The “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Service Application Form and Terms & Conditions

This short application form will be used by the “Winning in Tendering” team to provide a platform to help assess whether our free Tender Review Service is suitable for your organisation. It will also assess your organisation’s eligibility for the service.

You are typically eligible to benefit from the Tender Review Service if all of the following criteria applies to your organisation:

Winning Public Sector Trade is a key part of your organisation’s growth or sustainability strategy

You are relatively new to public sector tendering and want to ‘leapfrog’ forwardOR you have more experience in tendering, but have a relatively poor track record and want to do much better

You are an SME or Third Sector organisation(as defined in the Terms & Conditions section towards the end of this document)

Your head office is located within the Ireland/Wales INTERREG 4A region:

  • Wales: Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Swansea, Wrexham or Flintshire
  • Ireland: Dublin, Waterford, Kilkenny, Meath, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, S.Tipperary, Cork or Kerry

We kindly request that you carefully read the Tender Review Service terms and conditions; this will draw your attention to your commitments in signing up to this service.

If you do not complete this document in its entirety, we can not proceed with your application.

  1. CLIENT INFORMATION

Organisation Name:

Your Name:

Your Job Title:

Your Email Address:

Your Phone Number:

Your Work Address

& Postcode:

Head Office

Address& Postcode:

(If different to above)

Website Address:

Organisation Status(check one box only):

Sole Trader Partnership Limited Liability Company

Third Sector/Voluntary Sector organisation

Other

If other, please specify

Is your organisation a Minority Owned Business**(check one box only)?

Yes No

**A Minority Owned Business is defined as an organisation that is at least 51% owned by Ethnic Minority individuals. Ethnic Minority individuals will also control the management and daily business operations**

In what year was your organisation established?

How many people are employed by your organisation?

Which of the following classifications best describes the industry/market sector your organisation is in (check one box only)?

Energy / Engineering / Food & Drink
Legal / Printing & Publishing / Construction
Wholesale Distribution / Retail / Hotels & Catering
Business Services / Public Administration / Education & Training
Banking & Insurance / Cultural / Agriculture & Fishing
IT or Internet / Hospitality & Leisure / Environ. Services
Manufacturing / Transport Services / Social & Care Services
Health Supplies / Health Services / Consultancy

If other, please specify

What is your latest annual gross Turnover figure (£s)?

If you are a Third Sector organisation, what is your latest total annual income in £s (including donations, grants, fees for services, membership and interest, and income received from winning public sector contracts)?

  1. YOUR ORGANISATION’S PUBLIC SECTOR TENDERING BACKGROUND

What proportion (in percentage terms) of your gross turnover in the last 2 years has come from winning public sector tenders?

For Third Sector organisations, what proportion (in percentage terms) of your total annual income in the last 2 years has come from winning public sector tenders?

Approximately how many public sector contracts has your organisation tendered for previously?

Where a public sector pre-qualification process has been used, how often (in percentage terms) have you succeeded in getting through to the tender stage over the last 2 years (check one box only)?

0, <5, 5 -10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, 91-100

Approximately how many pre-qualification questionnaires has your organisation submitted to the public sector over the last two years?

What has been your rate of success at winning public sector tenders (in percentage terms) over the last 2 years(check one box only)?

0,<5, 5 -10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, 91-100

Approximately how many tenders has your organisation submitted to the public sector over the last two years?

How long ago did you last tender for a public sector contract
(in months)?

Do you intend to continue bidding for public sector contracts over the next 2 years(check one box only)?

Yes No

Do you consider winning public sector trade as a key part of your growth or organisational sustainability strategy(check one box only)?

Yes No

Why do you want to take advantage of the “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Service?

YOUR COMMUNICATION PARTICIPATIONPREFERENCES

How did you hear about the Tender Review Service?

Would you prefer future contact in English or Welsh (check one box only)?

English Welsh

Are there any additional disability related needs you may require to participate fully in the Tender Review Service (check one box only)?**Participation requirements are detailed in the Terms & Conditions**

Yes No

If yes, please explain below:

  1. DATA PROTECTION ACT

  1. DECLARATION

I confirm that:

The above information is correct

I have read and accept the contents of this document

I have read, understand and accept the terms and conditions contained below

Authorised E-Signature/Typed: / Date:

Thank you for completing this form and reading the terms and conditions. Please return this document by email to: using thesubject heading: Tender Review Service and we will then contact you shortly afterwards to move things forward.

OFFICE USE ONLY: Date entered on database: _____/____/_____
TRS Reference Number:______

TERMS CONDITIONS

  1. Definition of Small and Medium sized Business & Third Sector Organisation

Your organisation warrants that it is either an SME or a Third Sector organisation:

SMEs are enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euro, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million euro.

Third Sector organisations are defined as non-governmental organisations which are values-driven and which principally reinvest their surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives. It includes voluntary and community organisations, charities and trusts, social enterprises, co-operatives and mutuals.

Only Third Sector organisations with fewer than 250 paid staff are eligible to receive the Tender Review Service.

  1. Ireland/Wales INTERREG Area

The free service for which you are registering an interest in receiving is part funded bythe European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Ireland Wales Programme (INTERREG 4A).

In order to be eligible for this service your Head Office address must be located within one of the following regions of:

Wales:Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Swansea, Wrexham, and Flintshire.

Ireland:Dublin, Waterford, Kilkenny, Meath, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, S.Tipperary, Cork and Kerry.

  1. Participation Requirements

Any organisation participating in the Tender Review Service will be required to conform to the following:

  1. YOU will need to fill out and sign this short application form to help us assess whether our free Tender Review Service is suitable for your organisation. This will also assess your organisation’s eligibility for the service. This Microsoft Word document should be emailed back to
  1. WE will then contact you by email to confirm whether you are eligible for the service or not (and to clarify the next steps). If there is some uncertainty as to whether you are eligible or not, or whether the service is suitable for your organisation, we will phone you to discuss this further.
  1. If you are eligible, YOU will then need to supply (by email or post) the following documentation to us:
  2. A recent tender (or pre-qualification questionnaire)
  3. The corresponding (public) procurer’s documentation
  4. The procurer feedback (if available)
  1. WE then contact you by phone to:
  2. Establish personal contact and clarify expectations
  3. Understand your tendering experiences to date
  4. Tell you when you’ll receive your Tender Review Report
  1. WE then write the Tender Review Report and email it to you.
  1. Once you have had a chance to digest the Report, WE phone you to give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the Review and to undertake a short client satisfaction audit and impact analysis with you.
  1. Finally, WE undertake a simple benchmarking exercise and impact analysis with you (by phone) 12 months later to understand how your tendering experiences may have changed.
  1. Confidentiality Clause

“Winning in Tendering” will ensure that its staff agree to the following in respect

of the services and support provided to the client:

The “Winning in Tendering” team shall not at any time during or after the agreement divulge, or allow to be divulged, any information of a confidential nature relating to the affairs of the client without the client’s prior consent unless the confidential information is:

In or has entered the public domain otherwise than through the default of the “Winning in Tendering” team or

Is already in the possession of the “Winning in Tendering” team at the date of disclosure or

Is legally required from the “Winning in Tendering” team by a third party

Is required by third party auditors as explained in section 8 of the terms & conditions (entitled “information for external audit and service evaluation”)

Only the client and members of the “Winning in Tendering” team will be able to view the Tender Review Report you will receive as part of the Tender Review Service (unless the client permits “Winning in Tendering” to do otherwise).

  1. EligibilityClause

“Winning in Tendering” reserves the ultimate right to determine whether your organisation is eligible for a review. We reserve the right to refuse a review if your particular case is not in line with the aims and objectives of the Tender Review Service and the broader aims of the “Winning in Tendering” project.

“Winning in Tendering” will not be able to undertake a Review for your organisation until:

a)You have filled out this document and signed the declaration.

b)You have supplied the following documentation to us (when requested):

  1. A previous recent tender (or pre-qualification questionnaire).
  2. The corresponding procurer’s documentation.
  3. The procurer’s feedback (if available).

c)We have had an opportunity to speak to you to clarify expectations regarding the service and to understand your tendering experiences to date.

Each organisation will only be entitled to receive one review over the lifetime of the project.

  1. Disclaimer Clause

The contents of the “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Report you will receive are provided in good faith and as a guide only. Neither “Winning in Tendering” or their partner organisations, nor any person acting on behalf of “Winning in Tendering”, is responsible for the use that might be made of the information contained within the Tender Review Report. Nothing in the document implies or expresses a warranty of any kind.

All comments/observations in the Tender Review Report originate from our analysis of your response to the tender (or pre-qualification questionnaire) and the accompanying guidance documentation provided by the procurer. It is important to emphasise that in this context, no professional judgement is being made or inferred as to the professional competence ofthose involved in preparing and compiling yourorganisation’s tender(or pre-qualification questionnaire) submissionnor is any professional judgement being made or inferred as to the way the tender was assessed by the procurers. The purpose of the Tender Review Report is to help your organisation learn vital lessons from previous tender (or pre-qualification questionnaire) submissions.

  1. Nature of the Support

The “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Service helps SMEs and Third Sector organisations to generate better quality tenders (or pre-qualification questionnaire) submissions. Under no circumstance should beneficiaries of the service use their Tender Review Report as a tool to challenge the decision of procurers. The “Winning in Tendering” project does not prepare Tender Review Report’s for such purposes.

  1. Information for external audit and service evaluation

The organisation understands that “Winning in Tendering” is subject to external audit, and “Winning in Tendering” will, if required, make all information on the project available to the auditors and assist such external auditors in every reasonable manner. The organisation agrees to supply “Winning in Tendering” with such information necessary to enable service evaluation for a period up to three years.

  1. Research & Benchmarking Activities

The “Winning in Tendering” project researches the barriers Small Indigenous Suppliers (SISs) face in their public sector tendering experience (SISs include both SMEs and Third Sector organisations).

By completing this application form and signing this declaration on behalf of your firm you confirm your interest in participating in this important initiative and confirm your organisation’s willingness to participate in the research programme element of the “Winning in Tendering” project and confirm you are happy for your organisation to participate and supply data to the project for the advancement of research into procurement and tendering issues.

Specifically for the Tender Review Service as stated in Terms & Condition 3 (above), you will be required to:

  • Share your tendering experiences with us via a short telephone interview prior to undertaking the Review (i.e. an initial benchmarking exercise that will also provide us with background information to help us undertake your review).
  • Provide feedback on the usefulness of the Tender Review Service via a short client satisfaction telephone audit (following receipt of your Tender Review Report) and impact analysis.
  • 12 months on from receiving your Tender Review Report, share your latest tendering experiences with us via a short telephone interview in order to help us understand how your tendering experiences have changed. This will also enable us to undertake a final impact analysis.

Any disclosure of information (except to Auditors) collected from participants will be anonymous or only disclosed with the permission of the participant.

  1. European State Aid

Your organisation understands that this offer of assistance constitutes de Minimis state aid as defined by the European Commission. What this means is that awards of de Minimis aid from all public sources must not exceed €200,000 over a 3 (fiscal) year period. It is your organisation’s responsibility that you do not breach this condition in subscribing to the “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Service.

For the purposes of recording de Minimis aid received, the Tender Review Service equates to £2,400.00/€2,800.00 of free assistance or four days at £600/€700 per day.

Your participation in the “Winning in Tendering” Tender Review Service constitutes 1 non-accredited cross-border training course/module as defined by the Ireland/Wales INTERREG 4A Programme.