Business Development Retainer · Limited Places

Your Public Sector Pipeline, Run by the Team With a 93% Success Rate

Most UK suppliers lose tenders before they start writing: the wrong opportunities, thin evidence, a deadline panic. A Glaxtons retainer replaces that with a senior, director-led business development function that finds, qualifies and wins contracts for you, every month.

93% success rate, 500+ submissions 2022-2025£500M+ contracts won for clients4.9/5 from 347 verified reviews91% of clients come back

Apply for a Retainer AssessmentSee how it works

We take on a limited number of retainer clients per quarter so directors lead every account. The application below tells us, and you, whether this is the right fit.

The problem a retainer solves

Winning public sector work is not a writing problem. It is a pipeline problem. The suppliers who grow on government and framework contracts do three things consistently: they see every relevant opportunity early, they bid only where they can win, and they submit at assessor standard every time. Doing all three takes senior attention every week. A full-time bid manager costs £55,000 to £75,000 a year plus recruitment and management time, and one person rarely covers strategy, writing and review at once.

The Glaxtons retainer gives you the whole function for a fixed monthly fee: directors who have delivered 500+ submissions, on your account, every month.

What your retainer covers every month

Pipeline and qualification

Live monitoring of Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and your sector portals. Every relevant opportunity logged, scored and given a clear bid or no-bid recommendation with reasons.

Bid writing and review

Agreed submission capacity, written and red-team reviewed by directors. Urgent deadlines get priority mobilisation ahead of non-retainer work.

Framework strategy

A 12-month calendar of CCS, Pagabo, G-Cloud, NHS and sector framework windows, so you are positioned before applications open, not scrambling after.

Asset building

Your case studies, social value content and evidence library strengthened every month, owned by you, raising the score of every future bid.

Monthly directors' review

Pipeline value, submissions, win rate and contract value won, reviewed with you against retainer cost. You see the return, or you see why and what changes.

Senior availability

Direct access to both directors. The people on the assessment call are the people doing the work. No account managers, no juniors.

The return on investment, in your numbers

Use your own figures. The calculator compares your current expected contract revenue with the same pipeline bid at professionally supported win rates. The UK industry average for supported bids is 60-75% (APMP and Bid Solutions benchmarks); Glaxtons' measured rate is 93% across 500+ submissions 2022-2025.

Retainer ROI calculator

Illustrative model, not a guarantee. Assumes a supported win rate at the conservative end of the industry benchmark (60%), not our measured 93%. Contract values are paid over the life of each contract.

What growth on retainer looks like

Three patterns we see repeatedly, drawn from real Glaxtons engagements. Identities withheld; figures rounded and conservative.

The owner-operator hitting a ceiling. A specialist contractor winning local work on referrals, with the owner writing the odd bid at midnight. The pattern we deliver: bid selection discipline first, framework positions second, then call-off wins compound. Owner time goes back into delivery while the pipeline runs without them. This is the most common profile we take on, and the one where outside support changes the trajectory fastest.
The established SME stuck at 1 in 5. A £2-5M turnover business bidding regularly and losing four in five. Diagnosis is usually the same: bidding everything, evidencing nothing. Cutting volume, raising quality and rebuilding the evidence library typically moves conversion towards the supported benchmark within two quarters, which on their existing pipeline is worth multiples of any retainer fee.
The team that needs senior capacity, not headcount. An in-house bid function that wins routine renewals but loses the big framework moments. We slot in as the senior layer: strategy, win themes and red-team review on the bids that matter. Recent framework outcomes for clients in this profile include an £8M G-Cloud lot and a £12M MoD framework place.

We publish our aggregate record (93% across 500+ submissions 2022-2025) rather than naming clients. On the assessment call we can talk specifics under NDA, including engagements in your sector.

Is a retainer right for you?

A strong fit if

  • You deliver well but bidding is nobody's full-time job
  • You are turning over £500k+ and want public sector revenue to be a growth engine, not a lottery
  • You can commit senior time to a monthly review and evidence requests
  • You think in 6-12 month horizons, because frameworks do

Not the right product if

  • You have one tender and one deadline: our project bid writing fits better
  • You want a draft checked, not a pipeline run: start with a £950 bid review
  • Cash flow cannot sustain a monthly commitment yet: win one contract with us first, then scale
  • You expect wins without giving us evidence or decisions

Apply for a retainer assessment

Five minutes, three steps. Your answers go directly to both directors and let us come to the call with a view on your pipeline, not a sales script. We respond within 2 working hours.

Your details go to the two directors only and are never shared. Privacy policy.

Application received.

A director will come back to you within 2 working hours with a view on your pipeline and a proposed time to talk. If your need is urgent, call 020 3668 5488 now and reference your application.

A retainer may not be the right first step, and that is fine.

Based on your budget answer, start where the risk is lowest: a £950 assessor-level bid review or project support on a single tender. Win that, then we talk about a retainer. Your application has still reached us and we will reply with an honest recommendation.

Every question you might ask before the call

What does the retainer include each month?

Live tender pipeline monitoring across Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and your sector portals, bid or no-bid recommendations with reasons, agreed bid writing capacity, a maintained bid library, framework calendar planning and a monthly directors' review of pipeline, submissions and conversion.

How is the monthly fee set?

Scoped to your bidding volume, target frameworks and sector, then fixed as a flat monthly amount before work begins. No hourly billing, no surprise costs. Most clients treat it as a fraction of the cost of one in-house bid manager, with a senior team's output.

Is there a minimum term?

Three months. Public sector pipelines do not convert in week one, and we will not take a fee for a model we cannot prove. After three months the retainer rolls monthly with 30 days notice.

Who actually does the work?

Directors lead every retainer personally. The people you meet on the assessment call are the people who write and review your bids. No junior substitution.

How many bids per month are included?

Agreed at scoping based on your pipeline and capacity. The retainer guarantees senior availability for that volume, and urgent submissions get priority mobilisation ahead of non-retainer clients.

What happens in month one?

Week 1: deep-dive on your past bids, capability evidence and registrations. Week 2: pipeline build and framework calendar. Weeks 3-4: first live submissions or pre-positioning for the next framework window. You see the full pipeline from day 10.

Do you guarantee contract wins?

No, and you should be cautious of anyone who does. We commit to disciplined bid selection, submission quality at assessor standard and full transparency on conversion. Our record is a 93% success rate across 500+ submissions 2022-2025, against a UK industry average of 60-75%.

What if there are no suitable tenders one month?

The retainer is never idle. Quiet months go into pre-positioning: case studies, social value content, accreditation gaps, framework registrations and buyer engagement, so the next live window converts faster.

How do you measure return on investment?

A shared dashboard tracks pipeline value, submissions, win rate and contract value won against retainer cost to date. You see cost versus contracted revenue every month, and we expect to be held to it.

Do we need bid experience in-house?

No. Many retainer clients have never written a bid; others have an internal team that needs senior capacity. The scoping call adjusts the model to either starting point.

Who owns the bid library and content?

You do. Every response, case study and piece of boilerplate created under the retainer belongs to your business and stays with you if we ever part ways.

Can we pause or scale the retainer?

Yes. Seasonal businesses scale down in quiet procurement periods and up ahead of framework windows. Scaling rules are agreed at the start, so there are no mid-stream renegotiations.

How quickly can we start?

Scoping call within 2 working days of your application, proposal within 48 hours of the call, onboarding the following Monday. Live deadline? We mobilise same-day under urgent terms.

Apply for a Retainer Assessment

Prefer to talk first? Call 020 3668 5488 or email info@glaxtons.co.uk with RETAINER in the subject line.