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NEPO Supplier Partnership Programme: the guiding light to public sector procurement

We’re committed to helping regional and local suppliers find, bid for and win contract opportunities with the public sector.

Since 2013 we’ve helped over 4,000 suppliers win significant contract opportunities with local authorities and the wider public sector.

We’ve listened to your feedback to develop better support in helping you win even more business. Our events, workshops and wider support is designed to help give you the best chance of success.

If you’re a supplier based in the North East of England and you’re ready to supply the public sector, the NEPO Supplier Partnership Programme is for you!

Our Programme

Introduction to Public Sector Tendering

Are you new to public sector tendering and want support sourcing the right opportunities? This session will help you:

  • Discover how to source the right opportunities from the public sector
  • Develop your approach for deciding whether an opportunity is for you
  • Understand what documents you will need to fill in
  • Understand how to complete the documentation

Bid Writing Masterclass

We run two types of Bid Writing Masterclass:

  • For suppliers new to or with limited experience of public sector procurement who are interested in winning low-value or below threshold contracts.
  • For suppliers with some experience and success in bidding for public sector contracts who want to build on this to compete for larger regional and national contracts.

Social Value: Building it into your organisation

Social value is the added value we can achieve through public procurement. This includes social, economic and environmental benefits that can be achieved in contracts, frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

In this session we’ll explain social value and the commercial advantage it can provide when tendering for public sector contracts.

Our Surgeries

Our surgeries provide the opportunity to meet with an independent tendering professional for an hour of one-to-one free support and advice on any aspect of supplying the public sector. This can cover a range of topics including finding contract opportunities, deciding what to bid for, planning and preparations to maximise success and to discuss specialist topics such as social value.

Our support works, but don’t just take our word for it – check out these amazing testimonials from just some of the 4,000 suppliers we’ve helped win public sector contracts.

Caron Foley, The Gas Safe Hero:

“The session I attended recently was brilliant, it really helped instil confidence that tenders aren't just for the big companies!”

Andrew Sykes, Edmundson Electrical Ltd:

“We have tried to engage with public sector tenders in the North East, with reasonable knowledge and limited expertise, and we wanted to try and maximise our business in different areas of our market. We identified NEPO as a good organisation to learn with and are grateful for the opportunity to understand more about tender writing and improving our quality submissions to expand our opportunities. The initial training is only the first step, we look forward to further engagement. Thank you very much to all involved for the opportunity to learn from people who are experts in this area and are willing to pass-on their knowledge and experience.”

Fiona Surrey, Fiona Surrey Marketing:

"The programme offers powerful advice that could be used by businesses of all shapes and sizes. I was initially worried that the programme would be out of my depth considering the size of my business, however this wasn’t the case at all. NEPO walked us through real-life tender document examples and broke down complex terminology into simple non-jargon terms. My thought process has completely changed, and I no longer feel overwhelmed to submit a tender. Thank you NEPO!"

Danielle Kearns, Age UK Teesside Ltd:

"I am very new in my role of grants and fundraising co-ordinator role at Age UK Teesside. Today's half day introduction session was very insightful and such an informative session, in particular for a Monday morning! Matthew and Keith seem extremely knowledgeable and resourceful, providing some very useful advice and tips. Very keen and looking forward to future learning from the partnership programme.”

Jessica Lee, Royal Mencap Society

"I thought this was really useful and the best information I have received to help me understand social value better. Definitely made me realise where I have been going wrong when approaching bids."

Our delivery partner

Executive Compass has been appointed as the delivery partner for the programme, bringing unparalleled success in businesses to win public and private sector contracts.

Formed in 2009, Executive Compass have achieved unparalleled success in assisting clients to win public and private sector contracts in order to assist in growing their businesses.

Executive Compass has supported UK-based bidders in winning over £1bn of revenue in public sector procurement awards. In the last 12 months, the team has helped companies secure over £5bn worth of public and private sector contracts.