We’ve all seen the predicted decline in the amount of government tenders begin to trickle through, with the number of tenders on offer declining and even tenders submitted some months ago effectively ‘on hold’ for an undisclosed period of time.

The contracts are still out there, and they are still incredibly lucrative and long term; there are still (too many!) potholes to be filled and schools and hospitals to maintain and redeveloped, housing stock still requires constant maintenance and  all of these contracts are still up for grabs, along with tens of millions of pounds worth of other public sector contracts across a spectrum of industries. However, the value of the contracts is under scrutiny, leading to more and more contracts left in limbo for the next few weeks at least.

The new coalition Government will soon establish itself and set out policies.  The hit to the public sector is already well publicised, if not well understood due to lack of clarity and detail about exactly where savings and costs cuts are to hit, and how hard.

It is absolutely crucial therefore that organisations bidding for public sector work at this time make every effort to ensure that their business is in the best position to offer procurement teams the best quality, service and value over the coming months and years, as partnerships forged now are likely to be in place for some time.