Public affairs tenders explained

Winning public affairs tenders can be a great way to grow your business. They can help secure a pipeline of work for your business and guarantee pay (depending on the sector). Businesses will issue public affairs tenders in order to procure public affairs services.

If you’ve never submitted a response for public affairs tenders before, you may be wondering how to begin. Or, if you aren’t seeing success from your current tendering effort you may be looking to improve. Luckily for you, we can help. This blog will explain how public affairs tenders work and what to look out for.

3 things to expect from public affair tenders

1. Proof of experience

Buyers will often expect to you have a bank of experience of past successful contracts. Often, they will require 2 – 3 case studies within the last 3 – 5 years. These case studies must be similar in scope and complexity to the contract you’re applying for. They should demonstrate your capabilities to work on the proposed contract.

Depending on the word count, you should include how you overcame and challenges on these projects. This will strengthen your response demonstrating your problem-solving skills and flexibility. Some buyers may require you to detail the contact information of previous clients. So, it’s best not to over exaggerate on the example as you might be caught out.

2. Added value

A winning bid for public affairs tenders will include how they will bring added value to the contract. Buyers want to get the most value for their money. Therefore, you will need to demonstrate how you will add value.

If you’re tendering in the public sector, this is referred to as social value. There is now a mandatory weighting of 10% on social value for public sector contracts. Here you must detail the environmental, social and economic aspects while fulfilling the contract. You should consider how your business will:

• Support COVID-19 recovery
• Encourage economic growth
• Tackle climate change
• Create new jobs and skills

3. Framework agreements

Public affairs tenders may be a part of a wider framework agreement. A framework agreement is a multi-supplier agreement typically used within the public sector to procure a good or service. Securing a place on a framework can be a lucrative opportunity for your business. They can run for years at a time with the possibility of extension.

Framework agreements are often split into lots, with each lot representing a specific good, product or service. They can also be split into geographical locations. They allow suppliers to apply for specific lots they specialise in. Public affairs services can often be found as part of a wider agreement for other creative services. For example:

Lot 1 – Public Affairs Services

Lot 2 – Public Relations

Lot 3 – Digital Design Services

Lot 4 – Events Services

So, now you have a bit more of an idea of what to expect from public affairs tenders. You want to be clear and concise in your response. Make sure you adhere to the formatting guidelines in the specification and answer every question. You should be persuasive in your response and demonstrate why you’re the best business over your competitors.

Need assistance writing your next public affairs tenders?

You don’t always have the time or resources to write a winning response in house. Outsourcing to bid writing experts can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offer four levels of bid writing support. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. The services on offer include:

• A Tender Writing service
• A Tender Ready programme
• The Tender Improvement package
• Tender Mentor

Where can I find public affairs tenders for my business?

Running your own business takes up a lot of your time. The last thing you want to be doing is trawling hundreds of websites searching for public affairs tenders. Most websites post multi-industry opportunities and filtering them with CPV codes can produce unreliable results. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Enter…Creative Tenders

Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralise portal hosting live creative tender opportunities from across the UK.

Below are previous public affairs tenders sourced on our portal:

Public Affairs Consultancy

Stonewater Limited – East Midlands- Budget: £132,000

Provision of Public Affairs & Public Relations

St James’s Hospital- Republic of Ireland- Budget: £300,000

Contract for the Provision of Communications Support Services including Media Relations, Public Relations & Public Affairs

Health and Safety Authority- International- Budget: Undisclosed

Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs Framework

Leeds City Council- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

AC/2020/09 – Public Relations, Public Affairs and Media Relations

Arts Council- Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Creative Tenders offers your business:

• Access to all exclusive, private and public sector opportunities within the creative industry.
• A dedicated Account Manager on hand to answer any questions you may have about public affairs tenders. They can help you understand the procurement process in general.
• A daily email bulletin sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
• Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
• 20-minutes of free bid management consultancy each month.

WE SOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

• Events Management
• Digital Services
• Design
• Graphic Design
• Marketing & PR
• Print
• Websites
• Video Production and many more.

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see what creative contracts in the UK can help grow your business. 

WANT TO SAVE EVEN MORE TIME?

Upgrading to Discover Elite allows you to optimise your tendering opportunities even when you’re busy. Our two upgraded packages can improve your competitor awareness and bidding success rate. Each can help save you even more time when searching for video and film tenders.

THE ULTIMATE TIME SAVER PACKAGE OFFERS YOUR BUSINESS:

• A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
• An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Creative and Technology, for example.
• Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
• Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid.
• Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable creative tendering opportunities.

THE BECOME A PRE-BID MASTER PACKAGE ALSO INCLUDES:

• All of the above.
• Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
• A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.