Stephen Regalado's presentation from the Supply Nine Elms event at Brunswick House (19th & 20th June 2012. Copyright Lambeth Council (June 2012) all rights reserved.

1. The Public Procurement
Crash Course: 10 Top Tips
Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area
Local Procurement Event 19 June 2012
Stephen Regalado
Corporate Procurement Officer: Customer Engagement
Lambeth Corporate Procurement
London Borough of Lambeth
Corporate Procurement Team
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2. Welcome!
Stephen Regalado, Lambeth Corporate Procurement Officer:
Customer Engagement; working in public sector procurement
for 15 years and in private sector for 6 years:
• London Borough of Lambeth
• Tate Britain
• National Trust
• Blockbuster Video
• US Marine Corps
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3. The Public Procurement
Crash Course
My goals today:
• To provide you with some tips on getting through the
public procurement process so you can win more work
from Lambeth, Wandsworth and the rest of the UK public
sector.
• Give you resources for preparing a winning tender or PQQ
document.
• Answer any questions you may have about procurement
at Lambeth.
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4. Hot Topics
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5. Lambeth Hot Topics
• Savings
• Collaboration – partnerships, consortia
• Efficiency Agenda – Cabinet Office initiatives
• SMEs, third sector organisations
• Procure 4 London
• Shared Services
• Community benefits – apprenticeships, job creation and development
• The Cooperative Council – co-production, community commissioning
• E procurement
• Innovation, flexibility
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6. Community Benefits
• Community benefits are initiatives, schemes or programmes that
suppliers can provide in addition to the service they provide - for the
benefit of the communities affected by the service.
• Suppliers will be asked what they can do to ensure that their service
benefits the community.
• Different types of contract will have different community benefit
opportunities. Some examples:
– Social: apprenticeship programmes, Section 106, training
opportunities
– Economic: employment opportunities, use of local supply chains
– Environmental: environmental programmes, carbon emissions,
recycling, alternative energy sources
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7. 10 Top Tips
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8. 1. Do Your Homework
• Find out all you can about the public body who is awarding the
contract.
• Look at their website and read their aims, goals and strategies so you
can understand their priorities, processes and requirements. See the
Lambeth website here:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/
• Where relevant, use and support that information in your tender.
• Read through “Selling To The Council”, guidance on the tendering
process at Lambeth:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/Selli
ngToTheCouncil.htm.
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9. 2. You Must Be Pre Qualified
• All suppliers tendering with or providing quotes to Lambeth must be
prequalified.
• The Lambeth Business Questionnaire (BQ) is used for tenders valued
at £25,000 and greater and suppliers must complete it online. The
best scoring BQs create a shortlist for invitation to tender.
• For quotes valued from £0.00-£25,000 suppliers need to complete a 2
page Supplier Self Certification Form.
• Advice:
– Answer all questions honestly, briefly and in full.
– If you have any questions, contact the officer who sent out the BQ
– No blank spaces!
– Complete the BQ in full and submit it on time.
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10. 3. Read & Understand
• Read all the tender documentation clearly to understand
what you will be required to deliver.
• An officer will be assigned as first point of contact on the
procurement exercise. Contact them if you have any
questions.
• Consider the time commitment when tendering and how it
might affect your business and your life.
• Try to decide early on if the contract is one that you can
deliver.
• There are NO STUPID QUESTIONS!
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11. 4. Provide The Right Information
• The tender will ask all suppliers to provide some very
specific information about the quality and price of the
service they can provide.
• Provide all of the information requested and do not
leave any blank spaces. If you cannot provide some
of the information, for whatever reason, ask for
advice.
• All Tenders will be scored and a blank space always
gets ZERO POINTS.
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12. 5. Get Ready To Go Online
• Lambeth and other local authorities are working towards increasing
the number of tendering exercises that are conducted online.
• At Lambeth all tenders valued at £25,000 and greater must be
completed online.
• The EU Supply system we use is easy, flexible and secure. Login
and register onto the Lambeth portal here: https://lblambeth.eu-
supply.com/login.asp?B=LBLAMBETH.
• Find the user guides and read more on our eProcument portal on the
Lambeth website here:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/ePro
curement.htm.
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13. 6. Follow The Format
• When you open your tender pack, carefully read through
the specification – it is the most important document in the
ITT.
• Follow the format of the specification exactly and respond
to the specification in the order it is presented.
• This will make it easier to evaluate!
• Tenders that cannot be understood can be deemed
“ambiguous tenders” and may be removed from
competition.
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14. 7. Show Me The Money
• Be clear on your pricing model and state any assumptions
you have made when pricing - for example, resources
required by you and/or the Council, timetables, etc.
• Present your prices exactly as they are requested. If you
do not understand from the documentation HOW you are
meant to express your pricing, ASK.
• Where possible, add any possible pricing improvements:
– Price capping
– Fixed prices
– Volume discounts, etc.
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15. 8. Watch The Clock
• All tenders will have a date for return – make a note of this
first and schedule in the work you need to do on your
ender.
• You must complete and upload the documents by the
given time and date and make sure to sign anything that
should be signed.
• In most cases, late tenders will not be considered for
further competition. But do not be afraid to ask for more
time….
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16. 9. Get Feedback
• If you are unsuccessful, the authority will offer you a
debrief on your tender.
• This will help you to understand how where your tender
submission was strong and the areas where you can
improve for future tender applications.
• If you are not offered a debriefing, ASK FOR IT.
• Debriefing will contain only information about your tender
– not the other suppliers competing for the contract.
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17. 10. Increase Your Options
• Register with all the local authority and government
supplier portals you can!
• These provide organisations with the opportunity to
register an interest in supplying goods and services
with many councils:
– Procure4London
– CompeteFor
– Exor
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18. What We Want To See From You
 Completed tenders that are well presented and completed on
time
 When preparing your tender, think about the BEST PRICE that
you can offer. In public sector procurement we do not
negotiate after tenders have been returned
 Community benefits
 Suppliers who can be flexible and innovative
 Collaboration, partnerships, consortia, use of local resources
 Sustainability – join the Mayor of London’s Green Procurement
Code: http://www.greenprocurementcode.co.uk/
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19. If You Do Not Win A Contract,
Don’t Be Discouraged!
• If you are unsuccessful do not be discouraged -
competition for public sector contracts is usually quite
strong.
• Public bodies do not retain a “banned list” of suppliers.
• Contact the procurement officer concerned for feedback
on which elements of your tender were your strengths and
which areas can improve.
• Use the de-briefing information to your advantage.
• Keep trying to get your foot in the door…
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20. Your Resources
• Procure 4 London: https://www.procure4london.com/
• South Bank Employer’s Group: http://www.sbeg.co.uk/
• GLE One London: http://www.gle.co.uk/onelondon/
• CompeteFor: https://www.competefor.com/business/login.jsp
• South London Business: http://www.southlondonbusiness.co.uk/
• Contracts Finder: http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
• Lambeth Tenders & Contracts:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/Business/TendersContracts/
• Exor: http://www.exorms.co.uk/
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21. My Contact Details
Stephen Regalado
Corporate Procurement Officer: Customer Engagement
London Borough of Lambeth
Third Floor Olive Morris House
18 Brixton Hill
London SW2 1RL
Phone: 020 7926 2937
Fax: 020 7926 0245
Mail: sregalado@lambeth.gov.uk
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