The focus of the presentation will be an introduction to public procurement for SMEs and sole traders who may be interested in tendering for public contracts. The aim of the presentation is to help participants to understand the principles that underpin the public procurement process and to explain the key elements of the process. We will look at how public procurement is structured, where tenders are advertised, the key issues to consider when tendering and how tenders are evaluated. It is hoped that the presentation will be useful for those SMEs and sole traders who are interested in tendering for Dublin City Council or other public sector contracts.

• Venue:                 Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council
• Date:                     24th February for a Tendering/ Procurement Briefing
• Time:                     9am – 12.30pm
• Format:                Presentations for 15 minutes as part of a panel of speakers with a general Q&A followed by one-to-one questions
• Speakers:            Anne Lannon, Dublin City Council, Procurement Dept, Tony Corrigan, TenderScout, Peter Smyth and InterTrade Ireland

Peter Smyth and InterTrade Ireland

Peter Will Be talking about Office of Government Procurement and the implications for the SME or the Micro Enterprise in the new model.

Tony Corrigan, TenderScout

Tony Corrigan will talk about Cost, Competitiveness and Collaboration. These are the three most pertinent issues for business when considering when and how to compete for tenders.

The cost borne by business is commonly underestimated in terms of the overall investment in developing proposals. Without a clear understanding of the real costs, it's almost impossible to developing a winning proposal.Business that use some form of competitive intelligence win up to twice as often as those that done. Knowing who your competitors are, understanding buyer needs and being able to develop differentiators are essential to success. Almost half of all businesses will not consider collaborating on a proposal, yet the evidence is that success in the future will depend on businesses forming relationships with each other to deliver better value.

Tony Corrigan is a leader in public sector procurement in Ireland. He is the Founder and CEO of the multi award-winning TenderScout. Tony provides competitive intelligence for companies competing for public and private contracts.

Grant Gilmore Intertrade Ireland

Grant is the Acting Director of Programmes and Business Services at InterTradeIreland; he is responsible for the development, delivery and performance of key Trade and Innovation initiatives. Most recently he led the development of a Centre of Tendering Excellence plan for the Body.
Grant will be speaking about InterTradeIreland and the supports available for assisting SMEs to succeed in Public Tendering.

Anne Lannon  Dublin City Council

Anne Lannon has worked with Dublin City Council in various roles since 1999 and has worked in the City Council’s Central Procurement Unit for three and a half years where she has developed a strong emphasis on strategic procurement, corporate contract development and user education.

Public procurement can sometimes be viewed as complicated and not easily accessible, particularly to sole traders and small and medium enterprises. The Central Procurement Unit presentation will provide an introduction to how Dublin City Council buys supplies and services. The focus will be on how the Council does business, what regulations must be observed and how we aim to make the procurement process as accessible as possible, working within a highly regulated environment. The presentation will provide tips to ensure that suppliers are aware of the considerations involved in responding to public procurement competitions, including what to look out for in the Selection and Award Criteria, how to seek clarifications, what is involved in the tender evaluation process and how tenderers are notified of the outcome of the tender process.