Stephen Murray: Journey from Bid Writer to Training Services Manager

Previous experience in economics and estimating

I joined the Executive Compass team in 2019 as a bid writer, having spent almost 10 years working as an estimator for a North East-based manufacturer after completing my economics degree. Whilst I was primarily concerned with the pricing element of submissions in my previous role, I was involved throughout the tender process, including the following stages:

• The bid/no-bid decision-making
• Presentation of the final proposal in the most impactful way
• Managing projects as they moved through to the delivery and installation phase
• Engaging with clients and end users to better understand what was important to them.

As such, I was able to bring to Executive Compass a clear understanding that a good bid proposal needs to focus on the needs of the buyer and their stakeholders, with persuasiveness and clearly articulated practical advantages and benefits key at tender stage. My previous experience also meant I wasn’t daunted by invitation to tender documents and specifications which are hundreds of pages long!

As a bid writer, I immediately worked on a wide variety of tenders across multiple sectors, most notably a series of high-profile submissions in the aviation, rail and nuclear industries completed as part of a five-month secondment to a Tier 1 construction and civil engineering contractor. I also served as account manager for several of our longest-tenured clients, including a heating and renewable energy company in the South East and a fire safety and security company delivering a range of services nationwide.

Progression to quality reviewer role

In 2022, I was appointed to the role of quality reviewer, providing guidance and support to our team of in-house bid writers as well as delivering tender review and improvement services for our clients. As the Executive Compass team grew, I had expressed an interest in progressing to the role longer term, as it was a good fit for my skills and would allow me to apply my experience of working in a manufacturing facility and visiting construction sites, but the move came earlier than anticipated due to the growth of the business.

Whilst the role of reviewer did pose some different challenges to that of bid writer, such as the need to shift your thinking to be in the context of different clients and industries from one response to the next, I took satisfaction in identifying targeted enhancements to responses which had already been drafted to a high standard. I also enjoyed working collaboratively with our bid writers to agree how to address key points in a tender specification or present unique aspects of a clients approach to contract delivery.

Training services manager

Since late 2023, I have been leading Executive Compass’ dedicated training and consultancy division as training services manager. In this role, I develop and deliver bespoke training workshops on public procurement, bid and tender writing, and social value, as well as work with clients pre- and post-bid to prepare for high-priority opportunities and identify lessons learned from previous submissions.

Our half- and full-day training workshop are delivered to groups of delegates from a particular client, either in-person or remotely via Teams, and communicate the practical techniques we apply at Executive Compass to maintain our 85% tender success rate. Ahead of each workshop, I tailor the content to the client’s industry and include practical examples relevant to them to help embed key learning outcomes, such as how to effectively deconstruct tender questions and use evidence to add credibility to responses.

We also deliver training sessions and provide focused one-to-one support to North East-based organisations on behalf of NEPO as an appointed delivery partner for their Supplier Partnership Programme. This involves delivering training to groups of up to 100 delegates at a time, some of whom are entirely new to public procurement and tendering, and answering more specific questions which individual organisations have in dedicated one-hour ‘surgeries’.

Reflections on my current role and EC more generally

I really enjoy the variation which my current role provides, as clients engaging Executive Compass to deliver training provide services ranging from the supply and installation of Christmas lighting to implementation of ethical research software solutions. The role does also still give me the opportunity to engage with and support our internal team of 20 bid writers, as I work with Technical Director Matthew Walker to deliver weekly toolbox talks and monthly training sessions on specific topics.

Executive Compass has changed a lot over the last five and a half years, expanding from a team of around 10 people based exclusively in our offices in Newcastle, to a team of over 35 based throughout the UK. What hasn’t changed, is our focus on building long-term relationships with our clients and being their go-to option for specialist bid and tender writing support.

I look forward to continuing to provide that support in the form of training and wider consultancy services, allowing us to assist those clients who do have their own dedicated bid team.