Public Procurement and Property
Marketing Services Framework – Micro & Minority Led Businesses
June 27, 2023 by Melissa Reilly No Comments | Category Procurement news, SMEs, suppliers
Today (27 June) is world SME Day! To celebrate, we have a Q&A with some of the SME suppliers on our Marketing Services Framework. We’ll be hearing about the challenges and opportunities of being micro and minority (women)-led businesses and their experiences of engaging with public sector procurement.
Supplier – Jump Research
1 – Can you tell us about the work you do with the public sector?
We are on the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework, which means we can provide research services to public sector organisations in Scotland. This includes things like focus groups and interviews as well as surveys and evaluations. For example, in the past few months we’ve evaluated Scottish Government marketing campaigns; conducted stakeholder interviews to help inform development of a new strategic plan; interviewed museum visitors; and conducted in-depth research with people who have food allergies.
2 – How do you hear about contract opportunities to work with the public sector?
Most of our opportunities to work with the public sector come through Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) – the daily alerts system is very useful for highlighting opportunities. Making sure we have a company profile listed on PCS also leads to us being invited to tender for work. Other than that it’s just building up relationships, ensuring we have a good online profile so that we can be found if public sector organisations are searching for research providers in Scotland.
3 – What support did you access, and what made the most difference to your bidding / tendering process?
We didn’t use any formal methods of support, rather it’s been a process of learning over several years how to respond to ‘Invitation to Tenders’ (ITT)s and which to respond to. We always ask for detailed feedback on tenders submitted, and where previous responses have been published (e.g. for larger Framework tenders) we’ve looked at those to help us learn how to respond.
4 – As a women-led business, can you describe a benefit and also a challenge which this has?
The main challenge we faced was more relating to size than gender. As a micro-SME with only 2 staff, demonstrating capacity was the biggest issue. We decided to pull together an informal consortium with other micro organisations and freelancers to ensure we were able to resource requirements from the Framework, and to help with responses to tenders. The benefits of being a micro-SME are many and varied – we are able to provide an agile, flexible service led by experienced, senior people with minimal overheads.
5 – What is your #1 top tip for other micro and SME businesses looking to work with the public sector?
Don’t become overwhelmed by the paperwork! Think very carefully about what’s being asked in ITTs and respond specifically to that, and ask for feedback every time.
Supplier – Progressive Partnership
1 – Can you tell us about the work you do with the public sector?
Progressive is currently a supplier on the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework. We conduct numerous research projects for the Scottish Government and other public sector organisations. Projects range from campaign evaluations, creative testing, insight gathering, service evaluations to satisfaction surveys, employee surveys and many others. We cover topics such as health, tourism, finances as well as more sensitive topics such as community justice, mental health and cancer.
2 – How do you hear about contract opportunities to work with the public sector?
We hear about the majority of the contract opportunities through Public Contracts Scotland or directly from public sector organisations.
3 – What support did you access, and what made the most difference to your bidding / tendering process?
We have been part of the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework for some time now so are very familiar with the process and how it works. One of the tools we do make use of daily is the alert system. We receive daily alerts via Public Contracts Scotland and check through these every morning. This is how we find out about most of the public sector opportunities.
4 – As a women-led business, can you describe a benefit and also a challenge which this has?
We are proud to be a women-led business as we feel that it inspires other women to do the same. We are not aware of any challenges and benefits that we encounter specifically because we are a women-led business.
5 – What is your #1 top tip for other micro and SME businesses looking to work with the public sector?
Ensure you have good credentials that meet public sector requirements such as ISO accreditation, Cyber Essentials or other accreditations that make you stand out such as green credentials etc.
Supplier – The Union
1 – Can you tell us about the work you do with the public sector?
At The Union we’ve worked on social behavioural change campaigns for the Scottish Government with topics including road safety, healthy eating, organ donation, breastfeeding, period poverty, child development, Teen mental health, as well as financial support and violence at work. We develop creative integrated marketing communications campaigns across all media from TV, branding, cinema, radio, outdoor, digital marketing, design and build of websites to events, field marketing, strategic partnerships and PR. We also have worked with many different types of public body from Quality Meat Scotland – promoting Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb in the UK and Europe, promoting Scotland through our global campaigns for VisitScotland, promoting and protecting our heritage with Historic Environment Scotland, and building cool, complex websites for the likes of Traffic Scotland. Lots of variety and interesting projects!
2 – How do you hear about contract opportunities to work with the public sector?
We are signed up to Public Contracts Scotland and PCS-Tender which notifies us when there are relevant opportunities released. We also hear directly from the public bodies when they are about to release a Tender. We were successful on 3 Lots of the recently awarded Marketing Services Framework which means we’ve been through a rigorous process to ensure high standards and service excellence, so public bodies choose to select us to bid for their projects.
3 – What support did you access, and what made the most difference to your bidding / tendering process?
We haven’t really accessed any additional support to support our tendering process. Our skill in doing this has come from many years of learning and adapting to ensure we give a succinct and useful response.
4 – As a women-led business, can you describe a benefit and also a challenge which this has?
We have not accessed the services of Women Enterprise Scotland but are interested to learn more!
5 – What is your #1 top tip for other micro and SME businesses looking to work with the public sector?
- Practice makes perfect! The more tenders you do, the better you will be at them (and they won’t seem as daunting).
- Ask for feedback even if you don’t win – this is really important so you can progress and improve. Really read the question and understand what they want to know about you. Be succinct.
- Be confident – showcase your expertise. Be clear about what can be delivered for the budget, but be flexible.
- Be human. The questions can be quite formulaic, but it’s okay to showcase your personality so clients get a feel of who you are and how you work
Suppliers wishing to engage with public sector procurement can access free training, guidance and support through:
Look out for more guidance for SMEs being added to the Supplier Journey and our procurement web pages very soon. Don’t forget to also register for a Supplier account on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS).
For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement
Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot
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Tags: good for businesses and their employees, micro businesses, Q&A, SME day, SMEs, Suppliers
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