Who Are Solent Partners?: 

‘Solent Partners’ are building on the legacy of the LEP in the Solent region. Their role is to forge local partnerships between businesses, local authorities and academia to help grow the economic power of the area.

What They Were Looking For: 

We were approached by Nicky Smith from Solent Partners (formerly Solent LEP) as they were looking for a bid management company to run a series of Intermediate Bid Workshops aimed at local businesses in the Solent area (both private and not for profit), which would help them improve their odds of winning new business, funding or both. 

There were going to be three workshops in total, with roughly 20 attendees at each, to be held at locations on the Isle of Wight, Totton and Havant.

Why They Chose Winning Tenders: 

As well as talking to Winning Tenders, Nicky went out to other potential providers in the market to seek their interest, recommendations and costings and to ensure that Solent Partners were achieving value for money for the taxpayer. She chose Winning Tenders because she liked our unique scenario-based training approach: This involves an ex Sales Director (Seller) and an ex Head of Procurement (Buyer) outlining how they worked in partnership on a specific Framework tender requirement, with the Buyer gaining knowledge of the market place via the Seller, who ultimately secured a winning place on the contract (partly as a result of having engaged early with the Buyer and aligning closely to their key objectives).

The Solution:

Phil Norman and Karl Wellstead of Winning Tenders devised a day long workshop, tailored to meet Solent Partner’s requirements and delivered from our unique ‘Sales meets Procurement’ perspective. Nicky was taken through the content in advance to make sure it fitted with what she and Solent Partners were looking to achieve. 

The final slide deck was punchy, visual and interactive, designed to engage the attendees throughout the day (which was split into two defined halves with a lunch break in the middle) and providing them with insight, best practice, innovation and a number of tools to help them secure more wins in the future.

The Result: 

Three workshops were held across the three locations with a mix of private and not for profit organisations in attendance. The audience were fully engaged, asking many questions as we went through, networking amongst themselves (a positive by-product of the workshops) and partaking in an enjoyable ‘Apprentice-style’ exercise at the end, requiring them to take everything they had learnt and apply it to a live tender opportunity to sell ice cream to the House of Commons! Feedback was extremely positive from those in attendance. 

“Winning Tenders’ bid writing workshops have empowered organisations to craft compelling proposals; unlocking doors to new opportunities and fostering success. 

Their expertise and guidance has been invaluable in navigating the competitive landscape of tendering, ensuring clients are equipped with the tools to secure victories and drive growth.” 

Nicky Smith, Senior Enterprise and Skills Executive Solent Partners