Supplying BD Group
BDTP stands for Barking & Dagenham Trading Partnership. It is a commercial company that provides catering, cleaning and home repairs and maintenance services. Wholly owned by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, BDTP operates as an independent, public-interest business where profits are reinvested back into local community services.
BDTP makes use of suppliers from all fields – works, supplies and services - and prefers to use small and local suppliers wherever it can, although this is not always possible.
All contracts with a value of £50,000 or more are let using a full tender process. The precise nature of the tender process will depend on the value, nature and complexity of the contract, and will be explained in detail in the Invitation to Tender for that opportunity.
All contracts with a value of £100,000 or more (ex-VAT) will, as part of their bid, require a supplier to commit to Social Value contributions, normally worth in the region of 10% of the contract value.
Whilst some tenders may be run using legally compliant Frameworks, many are tendered via the open market. Some of these tenders use a ‘closed’ list of suppliers known to be reliable and to provide good value for money, but others are advertised openly to allow any supplier to participate in the process.
All tenders are conducted using the organisation’s e-tendering portal Delta. To participate in any tendering process with BDTP, suppliers must be registered on Delta. Link below.
What is Social Value?
Social value in a tender is the extra social, economic, and environmental benefit a bidder commits to delivering, if successful, while carrying out a contract, going beyond the core goods or services being delivered.
Your Social Value commitment will need to be submitted and then assessed as part of your bid, and the Invitation to Tender will explain how this is to be done. Details of the BDTP approach to Social Value can be found here.
What is an Invitation to Tender?
When an Authority issues a tender, it comprises a bundle of documents. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) explains all these documents, and how to complete your bid. It lays down requirements and gives instructions, all of which you have to comply with if your bid is to be eligible for consideration. This ensures that all bids are assessed on equal terms and that the bidding process is fair to all who participate.
What are Frameworks?
A legally compliant procurement framework is a structured, pre-approved system of contracts and rules that allows organisations (like local authorities) to purchase goods, works or services in strict adherence to relevant laws and commercial regulations.
Instead of tendering from scratch for every single purchase, buying authorities may use a pre-competed framework to legally stream-line buying from a vetted list of suppliers over a set period.
How Can I Join a Framework?
Suppliers join Frameworks through a competitive tender process. By law, Frameworks are in place for fixed periods of time, depending on how they are set up. When that time is up, they have to be retendered. That is when suppliers have the opportunity to join.
You can learn what Frameworks are open for bids through notices and adverts:
a. On your tendering portal (e.g. Delta) or
b. An FTS advertisement (see here ) or
c. The Contracts finder Service (see here ).
The Framework tender pack itself will give you all the information you need to see if it is suitable for you and, if so, how to prepare and submit your bid.
All Frameworks have their own rules on how they function. They are not all the same, and these rules have to be complied with. If successful in your bid to join, you will have to sign an Agreement with the Framework provider. Any contracts you win through the Framework will then have their own call-off contract.
Most Frameworks levy a charge to buyers. This charge is sometimes raised through a levy on a supplier’s tendered price for their services. The Framework Pack will explain all of this, but you need to be aware of the possibility.
Important links