How to Win a Defence Contract?
Defence Tenders are not limited to military weapons like tanks or guns, also covers other goods. The Ministry of Defence believes that Small Business and Enterprise provide great economic growth. SMEs have better chances of winning Defence Tenders, as the Defence of Ministry is ready to support small and medium businesses.
Defence tenders are complex, large and technical. However, the Defence tender works like any other public/private procurement. It’s quite challenging to win the defence tenders as there might be underlying motivation and precise alignment. You can find many defence contracts online.
Undoubtedly it is like any other client and contractor deal but demands more safety and security. The UK MOD is working towards providing a great business to small companies.
Here are few tenders of the Defence Sector:
- Accommodation
- Cleaning
- Clothing
- Collection, sale and disposal of military spares
- Construction
- Counter explosive ordnance equipment and services
- Digital services
- Diving equipment
- Electronics
- Vehicle equipment repairs and maintenance
- Vehicle supply
- Weapons, ammunition and associated parts
- Weighing machinery
Tips to win the Defence Tender
Read all contract documentation carefully
A contractor needs to understand the documentation and requirements before placing a bid. The documentation might include Defence Conditions, Defence Standards, Security Clearance Protocol and Instruction to tenders. Always go through the whole document and be conscious of better results.
Offer Quality
Do you provide high-quality services to your clients? Are you registered with the official body? Use audits, reports, logbooks to assure the client. Handling a defence contract is sensitive and demands 100% security. You can answer a few answers by your side for better understanding.
Safety and Security
The Ministry of Defence would like to have the assurance that all the work is done under 100% safety and security of your employee’s health and the general public. For their satisfaction, you can offer a demonstration before initiating the project. You must have skilled people to carry out all the work. You have to submit the health and safety policy of your company as evidence.
As it might include weapon manufacturing, they don’t want any harm from your side to anyone.
Employees
You must have skilful employees before entering any project. Indeed, they will ask more questions and provide answers compared to other tenders. For them, safety and security will be the priority.
Implementation Plan
To satisfy the MOD clients, you have to give a demonstration of your implementation. They might ask for the history of the mobilisation and implementation of your services. Always go through the complete documentation of the defence client, they might sew you if they find something suspicious.
Provide Experience Report
Defence Clients might ask you to show the experience and skills required for the specific project. Always include your experience report, facts and figures in your response to the RFP. Besides this, you can use case history and testimonials of clients as your service evidence.
Your experience report helps the user to understand your quality and delivery. It also provides the assurance and security of their huge investment.
Tips on Writing Response for Defence Tender
Register with DCO
Register yourself with the DCO to get all the information about Defence Tenders. The portal provides you with updated information about all the defence tenders in one place.
Certification
One contractor should have Cyber Essentials certification to start tendering with Defence. They might ask you to show proof of certification or any previous work experience in the same field.
Use the MOD language in your response
It is better if you use MOD terminology. It will increase your chances of winning a defence tender.
Innovative solution
The MOD always looks for innovative ideas. They might ask you to demonstrate your implementation for the best and on-time delivery. Try to find out the best unique solution for their project.
Mention your Strong Policies
Always mention your policies in the response. This shows your professionalism and work experience. MOD will expect high quality and accountability from the contractor.
Even if the MOD documentation doesn’t ask for your policy, take a step forward and mention it. It is important to win trust before winning any contract.
Clear your Rates
Always clear your pricing rate in the response while submitting your defence tenders. Mention your requirements (for machinery instalment, resources or labour). All your services should be value for money. Pricing plays an important role in all types of tenders.
MOD might go for the cheaper bidder, but surely, they will hire a contractor with an impressive response to their proposal. Check the rates and backgrounds of your competitors to win the project.
However, there are numerous contract opportunities for small businesses in defence. But they should know the market and its demand before placing any bid. TendersPedia has all the information on all kinds of tenders.