Be prepared
Planning is key if contracting authorities are to run successful procurements. Caroline Finnett gives her top ten tips.
Your mother or your teacher probably taught you that "proper preparation prevents poor performance", and they were right. Childhood lessons aside, when it comes to running a procurement process, regulated or otherwise, never has a truer word been spoken.
The procurement process shouldn't start with the issue of a Contract Notice in the OJEU as the process will be, to a certain extent, driven by what is in that notice. The process should start with careful planning of which the OJEU notice is just one part.
Below are our top ten tips on planning your procurement [1] .
1. Procurement strategy
Your organisation should have a procurement strategy. It should set out a clear corporate framework to achieve the most effective method of procuring outcomes in line with the organisation's business objectives and, where applicable, best value principles. Always consult your procurement strategy to ensure you are working to it. For example, it may contain provisions on sustainability and/or collaborative working. It may prompt questions such as "Is this a procurement which could be split into lots to encourage SMEs?"
2. Consult with your stakeholders
Most importantly, talk to the end users of the goods, works or services to be procured. This may raise issues which need addressing during the process such as additional services required, changes to the specification or the possibility of collaborative procurement. It is also important to involve senior decision-makers at this stage (members or senior management). The decisions as to which bid wins the procurement are taken when you set your selection and award criteria – if your decision-makers want a say in the ultimate decision as to the identity of the contractor, now is the time to get them involved.
3. Identify and specify the need
It may seem obvious, but you need to examine whether there is actually a need for the procurement, and assess the skills and capabilities required to deliver the best approach. This will involve asking questions such as "Can we cost-effectively deliver this in-house?" or "Is there an existing framework agreement we can use which represents good/better value for money?"
4. Draw up/review standard documents
Having standard documents such as PQQs, ITTs and Alcatel letters which can be amended and tweaked to suit individual procurements will ultimately save you time. It is important not to be a slave to such documents and ensure they are amended to suit the procurement in question, but a good suite of documents will assist you when time is tight.
5. Discuss selection and award criteria and evaluation methodology
Early discussion about priorities is essential. This is how you will choose the winning tender so the more time put into establishing priorities the better. In addition to this, the majority of recent procurement challenges have centred on award criteria and/or the evaluation process. Involve your legal advisors at this stage to ensure how you are planning to run the procurement complies with principles evolving from recent case law.
6. Choice of procedure
Part of your planning process will be assessing which procurement procedure is right for this particular purchase or project. A key question will be whether the procurement can be completed under sealed bids without the need for any level of negotiation or dialogue with bidders.
7. Know your market
Talking to the market before you go out to procurement will assist you in, firstly, assessing if there is a market in the goods/works/services you require and, further, make potential issues and risks visible early on. This can shape your procurement process and inform the drafting of the Contract Documents.
8. Engage your advisors early
Although external advisors will not always be necessary, when they are, appoint them early on in the procurement process. It means you will benefit from additional market knowledge and assistance in shaping the procurement to ensure your organisation achieves its aims and conforms to a fast moving legal framework.
9. Timetable: be realistic
Plan out an indicative timetable to which the procurement should run. Be prepared for this to move, but not be fluid. As there are often a number of parties involved in a project or procurement process and a number of interested parties, delays occur. A realistic timetable teamed with good project management should ensure that all involved know how the process will run and minimise slippage.
10. Contract documents
To the extent that they can be, the contract documents (the PQQ, ITT/ITPD, the Contract) should be drafted in advance of going out to procurement. The advantage is that the more bidders know what they are signing up to, the better and more focused their bids become.
We live in the real world and appreciate that sometimes we do not have the luxury of time, but the more of the above which can be considered, the better. Or should we say the better the tender.
Caroline Finnett is a solicitor at Walker Morris. She can be contacted on 0113 283 2500 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
[1] These are not necessarily presented in any particular order as they are likely to be happening concurrently.
