If your organisation bids for public sector work you may occasionally consider that your bid has been treated inappropriately.  It is important not to confuse this issue with just not liking a procurement decision but sometimes buyers do get things wrong.  What counts is facts and figures rather than views or opinions.

Recently we have assisted clients to challenge and overturn procurement decisions on a number of areas:

• Getting a City Council to change the financial turnover limit required for participants by arguing to use forthcoming EU procurement rule changes rather than outdated Office of Government Commerce guidance.
• Challenging rejection of bids, based on flawed financial assessments with unidentified criteria, using the precedent established in Lettings International v’s London Borough of Newham at the English Court of Appeal.

Organisations sometimes hesitate to make challenges, on the basis that they don’t want to make waves, but that does not help win contracts.

In the above cases proper challenges based on facts led to the subsequent award of three substantial contracts to our clients which shows how important it is to engage with the public sector in a professional manner.

Ideally bidders should identify potential concerns at the start of procurement processes as it is much easier to change things in the early stages rather than later on when everyone has invested lots of time and effort.  If your organisation would welcome some additional assistance in any aspect of tendering just get in touch.