-Taxi Companies receive help with Tender

Tendering for the very first time is a daunting prospect, especially for some individuals and companies who are in particular sectors, such as taxi services. Local Supplier Development Project is the business support project that can help, operating pan Wales, wherever your location there will be someone on hand to give support.

The Local Supplier Development Project has been working with the City & County of Swansea to provide help and support to taxi firms across Swansea and the South West.

City & County of Swansea have reviewed their arrangements for provision of taxi services and are adopting a new approach to tendering these services throughout the authority. The new framework contract will start in January 2008 and will be worth in excess of £15 million over a four year period.

The new contract falls under the European Union procurement guidelines setting out a formal process which must be followed. This was a totally new experience for many taxi providers which is why the Local Supplier Development Project stepped in to help. This project, run in the Swansea Bay area by the Business Centre Swansea and Business Connect NPT, organised Supplier Awareness Sessions for all the taxi drivers and other vehicle hire companies and over 100 suppliers attended over the two days.

Following this the first stage of the tender, the Pre Qualification Questionnaires were issued to all interested parties and advice and guidance  given to a number of suppliers over the phone and on a one to one basis. Successful suppliers who have gone through the PQQ stage are now being invited to Tender for the framework contract.

The deadline to complete the tender documents is 23rd July 2007 and LSDP, through their Supplier Champion Alan Doyle and Coordinator Helen Beddow, are once again on hand to help suppliers through this process.

The Taxi contract has utilised the services and support provided by Local Supplier Development Project where most needed. With some suppliers going through this tender process for the very first time the support has been invaluable.

If you need help any further help with this contract or have tenders of your own you require support and guidance for in the Swansea, Neath Port Talbot or Bridgend area please contact:

• Helen Beddow on 01792 545076 email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , or
• Alan Doyle on 01792 817575 mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

For more information on Local Supplier Development Project and becoming a member on our Contract Shop website please go to www.contractshop.co.uk or click on the page on the Business Centre Website.