Carley Consult are a market-leading bid writing agency specialising in the employability, vocational education, and justice sectors. More than 1,000 practitioners have attended our training events over the past decade, and we are pleased to be bringing back our popular face-to-face workshops in 2024.
The workshops have a specific focus for those interested in bidding for contracts with DWP, the ESFA, the Ministry of Justice, Combined Authorities, and similar funders. The sessions are equally suited to newcomers to bid writing, as well as providing an aide memoir, and some useful hints and tips, for more experienced writers. The format is focused on small groups, with a combination of presented material, practical exercises, and group discussion. The workshops are led by Jim Carley, who has 25 years' experience of leading and writing winning bids in these markets.
Workshop themes that we will cover include:
• Managing a tender project: assembling the right team; project management essentials; using tender portals; determining editorial decision making, key/common bid project tasks (RACI matrices); assigning task responsibilities; managing milestones; effective proof reading and review; sign-off and submission.
• Understanding bid questions and tender requirements: navigating different tender documents; extracting key information and understanding the buyer’s requirement; TUPE considerations; required accreditations; making bid/no-bid decisions; different procurement procedures (open, closed); understanding scoring/evaluation criteria (quality vs. price); interpreting the information the question is asking for.
• Establishing win themes: designing winning bid offers and solutions; emphasising features and benefits; differentiating from the competition; incorporating the right partners and subcontractors; addressing underlying policy intent; balancing innovation with deliverability; presenting and quantifying social value.
• Writing style and technique: structure and storyboarding; language house-style (first vs. third person, active vs. passive, etc.); using evidence and case studies; best practice answers (with examples); effective and persuasive language; ensuring compliance; using space effectively; effective formatting; writing pace; writing to concise word/character count limits; effective review to enhance the tender score.
• Bid financials: financial modelling vs. accounting; finance as a factor in bid/no-bid decision making (e.g., weighting of price in overall evaluation); understanding working capital and financial risks; implications of different payment mechanisms (e.g., payment by results); mapping all potential delivery costs; pricing to win.
Lunch/refreshments are provided.
