Why UK Tendering Needs Better Public/ Private Collaboration

Public sector tendering in the UK has become increasingly complex, despite successive sets of legislation aiming to take it in the other direction, with neither ‘side’ embracing collaboration for mutual benefit to any great extent. For many SMEs, bidding for contracts can feel like navigating a maze of repetitive questions, unclear specifications, and inconsistent requirements across different authorities.

While procurement teams are under pressure to ensure compliance, transparency, and value for money, suppliers are often left trying to interpret vague requirements while racing against tight deadlines. The result? Frustration on both sides, wasted time, and bids that fail to deliver the quality outcomes buyers are actually looking for.

So what’s the fix?

One of the biggest issues in UK tendering today is the lack of meaningful collaboration between public sector buyers and private sector suppliers. There are lobbying organisations out there doing a great job of linking in with government to try and drive change, including the APMP’s Procurement Focus Group which published it’s white paper (available here) on this topic following the Procurement Act 2023 coming into force last year.

However, while writing a bid will always take time, resource, and thought, it seems that little has changed from a bid writer’s perspective regarding the practicalities of how tenders are structured and the work required. As a freelancer, I get to see dozens of sets of tender documents every month, and even given changes to Selection Questionnaire responses through the introduction of the Central Digital Platform, only minor process improvements have been seen.

So, from this point of view, a far more concerted and co-ordinated effort is needed to drive through genuine change and momentum to establish procurement ‘norms’ and standardised response structures that genuinely bring value and time-saving benefits to allow SME’s in particular to bid more often and with greater quality.

Collaboration is an opportunity

There are several ways in which stronger public-private collaboration could make a significant difference to the accessibility of the public sector market for UK SME’s.

Creating Accurate Specifications

Too often, specification documents are written in isolation. Procurement teams may understand policy objectives, governance requirements, and budget limitations, but they do not always have a practical understanding of how suppliers deliver services on the ground. This disconnect can create tender documents that are overly generic, repetitive, or unrealistic in terms of delivery expectations.

For suppliers, particularly SMEs, this creates a major challenge. Businesses spend hours trying to decipher what the buyer actually wants rather than focusing on how they can deliver value. Many tenders contain duplicated questions, conflicting requirements, or scoring criteria that lack clarity. In some cases, suppliers are forced to make assumptions simply because the specification leaves too much open to interpretation.

The problem is not usually a lack of effort from procurement teams. Public sector procurement professionals operate in highly regulated environments and are often managing significant workloads. However, without structured engagement with the market, specifications can become detached from operational reality.

Market Engagement

Early market engagement has traditionally been one of the most underused tools in procurement, although it is becoming more so following PA23. When buyers engage (successfully) with suppliers before publishing a tender, they gain valuable insight into industry standards, realistic delivery models, innovation opportunities, and emerging challenges. Suppliers can help identify where requirements may be overly restrictive, outdated, or unnecessarily complex.

Importantly, collaboration does not mean compromising fairness or transparency. Done correctly, it strengthens procurement outcomes. The UK procurement landscape already encourages pre-market engagement as part of good procurement practice. The issue is that many organisations still treat supplier engagement cautiously rather than strategically.

One counter-argument is that market engagement actually adds time into the tender process, but the benefits from better tender documents can act as a time-saver by contrast.

(More) Standardised Technical Questions

Imagine a procurement process where standard questions were aligned across authorities, where specifications focused on outcomes instead of excessive narrative responses, and where evaluation criteria clearly reflected what success actually looks like. Suppliers would spend less time interpreting documentation and more time developing high-quality, value-driven solutions.

For example, why would a question about contract mobilisation need to be different from one authority to the next for similar requirements, or even across different sectors if worded correctly? Key tasks and responsibilities, milestones, timetables and more are needed within mobilisation processes cross-sector and cross-authority so why does each authority have to word the question differently? Flexibility can be left for adaptation but can the model Social Value question introduced in 2025 not serve to indicate that standard templates can be created?

There is an argument to say that this approach may lead to homogenous responses, but I believe it will allow for easier drafting of initial responses before tendering organisations begin to make them bespoke for the individual tenders for which they are bidding. 

To sum up…..

The above are just some of the ways through which UK public and private sectors can work more collaboratively for the benefit of all. Ultimately, procurement works best when buyers and suppliers see themselves as partners in delivering public value rather than opposing sides in a transactional process.

Improving collaboration across procurement from Central Government down could reduce wasted effort, encourage innovation, and lead to better contract outcomes across the board. For SMEs, this could mean fewer barriers to entry and a fairer opportunity to compete. For buyers, it could mean stronger bids, clearer/faster evaluation processes, and better long-term delivery.

Simplifying tender requirements is not about lowering standards. It is about creating procurement processes that are clearer, more practical, and ultimately more effective for everyone involved. Practical change is needed within procurement processes to make bidding more worthwhile for all involved.

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