News

Firms are facing up to tendering

Press release

In the week that saw the outcome of the biggest ever bidding round for legal services to the public sector for the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), Cambridge professionals have been focussing on where tendering fits in their strategy and how they can help boost the local economy.

Local law firms - including Charles Russell, Mills & Reeve, Kester Cunningham John, Taylor Vinters, Prettys and Hewitsons - joined the debate at the East of England launch of Oracle, a new strategic forum for professional services firms.

The names of the winners of the highly prized OGC panel positions will not be public for some weeks, but many bigger players round the table at the University Arms were describing tendering as a 'necessary evil', complex and increasingly competitive.

And with some tender propositions taking up to 150 hours of fee-earners' time to prepare; the focus for smaller firms with less resources looks better set on other commercial clients.

Oracle - created by Prima PR & The Progressive Business Group - gave senior players from professional firms the opportunity to share their views on tendering and together consider strategic solutions, to help create a stronger market and raised profile for all Cambridgeshire firms.

Leading the debate from the procurement perspective was Phil Davies, head of governance at East of England Development Agency and on the bidder's side was Tim Richards, partner at Hewitsons.

One of the participants, Rolland Keane, marketing director at Charles Russell commented: “We can certainly all learn from one another and use it to play to our strengths". He added: "Tendering is being used increasingly across all markets, with the public sector leading the way. The process that works for widgets must be streamlined if they are to effectively buy legal services but we have to be adaptive."

The Oracle forum is conceived and run by full service PR and marketing communications consultancy Prima PR with The Progressive Business Group, specialists in business development for the professional services sector.

ENDS

For further information please visit http://www.primapr.co.uk/oracle.htm or contact Jo Sandall, Prima PR on 0115 941 9090 or jo@primapr.co.uk

Editor's Note:

OGCbuying.solutions is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in the Treasury.  They provide a professional procurement service to the public sector.

June 2007