Tender and RFP Support Services for UK Businesses

Support with Tenders, Contracts and RFPs

For many businesses, responding to tenders, contracts or Requests for Proposals (RFPs) is an important way to secure new work.

However, preparing these submissions can be time-consuming, complex and highly competitive, especially when detailed documentation is required to meet legal, ethical or operational standards.

With years of experience supporting organisations across sectors, we offer focused support to help you prepare strong, compliant and persuasive submissions.

Whether it is your first tender or you are looking to improve your success rate, we provide the structure, insight and expertise needed to respond with confidence.

Our approach helps you understand exactly what the vendor is asking, how to meet the required level of detail, and how to present your response clearly and professionally.

We also ensure that all relevant legislation, standards and supporting documents are correctly referenced, helping you demonstrate full compliance and capability.

“Very professional, timely, and fantastic workflow.” Valentina O

How We Can Help With Tender and RFP Responses

We provide comprehensive support for businesses responding to public and private sector tenders, contracts and RFPs. Our services are tailored to the requirements of each opportunity, ensuring your documentation is accurate, well-structured and aligned with the brief.

Our services include:

• Assessment of required policies, procedures and supporting documentation

• Structured sessions with internal teams to gather key information and clarify objectives

• Assistance with drafting or refining answers to meet specification and tone requirements

• Identification of gaps in your documentation and guidance on how to address them

• A free quote for any required policies or procedures, with discounted rates where writing services are needed as part of your submission

Areas Commonly Covered

We can support your submission across a wide range of compliance topics, including:

• Environmental policies

• Equality and diversity

• Data protection and cybersecurity

• Physical site security

• Modern slavery statements

• Safeguarding procedures

• Human rights commitments

• Financial conduct including anti-bribery, corruption, money laundering and counter-terrorism

By working with us, you gain access to experienced policy and documentation specialists who can reduce the pressure on your internal team while improving the quality, consistency and impact of your submission. Let us help you present your business in the strongest possible light.

Understanding Tender Scoring and Evaluation

Public sector tenders in the UK are governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (and the Procurement Act 2023, in force from 24 February 2025). Most contracts are awarded on a quality-price basis, with quality typically weighted between 60% and 80% of the total score.

Public sector opportunities are now published on the Find a Tender service, the UK Government's central procurement portal that replaced OJEU after Brexit.

Evaluators assess responses against published criteria and score each section independently.

Strong policy documentation directly supports higher quality scores by demonstrating that your organisation has robust, documented processes in place for compliance, governance and service delivery.

Common Reasons Tender Responses Fail

• Missing or generic policies that do not address the specific requirements of the tender
• Failure to evidence Social Value commitments with documented plans and measurable outcomes
• Outdated or inconsistent documentation that contradicts other parts of the submission
• Lack of specificity - vague statements rather than concrete processes and procedures
• Non-compliance with mandatory requirements such as Modern Slavery statements or Carbon Reduction Plans

The Procurement Act 2023: What Has Changed

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025 and replaces the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for most procurements above threshold.

For UK suppliers bidding on public sector work, the new regime introduces several material changes that affect how tender responses should be prepared.

The competitive flexible procedure replaces the previous competitive procedure with negotiation and gives contracting authorities far more discretion over how a procurement is run.

Procedures, evaluation stages and award criteria can now be tailored to each contract, which means suppliers must read every tender notice carefully rather than relying on a standard process. Two procurements for similar services may now follow different routes.

Most advantageous tender (MAT) replaces the previous most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) test. The change is more than terminology.

Under MAT, contracting authorities can give greater weight to non-price factors such as quality, social value, environmental impact and innovation. For suppliers, this reinforces the need for strong, evidenced policy documentation that supports non-price scoring categories.

Transparency notices are now required at multiple stages of a procurement. Authorities must publish a planned procurement notice, a tender notice, a contract award notice, contract performance KPIs and payment compliance data.

This expanded disclosure means past performance is increasingly visible, and suppliers should expect contracting authorities to reference previous KPI publication when assessing capability.

The central debarment list replaces self-cleaning under the previous regime.

Suppliers excluded from a procurement on mandatory or discretionary grounds may now be added to a national debarment list maintained by the Cabinet Office, with consequences across all contracting authorities.

Suppliers should screen themselves against the mandatory exclusion grounds in Schedule 6 of the Act, including unspent convictions for bribery, fraud, modern slavery offences and tax evasion.

Discretionary exclusion grounds in Schedule 7 cover poor performance, professional misconduct and breach of contract.

Dynamic markets replace dynamic purchasing systems and operate on a longer, more flexible basis. Suppliers can join a dynamic market at any point during its lifetime, which lowers the barrier to entering public sector frameworks.

We help suppliers prepare the documentation needed for dynamic market admission, including financial standing evidence, technical capability statements and the policy pack that contracting authorities typically request.

Existing PCR 2015 procurements continue under the old rules until completion. New procurements published from 24 February 2025 onwards follow the Procurement Act 2023.

Social Value Act 2012 and Procurement Policy Notes

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires public sector commissioners to consider social value when awarding contracts above threshold.

Since January 2021, PPN 06/20 mandates that social value is explicitly evaluated in all central government procurement, with a minimum 10% weighting.

PPN 06/21 requires suppliers bidding for central government contracts above £5 million to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan setting out their net zero commitments and emissions baseline.

The full set of Procurement Policy Notes is published by the Cabinet Office and updated regularly. We prepare all supporting documentation to meet these requirements, including Social Value statements, Carbon Reduction Plans and Community Benefit commitments.

Sector-Specific Tender Support

Different sectors operate distinct procurement routes, frameworks and pre-qualification schemes. The supporting documentation that wins points in one sector may be irrelevant in another. We work with suppliers across the main UK public sector tender landscapes.

NHS and Healthcare

NHS procurement runs through several routes including Crown Commercial Service frameworks, NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), NHS Supply Chain, and the NHS England Provider Selection Regime for clinical services.

NHS bids typically require evidence of CQC registration where applicable, Data Security and Protection Toolkit submission, Cyber Essentials certification, and policies covering safeguarding, infection prevention and control, and medical device management.

We prepare documentation that aligns with NHS evaluation criteria and addresses sector-specific scoring areas such as patient safety and clinical governance.

Construction

Construction tenders typically require pre-qualification through Constructionline, CHAS, SafeContractor or Achilles, and increasingly through the Common Assessment Standard which consolidates these schemes.

Bidders must evidence health and safety policies aligned with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, environmental management documentation, modern slavery statements covering supply chain risk, and method statements for specific work activities.

We write the policy and procedural documentation construction firms need to maintain accreditation and respond to sector tenders, including method statement libraries and risk assessment frameworks.

Defence

Defence sector suppliers register through the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register (JOSCAR) and may engage with the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) for innovation contracts.

Defence procurement carries elevated requirements around Cyber Essentials Plus, Cyber Security Model (CSM) compliance for projects handling MOD identifiable information, and supply chain assurance under Defence Standard 05-138.

We support defence suppliers with the security policy stack required by JOSCAR and the documentation needed to demonstrate CSM Risk Profile alignment.

Local Government

Local authorities procure through buying organisations including YPO, ESPO, NEPO and CCS frameworks, alongside their own competitive tenders.

Local government bids place strong emphasis on social value evidence, local economic impact, equality and diversity policies, and community benefit commitments.

We help suppliers tailor responses to the social value priorities of individual authorities, which often differ markedly between regions.

Higher and Further Education

Education sector procurement runs through frameworks operated by JISC, NEUPC, APUC, LUPC and SUPC.

Education tenders frequently require evidence of safeguarding policies covering Keeping Children Safe in Education or Working Together to Safeguard Children where relevant, UK GDPR compliance for student data, and Cyber Essentials certification.

We tailor documentation to the specific framework requirements and the institution type.

What We Deliver

This is the evidence base most UK procurement teams expect to see referenced in the supplier questionnaire and quality response. Missing or out-of-date documents are the single most common cause of disqualification at the selection stage.

Last updated: March 2026

“I had the absolute pleasure of working with Jo from Policy Pros, and I can’t say enough good things about her and the company.” Kitty ZW

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