How to choose a bid writing consultancy
Most pages like this are a sales pitch with a question mark on the end. This one is the list of questions we would want asked of us, including the ones that are awkward to answer.
Six checks before you sign anything
Ask for the denominator
A win rate without a period and a submission count is a number, not a measurement. Ask over what years, across how many submissions, and whether every submission is counted.
Check the awards yourself
Public sector contract awards are published on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. You can verify the buyer side of any claim without relying on the consultancy at all.
Get the fee in writing before work starts
Fixed fee or success fee is a real commercial difference, not a preference. A contingent percentage on a multi-year framework can dwarf a fixed fee, and it is often uncapped.
Find out who is actually writing
The person selling is not always the person drafting. Ask for the writer, their sector experience, and who reviews the draft before it reaches you.
Ask what they need from you, and when
A credible plan asks for your evidence early and sets deadlines on you as well as on them. A plan that never asks is a plan to write generic answers.
Ask them to name a bid they would refuse
Every consultancy that qualifies honestly has turned work away. One that cannot name a situation where it would tell you not to bid is not qualifying.
The win rate question, answered properly
Every consultancy in this market publishes a win rate and almost none publish the denominator. Ours is 93 per cent across more than 500 submissions between 2022 and 2025. The industry average reported by APMP and Bid Solutions sits at 60 to 75 per cent, which is the number any claim should be read against.
Here is the part that matters more than the figure. A rate can be inflated three ways without anyone lying: by counting only the submissions you choose to report, by counting a framework place and every call-off from it separately, and by quietly excluding the bids you advised the client to drop. Ask which of those apply. Ask it of us too.
Then go and check. Public sector awards are published on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, so you can verify the buyer side yourself. We do not publish client names or submitted content without written authorisation, which is a constraint we accept, and it is why the verification route we point you at is the public record rather than a testimonial.
When a deadline is a week away
Usually still deliverable
- Quality responses written from evidence you can send the same day
- A method statement rebuilt against the published marking scheme
- Social value commitments structured across the required themes
- A compliance check against the ITT before you submit
- Portal submission managed on your behalf
Not deliverable in a week
- An accreditation you do not yet hold, such as ISO or Cyber Essentials Plus
- Audited accounts or a financial standing position you cannot currently meet
- Case study evidence from work you have not done
- An eligibility gap the ITT treats as a pass or fail
- A clarification answer once the clarification window has closed
Tell us the deadline and the clarification cut-off first. If it is not achievable we will say so on the call. See urgent bid writing for what a live deadline actually involves.
Questions buyers actually ask
Send us the tender and the deadline
We will tell you whether it is worth bidding before we quote for writing it.