New tender pack makes it ‘easier than ever’ to become a government supplier

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is making it easier for companies to supply to government by launching a new, simplified tender pack.

CCS has been working with partners including techUK and the Federation of Small Businesses to design the new pack, which cuts the amount of tender documentation that suppliers need to complete.

The pack sets out all the information in one place and consists of fewer, shorter tender documents. It is in Plain English and also removes irrelevant terms and conditions. Full terms and conditions will be available online.

Sam Rowbury, CCS Director of Policy Delivery, said: “The new bid pack will make it easier than ever for more suppliers, and particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to work with government. It clearly and simply sets out the customer’s and CCS’s requirements, so that bidders can spend more time developing their best offer and less on red tape.

“We have already seen success in the first project, which resulted in 86 of the 121 successful suppliers on the new Cyber Security Services framework being SMEs. Many of those suppliers told us that the new pack was much easier to understand and use.”

Rob Driver, Head of Public Sector Programme at techUK, said: “Ongoing engagement between Government and industry enables public services to take advantage of innovative tech through having access to a wide range of suppliers. As a result of the detailed supplier and buyer engagement between techUK and CCS a more user friendly bidder pack has been developed. This will open up choice for public sector buyers, promote innovation and help the government achieve its target of 33 per cent of procurement spend being awarded to SMEs.”