The Change
Okay, so Local Government have to find £81bn
of saving by 2015, numerous Central Government bodies have been axed with more to follow and in Health institutional establishments such as Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities, they are to be abolished with commissioning rights being handed over to GPs. Free Schools and Academies are the new talk within Education; the Big Society and Local Enterprise Partnerships are being hearalded as the new dawn to replace Regional Development Agencies, with a new drive towards public and private engagment to deliver services.
Further, in recent announcements and publications, new ways to support business are emerging - such as Technology and Innovation Centres and Growth Hubs, along with support services. No doubt these will take shape over the coming months.
What are we seeing here? Where there is change there is opportunity - it needs to be interpreted; offerings shaped to meet that need and, as part of this, the necessity for Public Sector bidding in order to win it...
There has been much talk on how rationalisation will undoubtedly cause frameworks to shrink and, as part of that, to lean towards the big boys to be the main recipients of contract awards. Is this true? Well yes and no...
We will see some frameworks being bundled; as a consequence we will (continue) to see frameworks becoming larger, but and it is a big but, there will be a need for niche players to be a part of these offerings as the bundled offerings will invariably lead to services that the big players do not have the track record or experience to deal with.
The big boys may of course sub contract to provide the wider offering to encompass the bundled offering - but that is a good route to market for suppliers...are you one of these potential suppliers?
The need from the Public Sector may of course be too niche and therefore bidding will be restricted with those expertise and skills i.e. the SME market are likely to progress and win if their positioning messages and offerings are spot on...
We are seeing an number of our clients address this head on and have done for some months, in advance, of the CSR. To use a couple examples to illustrate the point:
- One of our professional services firms are seeking to address a sector vertical they have been in for some time, within the Public Sector but use consultancy rather than transactional skillsets to build relationships and add value.
- A digital media house looking at the market and delivering an offering to match the changing need, the driving point for which being tangible savings through its application rather than the emphasis being on the product itself.
To deliver offerings that meet your clients needs, whether that be a re-postioning or fundamental shift, is course not new, but never more relevant than now for the Public Sector...
7House continues to work with clients to help them get in shape to pick up the opportunities. With some clients we are seeing a re-positioning of the offer in order to demonstrate how they can meet the needs of Public Sector prospects.
So whether you are looking at:
- How to lead, prepare, project manage and bid for Public Sector contracts
- How to optimise the positioning of your offer to meet the evolving needs
- Resourcing and structures that may be required
- Possibilities of forming consortia/ partnerships
7House can help you with these and many other factors to support effective bidding for Public Sector contracts.
To find out more about our range of services please call Craig Millhouse on 07789 753714 to discuss further.
November
