Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to the use of electronic technology to streamline its business processes. Current contract opportunities and upcoming tenders are advertised on the South West's e-Procurement Portal: https://www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk. The portal is now used for all contract opportunities over £50,000, as well as many smaller opportunities.
We encourage all suppliers to register with the Portal; once registered you will receive e-mail alerts of any relevant contract opportunities that you may be interested in applying for. Registration is free and full support is provided by a dedicated helpdesk.
To get started, ensure that you have internet access and that you have a dedicated email address for receiving notifications from the portal. Many companies use individuals’ email addresses, which can cause difficulties when an employee is sick or on holiday. Someone needs to check these emails regularly.
Applying for Contract Opportunities
The contract notice or advertisement will invite suppliers to submit an expression of interest for a contract. The advertisement will detail the procedure to be followed and what information is required from you. It is essential that suppliers provide all of the requested information (you will lose points where there are gaps in your information).
It is crucial that suppliers leave plenty of time to submit their bids for quotes or tenders. Suppliers are advised to allow tolerance in their timescales to be able to cope with any unforeseen hiccups such as their computer running slowly, a power cut etc. as tenders received after the due date and time will be rejected. Our recommendation is to submit your bid at least one day before the deadline (you can amend you bid right up until the deadline).
Benefits of e-Procurement
The Council has a commitment to increasing levels of e-Procurement with the aim of improving efficiency and reducing the costs associated with the procurement process, for both the Council and the supplier. For example; fewer processes, less paper, fewer errors, fewer steps in the process and fewer delays.
e-Procurement Poster
We've put a basic overview of e-Procurement into a pdf document for you to download. Please see the poster under Related Documents.