Urgent bid support · situation 15 of 17
A framework mini-competition has been issued and closes in two weeks
A mini-competition is a different exercise from a framework application. You are already on the framework, the buyer has a specific requirement, and the response is scored on that requirement alone. Two weeks is a comfortable timescale if you answer the buyer's actual question, with their numbers and their site, rather than resubmitting your framework answers. We respond the same day and can have a first draft with you in days.
The honest bit
The common mistake on a mini-competition is recycling framework-level answers. The evaluators score specific delivery, specific people and specific outcomes for this client, and a generic answer scores in the middle band at best. The other common mistake is pricing before the method statement is settled, so that the price and the approach tell different stories.
What we need to start today
- The mini-competition invitation and any call-off terms
- The framework agreement lot terms and your rate card
- Your delivery team and their availability for this contract
- Relevant live or recent contracts for similar buyers
- The submission deadline and the portal
When we will tell you not to bid
These are the things that make the situation undeliverable rather than merely tight. If any of them apply we will say so on the first call, before you spend anything.
- You are not an appointed supplier on the framework and cannot be invited
- A bid that depends on resources you have already committed elsewhere
- A price ceiling that the contract cannot be delivered at
- No named delivery lead
Questions people ask at this point
What is a framework mini-competition?
A call-off procedure in which appointed framework suppliers compete for a specific requirement. The buyer issues the requirement, the suppliers respond, and the response is scored against the criteria in the invitation.
Can you support a mini-competition on a Pagabo framework?
Yes. We write the quality responses, social value and carbon commitments and sense-check the pricing narrative for call-offs. See our guide to Pagabo Major Works call-offs.
How quickly can you start?
The same day. Send the invitation and the deadline and we will tell you within hours whether it is deliverable.
Tell us the deadline and we will tell you if it is doable
We respond the same day. Send the documents and the deadline and you will get a straight answer on whether it is deliverable, including if the answer is no. A bid you were never going to win costs more than the fee it would have earned.
Send us the deadline
Mini-competition in two weeks. Tell us the closing date and what you have, and we will come back the same day with whether it is deliverable.
Other situations we pick up
- A tender is due this week and nothing is written
- A private sector RFP has landed with a short deadline
- Your bid writer has dropped out mid-submission
- A framework application closes this week and you have not started
- You need to get onto a Dynamic Purchasing System quickly
- An ITT has arrived and you have no bid team