Irish companies missing out of public tenders

TenderScout founder Tony Corrigan today (Monday 3 February) urged Irish companies to compete in greater numbers for Irish government tenders estimated to be worth €9 billion in 2014.

Speaking ahead of a major, free conference on public sector tendering taking place tomorrow, Corrigan said: “The tendering of public sector contracts is big business. The government will spend about €9 billion on the procurement of supplies and services this year. This represents the single biggest market opportunity for SMEs.’’

Corrigan noted that in 2013, barely 10 per cent of companies participated in any of the 7,500 opportunities to sell through the public procurement process, despite the best efforts of government to encourage participation through various initiatives such as the “go-to-tender’’ programme.

Corrigan says it is important that SMEs compete in greater numbers for public sector contracts at home and abroad as “Ireland’s economic recovery depends on SMEs developing foreign markets and succeeding when tendering.’’

“Published data suggests that last year some 28 per cent of tenders were awarded to countries outside of Ireland with the primary beneficiaries being the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland,’’ Corrigan explained.

The construction-related services accounted for 13% of all public sector contracts.

“It is clear to see from the data that, despite fall off in the sector in recent years, the construction industry in Ireland still has a lot of opportunities when it comes to the public sector,” said Tony Corrigan, chief executive of TenderScout, a consultancy that helps SMEs through the tendering process.

And, while nearly a third of Irish Government tenders were awarded to foreign companies, fewer than two per cent of Irish companies have been recorded as winning European tenders, according to TenderScout’s analysis of publically available data.

Corrigan was speaking ahead of a “Maximise Your Public Tendering Success’’ conference taking place tomorrow (Tuesday 4 February)  at which he will urge SMEs to climb aboard the tenders train. He will be sharing his tips for winning public sector tenders.

One of his top tips for SMEs is to be more confident about what they have to offer. “Indigenous SMEs can often offer significant value to public bodies. Faster delivery, local knowledge, accessibility and local networks can all be powerful attributes. Know what you can do and use the tender process as the tool for communicating it to the buyer,’’ he advised.

The Enterprise Ireland-backed firm, which advises small- and medium-sized companies on how to win public tenders, said companies in Britain and Northern Ireland were the primary beneficiaries of the Government’s tendency to award contracts to companies outside the State. The average tender is worth €25,000, TenderScout said.

TenderScout founder Tony Corrigan said its research suggested 10 per cent of Irish firms participated in any of the 7,500 opportunities to do business through the public procurement process in 2013.

According to its analysis, TenderScout says fewer than 2 per cent of Irish firms have been successful in winning European tenders while nearly one-third of Government tenders went to foreign firms.

Mr Corrigan says it is important that SMEs compete in greater numbers for public sector contracts at home and abroad as “Ireland’s economic recovery depends on SMEs developing foreign markets and succeeding when tendering. . . They should resolve to get a greater portion of the domestic and international tendering cake.” Government spending on procurement fell to €12 billion in 2013 down from €15 billion in 2012. The figure is likely to shrink again in 2014. Source: The Irish Times.