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