Due to a high level of demand, the Department of Justice, with the support the Department of Rural and Community Development and Pobal is re-running the series of tender training webinars, originally delivered in November of last year, specifically targeting the social enterprise sector. The aim of these webinars is to upskill social enterprises to be capable of submitting compelling and competitive bids.
Public bodies in Ireland will spend upwards of €36 billion this year on supplies, services and works. Many social enterprises have the track record, expertise and experience to tender for these opportunities or to become sub-contractors. However, we know that tendering can be a bit daunting for many companies.
All of the sessions will start at 9.30am and will last no more than 2 hours each. Zoom will be used to host the webinars. There is a separate registration process for each event. The Zoom links will be emailed out prior to each session.
Session 1: An Introduction to procurement: navigating your way through the eTenders website
Friday, March 19th
This webinar is best suited for social enterprises with limited or no experience of tendering that want to win public contracts as a new way of growing their business. The basics of tendering and identifying new business opportunities will be explained. All participants will be encouraged to register correctly on eTenders, the Government’s portal through which tender opportunities are published. Information sources will also be provided. After this session social enterprises will be in a position to start tendering.
Register here
Session 2 : How to become a public sector supplier: A practical guide to writing competitive tenders for social enterprises
Wednesday, March 24th
This webinar will explain how the procurement process works from the public buyers’ perspective: from pre-publication of a tender to contract close. All tenders require social enterprises to have minimum requirements such as insurance cover and reference sites. The session will demonstrate how to assemble a Bid Library of background compliance documents. In addition, the webinar will show social enterprises how to write and price tender submissions and to use feedback from buyers to make their bids more compelling and competitive.
Register here
Space is limited in order to ensure a supportive and participative learning environment is created so we would encourage social enterprises to register early.
