CEO of Development in Social Enterprise, Dave Lane, delivered a free Social Value Care Act workshop on Thursday to care providers in Solihull.
Attendance from organisations including Accord came along to learn about updates to the Care Act, where to find funding, the tendering process, creating added social value and marketing and diversification – knowing your market and identifying gaps in the market to deliver more effective services.
Key features of the session included a group exercise, where attendees were asked to think about what their added social value as an organisation is.
Various responses from attendees including “we pay the employer the national living wage and no less”, “we always ensure we employ locally sourced staff”, “schemes including dress down Friday and donating to local food banks every week” and “always seeking out local suppliers who use locally sourced goods, to provide for our events, including local social enterprises”
Dave also ran through the various types of tender exercises and the process. He said that most tendering is done online through procurement websites called ‘e-tenders’. There are several stages in the tender process, starting from the Expression of Interest (EOI), Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), Invitation to Tender (ITT) and Assessment against the criteria.
It is also likely that the applicant will be required to attend a further clarification interview or presentation. In addition, there could be a 10 day cooling off period in case someone challenges decisions, further contract negotiations and monitoring and performance management before the tender is complete.
A useful Tender portal noted in the session was [ilink url=”https://in-tendhost.co.uk/csw-jets/aspx/Home”]CSW Jets[/ilink] – specifically for those operating in the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire areas.
For more information about how to apply for Tenders on the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s website [ilink url=”http://www.solihull.gov.uk/business/tenders/applyingfortenders”]click here[/ilink]
Diversification and Marketing
80-20 rule – 80% of business comes from 20% of clients.
Important messages from this part of the session included knowing how your organisation can generate other income and how to market to new customers.
“A mixed market does not necessarily mean your organisation needs to deliver everything, there may be opportunities with partners, who can help to provide and deliver an extra service that may have been impossible on your own”.
“I don’t think we should fear our competitors, we should just know who they are” Dave Lane, CEO DISE
The session was also being filmed by [ilink url=”http://www.reeleyesfilms.co.uk/”]Reel Eyes Films[/ilink] – Simon is currently collating photographs and video shots for a short film for DISE.
You can check what Reel Eyes are up to on their [ilink url=”https://twitter.com/reeleyze”]Twitter[/ilink] page.
Photographs above- courtesy of Reel Eyes Films (19/02/2015)