Source: Go-2-Tender – IntertradeIreland
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IntertradeIreland Supplier Engagement Event
You are invited to a ‘Supplier Engagement Event’ being held by InterTradeIreland in conjunction with its partner organisations in Glenavon House Hotel, Cookstown, County Tyrone on 21st June 2017
Why should you attend?
- If you have a good or service that councils procure – this event is for you!
- It is FREE to attend. Local Government Supplier Event 21 June 2017InterTradeIreland Programme (1) 21.6.17
- Meet the procurement personnel from the following Northern Ireland Councils:
- Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
- Ards and North Down Borough Council
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
- Belfast City Council
- Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council
- Derry City and Strabane District Council
- Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
- Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
- Mid and East Antrim Borough Counci
- Mid Ulster District Council
- Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
- Meet personnel from the following Councils in Ireland
- Cavan County Council
- Leitrim
- Louth County Council
- Monaghan County Council
- Sligo County Council
- Find out what councils require from suppliers and discuss upcoming procurement opportunities with council staff
- Meet representatives from Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) and the Office of Government Procurement (OGP)
- Get help registering on the main procurement portals on the island etenders.ie, etendersNI.gov.uk and supplygov.ie
- Visit the Business Information Zone to Find out about funding opportunities and supports that are currently available to SMEs across the island of Ireland
- Attend information sessions such as Brexit and Top tips to help create that winning tender
Full registration and programme details are available on the website.
http://www.intertradeireland.com/supplierengagement/
If you require any further information please contact Grant, Caroline or Aveen at InterTradeIreland.
Northern Ireland World Trade Summit: Landscape Post Brexit
Tuesday 13th June 2017, 8.30am – 12pm followed by a light lunch and networking
Sharing information and expertise is a must for businesses trying to plan for the period of change and uncertainty in international trade that will be the UK’s negotiating period for leaving the EU.
Companies in Northern Ireland are invited to a great opportunity to hear from and network with industry leaders and exporting experts at the World Trade Summit at Belfast Metropolitan College this July.
The summit is run by The Institute of Export & International Trade, in partnership with Belfast Business School, and a world class line up of speakers will be examining the issues and opportunities in accessing new markets post-Brexit.
Speakers:
Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive – Manufacturing NI
Elizabeth McCrory MIEx (Grad), Export Finance Manager – UK Export Finance
Brian Telford, Head of Markets – Danske Bank
Lord Empey OBE, Former Lord Mayor of Belfast and Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Sandra Scannell, Head of Business Services – NI Chamber of Commerce
Alan Lowry, CEO – Environmental Street Furniture Ltd
Ann Brown, Managing Director – FG Wilson
Glenn Dale, The Queen’s Awards Office
To be held at the Belfast Metropolitan College e3 Building, Springvale Campus
Water Industry Repair & Maintenance Briefing Connecting with the Supply Base
| InterTradeIreland will be holding a series of briefings to inform suppliers of an upcoming opportunity in the water industry. Irish Water plan to go out to the marketplace to establish a Framework for Repairs and Maintenance in 2017. |
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Supplier Engagement
Following the success of our Meet the Buyer events, InterTradeIreland is now holding a series of sectoral supplier engagement events. These events will provide SMEs supplying to the public sector, the opportunity to meet with relevant buyers and organisations within a particular sector.
By undertaking these events on a sectoral basis, we can focus on the specific needs of a sector and how the supply base (SMEs) can most effectively offer valuable solutions. Initially we will concentrate on Local Government, Health & Construction; areas where we have critical advantage and established relationships with Contracting Authorities.
These events will help to foster a deeper understanding and engagement between Contracting Authority Buyers & SME Suppliers.
Events
A series of events will be taking place in 2017. The first of these will be Local Government focused and will take place on 21st June in the Glenavon House Hotel, Cookstown and focuses on local Government procurement.
Upcoming events include:
- Social Housing
- Health (HSE Ireland)
- Leisure Transformation (Belfast City Council)
Introduction to Tendering Workshop with Mid Ulster District Council 11 May 2017
11 May 2017
Mid Ulster District Council, Burn Road, Cookstown
Time 9.30am to 1pm
Contact To book a place, please contact: Colleen.McGuinness@midulstercouncil.org or 03000 132 132 quoting ‘Go-2-Tender’. Places are limited to one person per business.
£/€ Cost Free of charge
This ‘Introduction to Tendering’ workshop is aimed specifically at small business owners/sole traders that have never completed a tender before. It aims to demystify the procedures around pitching for, and ultimately winning some of the ‘below threshold’ (ie. below £30k) work that Local Authorities and other Government Bodies/Agencies contract out.
InterTradeIreland in partnership with Mid Ulster District Council will deliver their ‘Introduction to Tendering’ workshop on 11 May 2017. This is a free practical workshop aimed at small businesses that have no or limited tendering experience.
WHAT?
The course aims to provide an:
· Overview of procurement procedures in Mid Ulster District Council
· Overview of procurement procedures in local government below £30k thresholds
· Hands on advice on registering with the main online tendering portals
WHO?
The workshop is suitable for local micro-businesses and start-ups
The workshop will demonstrate how to find tendering opportunities and how to submit your proposals.
Places are limited to one person per business.
Derry Now: New concerns for management of contracts after tender checks missed by council
New concerns have been expressed about the management of contracts issued by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
In 2015, the former Derry City Council was contacted by the Director of the Northern Ireland Audit Office regarding a number of allegations that had been made about the council’s tender procurement arrangements in specific areas.
A subsequent investigation found that there had been no wrongdoing but a large number of recommendations were put forward by an external audit organisation to improve the council’s tendering and awarding of contracts processes.
These recommendations were implemented within the new Derry City and Strabane District Council which came into operation in April 2015 following the amalgamation of Derry City Council and Strabane District Council.
An update on the implementation of the recommendations was brought before the council’s Audit, Assurance and Risk committee at the Guildhall on Thursday.
The meeting was told that of the 69 recommendations put forward, 55 are now fully implemented and 14 are now partially implemented.
As part of an internal audit review of the new processes, eight recent tenders awarded by the council were examined.
The report found that for 6 of the 8 procurement exercises, there were ‘no significant issues’ identified.
However, the internal audit did identify a number of ‘significant’ issues with the two tenders awarded by the council for stewarding of major events.
For both stewarding procurement exercises, it was confirmed that an external procurement professional was not available at the time of the evaluation exercise so the council was unable to comply with this element of the tender specification.
Additionally, the qualification/compliance checks were not carried out for the council events delivered in 2016.
These checks are aimed at ensuring that stewarding staff have the proper qualifications for the role.
Events staff later carried out the qualification/compliance checks for the 2016 events in February 2017.
Speaking at Thursday’s meeting, Sinn Fein councillor Maolíosa McHugh said he was concerned that the necessary checks had not been carried out in relation to the stewarding contracts.
“If there had been incidents at these events, somebody’s neck would have been on the line,” he said.
“We need to make sure that someone is responsible for carrying out these checks in the future.”
Independent councillor Gary Donnelly said that given the large amount of contracts issued by the council, he believed the council should have a dedicated procurement team to ensure ‘accountability’.
His comments were supported by another independent councillor, Paul Gallagher.
“If we don’t have a centralised procurement department, we will see the same mistakes,” said Colr Gallagher.
In relation to Colr McHugh’s comments, Stephen Gillespie, Director of Business and Culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council, told the meeting that the qualification checks should have been carried out at the end of each event.
“I can assure you that checks are being done and will be done at the end of each festival,” he said.
If you have a story or want to send a photo or video to us please contact the Derry Now editorial team on 028 7129 6600 for Derry City stories Or 028 7774 3970 for County Derry stories. Or you can email gareth@derrynews.net at any time.
GO-2 TENDER (Introduction to Tendering for Micro-Businesses)
Thursday 4 May 2017, Yarn Suite, Mossley Mill LIMITED PLACES ! Date: 4 May 2017 Time: 9.30am – 1.00pm Venue: Yarn Suite, Mossley Mill, WHEN? Sponsored by IntertradeIreland and hosted by Antirm and Newtownabbey Borough Council, the ‘Introduction to Tendering‘ workshop on 4 May 2017 is a free, practical workshop aimed at small businesses who have no or limited tendering experience. WHAT? The course aims to:
WHO? The workshop is suitable for local micro-businesses and start-ups considering public procurement as a possible future option, but places are limited to 18-20 participants. The workshop will demonstrate how to find tendering opportunities, and how to submit your proposals. HOW? To book a place, please contact: Jean or Dawn on 0289034 0017 quoting ‘Go-2-Tender’. Places are limited to one person per business. |
Go-2-Tender- Know-How to Tender Successfully
Can tenders help small businesses weather the uncertainty of Brexit?
Indeed, could public procurement act as a vehicle for cross-border trade post-Brexit?
by Donnacha Phelan on February 14, 2017 for Intertradeireland
The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach had some reassuring words on cross-border trade for Irish businesses following their talks on Brexit in Dublin on January 30th. Both leaders reaffirmed their support for cross-border trade and the continuation of the Common Travel Area. Theresa May said both the governments want a “seamless, frictionless border” to continue while Enda Kenny stated that close and friction-free trading ties between the two countries are “in our very best interests”.
Certainly, Irish and Northern Irish businesses should plan for a number of scenarios regarding cross-border trade. The worst case scenario is that default WTO tariffs will apply. For many products tariffs are relatively low but for some, they can exceed 50%. InterTradeIreland can help you assess the tariff bracket that your product could face.
In the south, Irish businesses are being encouraged to seek out new markets across the EU and beyond in order to compensate for lack of access to the UK. This is easier said than done given existing supply chains and the proximity of NI and the wider UK, especially for perishable goods. NI firms also face challenges in planning for entering new markets as new trade agreements with other countries cannot be concluded until after the UK leaves the EU. It is also quite likely that severe economic impacts will be felt on both sides of the border –especially at the sectoral level (agribusiness, retail, consumer goods etc.).
Having a strong public-sector sales book helped many Irish businesses on both sides of the border get through the recent recession: public clients represent a much lower credit risk. Yes public expenditure was cut-back and pressure was applied to renegotiate contracts, but the state continued to pay its creditors. This was not the case in other sectors of the economy, most notably the construction sector where many firms were declared insolvent putting tremendous pressure on their suppliers. Many public sector contracts also span a number of years, which provides a degree of comfort when planning for your businesses future. This is especially true of the larger contracts which go out to tender.
In addition to acquiring public sector customers in their home markets, businesses north and south should not forget the public sector market on the other side of the border either. While we await the outcome of the UK’s exit negotiations, it’s interesting to note that a number of WTO members including the EU and the major world economies have already negotiated the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) to ensure open, fair and transparent conditions of competition in the government procurement markets. This agreement opens up many public procurement sectors to bids from other countries (above a certain cost threshold). We have seen the Prime Minister and Taoiseach make clear that supporting cross-border trade is a priority for them in the upcoming negotiations. The GPA means that public procurement will inevitably become one of the vehicles for supporting post-Brexit cross-border trade.
It takes time to prepare your business to tender successfully: assessing the opportunities, developing your bid strategy, establishing relationships with buyers and putting in place the resources to make a compelling bid document. And for businesses planning their approach, InterTradeIreland’s Go-2-Tender programme is an excellent first step towards the development of a sustainable, diversified business model no matter where the company is located on this island.
