                        

                       

WP2: Title                        

                       

WP3: Title                        

                       

WP4: Title                        

                       

WP5: Project Management                        

                       

Contract    Name    

Name    Name    

Name

Deliverables                        

                       Meetings                        

kick-off      interim      interim     

meeting review meeting review meeting final meeting

Project & Quality Management

• Describe your procedures for ensuring timely and accurate delivery of contract whilst demonstrating a flexible approach

• Describe your quality management system• Describe your experience of interfacing with

other suppliers/stakeholders in the delivery of contracts

• Describe your approach to continuous improvement

Project Management

• Management board/Steering Group• Deputy for project manager; Finance role• Project management plan – Workplan with

milestones and specific deliverables • Progress meetings and reports• Partnership approach – examples of flexibility,

sharing risk

Quality Management

Develop simple QM system relevant to the contract:• Table of any certified quality management systems in the

consortium and scope of these (ISO 9001, ISO 14001)• QA procedures for specific tasks (what checked, how, when,

by whom)• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) needed? Evidence?• Continuous improvement system within partnership• Customer service approach – escalation procedure• Use of external evaluation/QA people?• Business continuity plan

Presenting partner experience

Can be PQQ or tender questions…..

• Describe the nature and scope of your business highlighting a) core functions and areas of specialism and b) how your experience is relevant to this contract

• Outline your organisation’s knowledge, understanding and experience of interpretation

• Outline the range of professional competencies your organisation has and is able to use to fulfil the requirements of this contract

Presenting partner experience

• Each tender may require a different way to structure your response

• Map content to specific contract requirements (cf. partner assessment form)

• Emphasise strengths of partnership approach• Use matrix to summarise partner skills &

experience• Develop lists of project references for all

partners (short and expanded versions)

Partner/company experiencePresent as a Matrix?

TECHNICAL SKILLS RELEVANT TO CONTRACT

• QUALIFICATIONS• TRAINING COMPLETED• MEMBER OF PROFESSIONAL

ASSOCIATION OR ACCREDITED• LANGUAGE SKILLS• MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE• EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE

EXPERIENCE:

• IN RELEVANT SECTOR• WITH SIMILAR CLIENTS• DELIVERING SIMILAR SERVICES OR

GOODS• DELIVERING ON SIMILAR SCALE /

REGIONAL SCOPE• USING SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT / SYSTEMS

ADDED VALUE – PERFORMANCE:

• COMPETITIVE PRICING• INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS OR PROCESSES• CORPORATE & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY• AWARDS ACHIEVED• EVIDENCE OF MEETING KEY

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

COMPLIANCE:

• ALL POLICIES IN PLACE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR REQUIREMENT

• EVIDENCE OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• BUSINESS PROBITY INCL CREDIT CHECK• CLIENT/CONTRACT SPECIFIC

COMPLIANCE ISSUES

Presenting partner experience

Name & Role

Skill 1 Skill 2 Skill 3 Experience 1

Experience 2

John Smith Project Manager

√ √ √ √

Jane Brown Data Manager

√ √ √

Can use a matrix for partner organisations and/or individual team members

Presenting partner experience

Partner Design Print Fulfilment

Partner A Add 2-3 line summary for all relevant projects

Link to more detailed project profiles

Partner B

Partner C

Use a matrix to summarise key projects for each partner relevant to this contract

Presenting partner experienceCVs of Key Staff

Name Role on project Qualifications & ExperienceJohn Smith Project Manager

 - Client liaison- Project planning- Review meetings- Final report

BSc Information Systems, HND Computing Include 5-6 Bullet points with key experience from recent projects/jobs including any specialisms

Jane Brown Data Manager - Data collection plan

& implementation- Data analysis- etc

etc

etc Etc etc

QA SystemProcess Quality assurance KPI ResponsibleSourcing materials

Supplier approval questionnaire Meet XX% of criteria as a minimum

Managing Director

Sourcing subcontractors

Subcontractor approval questionnaire

Meet XX% of criteria as a minimum

Managing Director

Design creation

Proofing Internal approval

100% error free Meets client brief

Quality ManagerProject Manager / Project team if complex design

Signage production

Acceptance form 100% compliance Project Manager + Production Manager

Installation Internal QA check Client Acceptance Form

100% compliance 100% compliance

Project/Quality Manager Client

Project management / client liaison

Customer feedback questionnaire at end of project

Xx% of ratings good or excellent

Client

Other Quality aspectsContinuous improvement

• Customer feedback mechanisms, complaints procedures

Business review groups, Focus groups Staff appraisals Management roles to ensure required

improvements are implemented

Other standards

• Company membership of trade/professional associations

No. of staff with membership of accredited bodies/professional qualifications relevant to contract

Investors in People Any environmental standards/benchmarking used

Client relationship

Partnership approach is increasingly important – describe how you are able to share the project risk with the client, avoid confrontational approach, proactively offer solutions to improve the overall performance of the contract

Communications

• Who to contact for which part of the contract?– Technical contact points– Management– Contract admin/financials/invoicing

• Protocols– Who gets cc:d– Written not verbal for any instruction/approval/

issues raised

Project Risk Assessment

Risk Impact (High, Med, Low)

Mitigation

Materials supply failure

High Back-up suppliers in place

Loss of key staff Medium All key roles covered by two people within consortium

Bad weather affects delivery schedule

High Plans in place for business continuity – back up facilities and delivery teams in XX different regions

Group Exercise

• Plan a joint response for key scoring questions– Methodology– Company experience– Project & Quality Management– Elevator Pitch/Added Value

• Lead+Partner approach v Consortium

BREAK

Legal Agreements

Confidentiality Agreements

• When to use• Purpose• Types:

– Unilateral– Mutual– Multilateral

• Standard of Protection• Limitations

Contents• Parties• Description• Purpose of the disclosure• To whom it can be disclosed• Term• Termination• Disposal• Governing Law

Teaming Agreements

“An agreement entered into by two or more parties for a limited period of time and for a restricted and well defined purpose.”

Why have a Teaming Agreement?

• Makes parties think about all the issues• Written reference for who is doing what• Builds relationships• Locks in team member• Locks out competition• Ammunition in event of bad faith• Precursor to contract

Key Provisions

• Confidentiality• Responsibilities• Communications with the customer• No independent bidding• Publicity• Dispute resolution• Assignation• Termination – when would the agreement come to

an end?

Roles and Duties

• Team Member

• Team Leader

Team Members’ Duties

• Respond promptly to all questions/requests • Provide all required certification,

documentation• Participate in negotiations, discussions, etc

with Customer - but no direct contact unless authorised

• Final say in format/content of proposal; also price?

Team Leader’s Duties

• Consultation before changing tender details• No commitments of others without prior

consent• Timely transmission of tender documents &

any amendments received from Customer• Keep team members fully informed • Swift response to customer

Next......

The Consortium Company Limited by Guarantee

Members Agreement: Consortium Co-operative

• Governs member-consortium relationship• Contains ‘secondary’ rules • Consistent with Memorandum and Articles • Plain English• Facilitation

Members Agreement Content

May Include:• Who may be a member• Detailed statement of purpose / aims• How the consortium will be managed • Things the consortium will do / not do• Communication within the group• Handling of funds / delegated authority• How members may use the consortium• Required quality standards• Dealing with members default• Rules for adjusting the agreement

Any questions?

CDS support available

Follow-up workshop 14th Nov

Evaluation forms please