Large contract growth through government construction is in the interest of every business either on their own or in a consortium.   Public buyers do want to work with SMEs who are often more agile, innovative and more accessible than multinationals. Small business owners are more invested in ensuring a good outcome.

SMEs often comment they do not know where to go to identify opportunities to win public contracts or are cautious about tendering.  No business should let the process of winning work discourage them from pursuing an attractive sector of the construction market, in which substantial sums of money are allocated to major projects across the next 10 years.

How to find out more about Tender Opportunities

The Office of Public Procurement , one of the main public sector buyers in Ireland is keen to support SMEs to access these opportunities and has taken a series of steps to help you including:

• Breaking down tenders by lot so that companies can compete in smaller geographical areas, or in areas of specialism;
• Reducing turnover and insurance requirements to proportionate levels that reflect the scale of the contract;
• Publication of guidance for contracting authorities in setting appropriate criteria when procuring works contractors under the Capital Works Management Framework
• Introducing an option for contracting authorities to tender specialist works sub-contracts directly
• Encouraging businesses to form consortia so that they can combine their strengths

You should familiarise yourself with the OGP website (www.ogp.gov.ie) which will give you information on the type of tender opportunities available (frameworks or direct tendering opportunities) , how you can team up with other businesses to form a consortia.

Tender websites

To find out details of current tender opportunities in Northern Ireland and Ireland visit etenders.gov.ie and eTenders NI

Upcoming Workshops

Training and mentoring support on public tendering specifically for SMEs in the construction sector is now available through a series of workshops on Tendering in the Public Sector Construction Market.  These workshops are being run by InterTradeIreland in partnership with the Construction Industry Federation across Ireland.

For further information and to register visit:  https://intertradeireland.com/sales-growth/tender-successfully/go-2-tender-register-for-workshops

InterTradeIreland Tendering Supports

We offer a range of tendering supports to businesses in Northern Ireland and Ireland to help you tender successfully for public sector contracts in your own jurisdiction and on a cross-border basis.  Find out more

Co-Innovate’s Business to Business/Cluster Development programme can provide your business with the opportunity to form a strategic cross-regional Research & Innovation partnership to accelerate product development and improve your business's competitiveness.  We are looking for ambitious businesses that have a cutting edge idea with strong commercial potential to join forces with a strategic business partner to jointly develop innovative products and services.

We can support two types of Research & Innovation partnerships:

• Business to Business Partnerships
• Cluster Partnerships

All partnerships must have at least one partner based in ROI’s border counties and one partner based in NI/Western Scotland.

Funding Available:

• Funding up to €150,000 (up to 50%) per Business to Business Partnership is available to support your 24-month project.
• Funding up to €300,000 (up to 50%) per Cluster Partnership is available to support your 24-month project.

Target Sectors

Although applications are welcomed from all sectors, they are particularly encouraged from Co-Innovate’s three priority sectors as listed below:

• Renewables Energy
• Life and Health Science
• Agri-Food / Tech

Next steps

Think this might be for you?  Then contact our Innovation Advisor, Dianne Dundas who is here to help.  Dianne has many years experience helping innovative companies develop products and services.  All you need to do is complete the expression of interest form. Dianne will then assess your eligibility, assist you with identifying a partner if required and guide you through the two stage application process.  

To find more and download the Expression of Interest form visit our Co-Innovate website or email Dianne at dianne.dundas@co-innovateprogramme.eu

About the Co-Innovate Programme

The Co-Innovate Programme (supported by the European Union's INTERREG VA funding), is designed to support SMEs and micro-businesses in Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland, and Western Scotland to deliver success through innovation.  The programme is being delivered by lead partner InterTradeIreland together with Enterprise Northern Ireland, East Border Region, Local Enterprise Offices in Ireland’s six border counties, and in Scotland - Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.   The project is supported by the European Union's INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

Among those taking to the stage will be First Derivatives Brian Conlon, Statsport’s Managing Director Paul McKernon and Mark Little, the man who sold his start-up for €18 million to Rupert Murdoch.

If the headline about the £50K caught your attention –it is for start-ups as part of the Ascend Competition. If you’re not eligible to apply,  don’t worry. At the very least you will hear about the future trends and innovations that could be coming down the track, which could impact your business.

You can click on this link to learn more about the conference and how to attend. https://nmdinnovationnation.com/