Jamie and Dan look at how you can identify and then prepare to bid on government tenders. They cover how to find government contracts, how to predict when they are coming to market in the future and how to respond to requests for information and influence the requirements. They talk through the bidding process, internal bid governance and the development technical and pricing submissions.

Episode Links:

US Gov Contract Opportunities
Contract opportunities are procurement notices from federal contracting offices. Anyone interested in doing business with the government can use this system to search opportunities. Opportunities include pre-solicitation notices, solicitation notices, award notices, and sole source notices.

MERX Canadian Public Tenders
Find contracting opportunities from the Canadian public sector. MERX Canadian Public Tenders includes federal, provincial and MASH sector opportunities, making it easy for you to find new opportunities, bid on them and win the business from customers interested in the goods or services you provide.

Defence Sourcing Portal
The Official Source of MOD Contract Opportunities, the e-sourcing platform and one-stop-shop for contract opportunities, tendering and information on doing business with the UK Ministry of Defence.

NATO Support & Procurement Agency
NSPA brings together, in a single organisation, acquisition, logistic, medical and infrastructural capabilities, operational and systems support and services to the NATO nations, NATO Military Authorities and partner nations.

Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA)
DIANA provides companies with the resources, networks and guidance to develop deep technologies to solve critical defence and security challenges, from operating in denied environments to tackling threats to our collective resilience.

Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA)
The UK Gov Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) finds and funds exploitable innovation for a safer future.

In this episode, Jamie and Dan talk to Jess Payne, Director of Social Value for Compass One at Compass Group UK & Ireland, about her role, what social value is, how it is defined and what, in practice it entails.  They talk through the UK government’s social value model, it’s structure and themes.  Jess provides some practical advice to companies considering social value for the first time as well as both guidance and some links to online resources that can be used to assist.

Episode Links:

UK Gov Procurement Policy Notes This collection brings together all procurement policy notes, providing guidance on best practice for public sector procurement.

The Institute for Social Value Social Value UK was established in 2007 as a membership organisation, then known as the Social Return on Investment (SROI) Network. It represented a group of individuals who advocated for a way of measuring the impact of decisions beyond the balance sheet – pioneered by our experts.

Social Value Portal The people, platform and programmes that support organisations to measure, manage and report on the social, economic, and environmental benefits they contribute to society.

Compass Group UK & Ireland We are Compass Group UK & I, tens of thousands of talented people that provide expert catering, cleaning, vending, and facilities management services to a range of clients and sectors across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

As the third sector and volunteer sports organisations in particular look for closer alignment and support from businesses, this month Dan and Jamie ask why would a business get involved?

What are the pros and cons, the potential challenges and risks?

How much should you commit, what should you expect as a return and how can you measure success?

They discuss the types of sponsorship available as well as the various models for supporting charities.

Finally, they look at how this fits into the social value requirements associated with UK government contracts.

This month Dan and Jamie host a panel of female veterans for our regular podcast, The All Round Look.

They ask Ellie Ablett, Lucy Ottley and Anne Baxter why fewer female veterans appear to move into Defence sector roles than their male colleagues. Do female veterans have the same expectations as male veterans? Do they feel that they have more choices as they look to a second career than men do? How much do the culture and values of a company matter to a female veteran and what practical examples can we give to make sure that both SMEs and larger companies are doing all they can to attract a balanced, diverse workforce that includes an equitable number of female veterans?

This month Dan and Jamie return to the subject of Ukraine.  Almost a year on from their last look, they ask what has changed and what that means for SMEs.  They discuss how the procurement regimes of both UK and Ukraine have changed to facilitate increased trade at pace and how successful this has been.  They look at what the next 12 months might look like and how SMEs in particular can stay abreast of this.

In this episode, Dan and Jamie delve into AUKUS, unravelling its origins, current status, and the challenges it faces. Discover the key players involved and gain a comprehensive understanding of whether this groundbreaking collaboration is set to become a reality.

This month Jamie and Dan welcome serial entrepreneur, Nick Hurst, to talk about SME funding. They will cover when funding might be needed, where it might come from, how to approach investors and how to decide much to ask for. This will be a lively discussion with plenty of real life experiences being discussed.

After a short break the ‘All Round Look’ is back, and this month Jamie and Dan discuss the upcoming Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition.  This is a timely look at what DSEi is, what you can expect to get from it as an SME, the overall themes, how you might wish to prepare and how much it might cost.  In short, it will help you decide whether DSEi is right for you and your business this year.

DSEi is at ExCel London from Tuesday 12th to Friday 15th September 2023 and both Jamie and Dan will be there throughout.  Find them at the G&H Aerospace & Defence Stand H2-142.

This month Jamie and Dan discuss sales and the sales function from an SME’s perspective. Why is sales a dirty word?  How important is the Sales function to the success of an SME? What role should sales cover to ensure that the business is well placed to succeed.  What do you need to look for in a sales person?  How do you balance the cost of a successful sales organisation with the ‘lumpy’ nature of large tendering opportunities.

They cover marketing, SEO, brand awareness and the importance of after-sales support.

This month Jamie and Dan discuss the broad subject of the employment of veterans in UK SMEs. They cover why and when people leave the services; what their expectations are and what it is like to leave a long-term military career. They also discuss the civilian employers perspective and whether there is an unavoidable culture and values gap.