The Art of Tendering

Skillfair calls for radical reform to government business advice services
Skillfair, the UK’s largest online marketplace for consultants, has called for radical reform to the government’s business advice services in the wake of its recently announced plans to review Business Link. In a letter to Small Business Minister Mark Prisk, Skillfair MD Gill Hunt proposes that the government draws on existing experienced, professional business advisors to offer a more specialist service to businesses, according to their needs, size and sector focus. ‘The current generalist, one-size-fits-all approach offered by Business Link has resulted in businesses with limited growth potential sapping resources, while more sophisticated, often larger, concerns have not had access to specialist help that may take them to the next level.
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The Future of Small Business Advice Services
Letter to Mark Prisk, Minister for Business and Enterprise on the Future of Small Business Advice Services
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The Art of Tendering

We regularly get asked by people new to Skillfair whether it's really possible for small companies or one-man-bands to win public sector tenders - and if it is, what's the secret! In response we've published a step by step guide and a number of case studies on this subject - but there's really no substitute for talking to people who've been through the process themselves.

So we're really pleased that Marcus Eden-Ellis will be delivering his Tendering Skills workshop at the conference on 18th November as it will allow plenty of time for discussion and give delegates a real understanding of the subject. If you're not sure about tendering we have a few places left on all the other workshops, just click here for more details and to book.

Plenty of interesting projects this week as normal, plus a few waiting to be approved once we've made contact with the clients.

Direct Client Marketing advice on generating local business, Greater London
Opportunity Organisational development/change NHS, South Coast
Telemarketing for online feedback system, United Kingdom
Quality Assurance Auditor for Power Station,Overseas
Microsoft Business Contact Manager Training, North West England
Client Web Site Consultant for Community Partnership, South West
Health and Safety Training,Overseas
Corporate Website Design, United Kingdom
Business Development Plan , North West England
Customer Services Training , Wales
Regional Governance White Paper ,Yorkshire and Humberside
Client Web Site Solution for Web Scanning ,Yorkshire and Humberside
Development and implementation of an IT Toolkit, Scotland
Micro-Generation Feasibility Studies for SMEs, North East England
Development of Employer Based Kitemark, North West England
Strategic Marketing Plans, North East England
Client Web Site Homelessness Research Project , North West England
Development of Business Plan for Knowledge Hub , Northern Ireland
Rural Development Plan PR Support, North Wales
Delivery of high level skills & systems to SMEs, Wales
Evaluation of anti-extremism programme, United Kingdom
OJEU Evaluation of Leadership Development Programmes, East Midlands
OJEU Equality Measurement Framework, London
OJEU CRM System, North West England
OJEU Web Content Management System, London

Don't forget, as well as finding out about projects from Skillfair you can use the site to find like-minded people to join a bid team, work with you on existing projects or help you with aspects of your own business. It's free to post your first project, just click tendering
to let us know what help you need.