Everyone but me knows that you need stamina to handle a tender for a government project. The stamina required isn't just for the several late nights to ensure your bid complies with the rules; it's also about being able to wait for your money. What was supposed to be a series of payment milestones was bulldozered by a "Procurement dept"into one final payment which arrived three months late.
A tip on submitting a tender is that if you do include a timeline for your project, you should expect it to be used and abused in your contract. No discussion will be allowed if procurement decides that the project needs to finish on a date of their choosing. You will find that your payment milestones are unachievable and so you'll not see money so soon.
Do ensure you send only one address and one bank account. If you are outside the UK and have a UK contact, the procurement department will by default post to the address requiring the cheapest stamp. As a result of this we received our contract to sign by the time we were 75% of the way through. Cheques were sent to the wrong account and payments that were said to have been made, repeatedly turned out not be made.
Public Contracts Scotland may have its own one star iphone app. It may also be fair. It may also break new ground by asking new suppliers what their sexual orientation is - hec how groovy but incredible. Expect to feel bullied, not just into answering such a question in this context, but bullied all through your contract. And be sure to price for the time you will spend stuck inside its strangulated hernia.
Blog post file under: work I wish I had never done;
