Ensuring You Are Bid Ready

Conducting a bid ready audit on your company is the best way to identify areas of your business that need improvement and ensure a successful submission. Completing an in-depth audit prior to the commencement of the bid process ensures that all information required is there and of the best quality. Implementing this process is very efficient as all of the required documents are then stored in a controlled secure location that is easily accessible.

The documents can then be updated and reviewed instead of being created afresh every time or, worse, finding that they have expired and need a complete rewrite due to changes in legislation or operating procedures. All policies and procedures need to be updated and improved upon every year, evidenced with a signature from your company’s Managing Director or the person responsible for conducting the review.

Reviewing and updating your policies and procedures, and storing them in a secure location, ensures that the latest versions are included in your submission. Including out of date versions is a common mistake. Expired certificates can lead to you being excluded from the bidding process. The evaluator will assume that your company is not organised and is inefficiently structured with a lack of quality review processes.

It is important that the bid ready audit does not just include your policies and procedures but information on your whole company. We would recommend assembling a range of PQQs, from which you can collate all the necessary information needed. We have identified the information that is usually required for PQQ submission. This list is not exhaustive, however, as every PQQ is different. The bid ready audit should focus on:

Insurances
• Employer’s liability
• Public liability
• Professional indemnity

Financial
• 3 years’ audited accounts
• Cash flow forecasts
• Bank reference
• Credit check (you may be asked for a DUNS report which has been obtained seven days prior to submission)

Health and Safety
• Policy, manuals and risk assessments
• Details of application in your business – evidence?
• Accreditation and external audit – CHAS etc

Environmental
• Policies
• Accreditations
• Sustainable operating procedures
• Key performance indicators

Equality
• Equal opportunities / Equality and diversity policy
• Evidence of equal opportunities procedures
Quality
• Quality policy
• Continuous improvement – monitor, measure, analyse?
• Accreditations

The list above provides a brief insight into the supporting documents required for a bid ready audit. If you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to get in touch and our team of professional writers will be able to assist.