Amongst several opportunities which are coming up for renewal some it would seem will be very lucrative.
The most interesting one would seem to be the catering contract at the Royal Albert Hall which is said to be worth up to £15 million per annum, and the current contract runs out in December.
Although very lucrative, the scale of the contract is bound to rule out all but the most professional of catering firms, as the Albert Hall, one of the icons of the nation, has in total thirteen bars, one hundred and forty two boxes and three separate restaurants to be taken care of.
The new contract has just been opened up to the pre-qualification stage, and the Albert Hall is looking for potentially interested parties to show their interest in the contract through tendering for catering, food and beverage contracts. It is hoped that the new providers will be able to emulate the success of the other restaurants opening beyond the hours of normally scheduled events, such as those in the Natural History Museum and at the Tate Modern.
Although a large job, it is expected many companies will be queuing up to try their hands at this fantastic opportunity.
There is little doubting the importance of the construction sector to the UK economy, it contributes roughly 10% of the UK’s GDP and employs 1.5 million people. However, as the construction sector is investment led, it is susceptible to be affected drastically in times when the economy is under pressure.
Recessions of the mid 80s and early 90s saw thousands lose their jobs, however with changing government policy (PFI). However, those recessions were small beer compared to the unprecedented economic troubles of the last two years. Can the sector bounce back from the sharpest decline in 35 years.
Bearing all this history in mind, last week the Construction Products Association (CPA) has produced a timely report analysing current status of the UK Construction Sector. Here are some of the findings of the report:
Negative outlook:
- A 3% decline in construction activity during 2010 (last year dropped 12%)
- 2011 until any growth is expected, with only 1% a year in 2011, 2012 and 2013
- Since November 2008, private sector construction fell by almost 20% (a further fall of 4% is anticipated during 2010)
Positive News:
- A growth of 32% in private house building expected between 2010 and 2012
- A boost from infrastructure work in the regulated sectors of rail, water and energy sectors
- Olympic Park construction is well underway and some of the Olympic Village is now complete
- £100m prison in East Dunbartonshire
- Barbour ABI report that the number of roads projects in 2010 has remained broadly flat compared to 2009, the value of these projects has increased fourfold
- Meanwhile, work on the £16bn Crossrail project continues and £1.1bn was announced for electrification of the Liverpool-Manchester line
- 2996 construction tenders and contracts currently in the Tracker database
What do you think the future holds for the construction sector in the UK? We welcome your comments…….
For those of you that may be unaware The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) is published every working day in each of the 20 languages of the EU countries. Obviously, this produces a complex series of documents to navigate for a variety of reasons, and can render the process of bidding for tenders through the OJEU a rather daunting prospect. Some of the main issues with the journal are:
Volume of opportunities – the sheer number of projects offered can make it difficult to find opportunities which relate your business needs and capabilities.
Categorisation – there are such a wide variety of tenders offered in a swathe of different sectors that classifying them in an easily understood manner is problematic.
Translation issues – OJEU notices are submitted in the language of the county where the tender opportunity originates. An automated service is provided where the language of your choice is translated from the source. This can lead to some confusion and missed opportunities.
There have been calls from some of the major political parties around Europe (including the Conservatives in the UK) to reform the entire OJEU procedure.
What are your thoughts on this? Would you like to see reform to the OJEU?
Often it can seem as if the entire speech mechanism of the tendering process is based upon abbreviations. For all but the most experienced procurement managers this can make applying for tenders an even more difficult task than it already is.
Fortunately, there are a number of excellent online resources that we can refer to which can help us out. Instead of us copying directly from these pages (like some blogs are guilty of), we thought that we would link to some of our favourites:
Tenders Direct Blog – One of the leading tendering websites has a blog, this post has a great glossary
Tendermatch Glossary – A comprehensive list of tendering terminology from the Tracker website
Tony Zemaitis Glossary, includes a handy PDF file
These are a few pages that we refer to often when we are struggling with terminology.
If there are any other concise tendering glossaries that you fell would be of use then please point us in the right direction.
An excellent opportunity to spread your business expertiese, is to enter the tenders process outwith your normal geographical boundaries. Despite the economic downturn of the last few years, there are still a plethora of business opportunties in Europe which could be a great match for your business or service. We though that it would be useful to list the countris which make up the continent of Europe.
Within the European Union (EU) there are 27 member states with a combined population of almost 500 million people (generating 30% of the gross worlds product).
The EU was established by the 1993 Maastricht Treaty and built upon the foundations of the European Community.
Here is a list of EU Member states at present, together with their time of joining and whether they have adopted the Euro currency:
1. Austria – Member since 1995 (Euro currency)
2. Belgium – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
3. Bulgaria – Member since 2007
4. Cyprus (Greek) – Member since 2004 (Euro currency)
5. Czech Republic – Member since 2004
6. Denmark – Pre-existing member
7. Estonia – Member since 2004
8. Finland – Member since 1995 (Euro currency)
9. France – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
10. Germany -Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
11. Greece – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
12. Hungary – Member since 2004
13. Ireland – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
14. Italy – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
15. Latvia – Member since 2004
16. Lithuania – Member since 2004
17. Luxembourg – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
18. Malta – Member since 2004 (Euro currency)
19. Netherlands – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
20. Poland – Member since 2004
21. Portugal – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
22. Romania – Member since 2007
23. Slovakia – Member since 2004 (Euro currency)
24. Slovenia – Member since 2004 (Euro currency)
25. Spain – Pre-existing member (Euro Currency)
26. Sweden – Member since 1995
27. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Pre-existing member
This number could set to be expanded further as there are a number of eastern states who wish to join the EU, including Ukraine and Turkey.
Have you done buisness outwith your own country? What were your experiences?
