Tendering For Care

How to Collaborate and Tender Successfully

The TfC Consortium Development Programme was devised in response to the current trend for purchasers to tender for "bigger, broader" contracts. Whereas, in the past, tenders have tended to be for dicrete srvices such as "respite care"; residential care"; "physiotherapy services"; or "financial management consultancy", etc. the trend is now to tender for an overall service or set up a framework to cover a wide range of services. These might be called "vulnerable people services"; "generic care"; "Learning Disability, Physical Disability and Mental health Services"; "primary care"; or "general management consultancy".

 The result is that companies and organisations are being forced to look for other organisations with which to collaborate in order to cover all of the requirements of the specification. There are already numerous cautionary tales from comapanies and organisations entering into collaborative tendering without ensuring that the basics are in pplace before the tender has been submitted.

The Regulations define a consortium as "two or more" economic operators tendering together for a public sector contract. Therefore the TfC Consortium Development Programme is suitable for all situations where more than one company and/or organisation plan to tender together. This may be for a traditional consortium; for situations where sub-contracting is appropriate; or where a full merger or take-over is more appropriate.

The Programme provides training and support through the four phases of development.

The Programme can be delivered through face to face meetings or by telephone conferencing.

TheProgramme includes:

      four half day development sessions for potential consortium members;

      checklists, documentation and a CD to assist decision  making;

      example agreements for consortium operation.

The TfC approach is already resulting in consortia winning contracts.

For full details please download the document from the link below.