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Clear Service Vision and Bid Contract Strategy
Eazy Care is a care agency based in the London Borough of Camden. They help provide domiciliary care of the highest quality to individuals within the community. Their services range from home and in-home care to dementia care and additional support for primary caregivers.
As a CIC, set up by SYDRC (local community charity and principle beneficiary), Eazy Care’s roots lie within the heart of the community.
Client: Eazy Care CIC
Date: June 2023
Time: 4 weeks
Location: London Borough of Islington
Category: Social Care
Eazy Care were in their infancy. Whilst their holistic approach and unique ties with the community encapsulated just what the commissioner wanted, they did not have the expected experience or capacity to deliver as a prime provider in Islington.
We worked closely with the team, advising and guiding them with transparency regarding where and how this may go against them. First we ensured clarity that they could submit a compliant bid; secondly, we prepared the team for potential opportunities and associated risks whereby their unique situation may be reflected in their quality score.
In partnership we worked through each requirement, submitting and managing clarifications that relate to the required contract examples, additional financial information, and evaluation / scoring criteria. Together, we were able to ensure compliance; that they were able to pass the first stage selection questionnaire, despite the contract representing a minimum 500%+ growth of current homecare delivery.
Eazy Care were based in our prominent N1C community hub alongside their sister charity SYDRC. To maximise the perceived quality of their proposition we focused on the local community, presenting them as part of a holistic partnership of services including youth and parenting programmes and services, employability support, information and guidance.
This community connection and local candidate attraction meant they were less impacted by retention problems. With retention and continuity of care being a significant issue, we were able to demonstrate that growth had been impacted by long-term incumbent contracts being extended; so, this contract would empower them to expand their holistic outcome-based care which best utilises the strengths of the community. By leveraging this strength, we provided a solution to industry local recruitment issues and were able to mitigate the perceived weakness of their current capacity.
“We want to recommend Krisja at K Low Consulting. Krisja provided exceptional service during our recent application for a significant contract with a local authority.
K Low Consulting’s expertise and guidance were invaluable throughout the entire process. Krisja took the time to understand us as individuals and our organisation’s values and vision. He conducted thorough research to gain a deep understanding of our industry and the specific requirements of the contract. Krisja provided strategic guidance and practical assistance at every step. He was always available to address any questions or concerns and communicated clearly and concisely, instilling confidence in our partnership. As a result, our application was of excellent quality and perfectly tailored to our needs.”
Isahaq Abdikarim – Registered Manager, Eazy Care CIC
Following a successful evaluation, Eazy Care were invited to presentation. Following additional guidance and support, they were successfully appointed as one of the main locality providers! A £1M+ per annum contract, which will now provides a foundation for Eazy Care to grow and extend their community strengths-based care to support vulnerable people across North London.
“Thanks to Krisja, we were able to submit a highly competitive and compelling proposal, which ultimately led to our successful bid for the contract. Krisja’s contribution and guidance played a significant role in securing this important opportunity for our organisation, and we are truly grateful for their support.
We wholeheartedly recommend K Low Consulting to any organisation in need of expert consultancy services. Their professionalism, expertise, and commitment to the success of the project was outstanding.”
Isahaq Abdikarim – Registered Manager, Eazy Care CIC
Strategic Early Engagement to Successfully Retain Key Contracts
A national charity was facing a year in which 75% of their statutory contracts were being competitively re-tendered. This posed a substantive risk to the ongoing viability of the organisation and it’s ability to support its beneficiaries.
Client: Carers Federation
Date: May 2023 onwards
Time: Ongoing
K Low was engaged prior to the release of the first tender, providing an opportunity to undertake bid ‘preparation’ activities inclusive of: analysis of contract performance; engagement with key subject matter experts; facilitated bid planning sessions through which USPs and key strengths were identified, discussed, and quantified.
Early engagement guaranteed that we were primed for the release of each of the key tenders, enabling us to rapidly get into the service modelling and question storyboarding process. The additional time (in terms of the bidding window) and the ability to draw upon pre-defined evidence ensured that the tender responses were targeted against the specification, consistently evidenced in terms of current and anticipated impact, and written in a way that consistently laid out the vision and ethos of the charity.
Consequently, they secured all key contracts and even took on a new, large-scale service. The financial value of these tender wins equated to over £1.8m per year in ongoing revenue (circa £9m lifetime contract value), providing a stable financial base from which to further expand.
“I would highly recommend KLOW when looking to engage the services of professional bid writers. The collective knowledge and experience of the team is outstanding, resulting in professional and comprehensive bid writing support from the initial scoping to final submission. David worked in a way that ‘fit’ with our organisations approach and became part of the team during the bid writing process. We have now used KLOW on several occasions securing new business to the value of over £2m.”
Jayne Bell CEO – Carers Federation
Strategic Partnership and Process Improvement Boosted Win Rates for a Health and Social Care Provider
We were contacted by a large Health and Social Care provider that was struggling to recruit and retain high-quality bid management expertise. This was limiting their ability to develop the organisation, which resulted in missed growth opportunities and an increasing risk that their existing contracts would be not be retained when they came up for re-procurement.
Client: National Health and Social Care Provider
Date: April 2022
Time: Ongoing
The organisation initially approached K Low for support on an interim basis, working with their existing bid function to understand the blockages they were facing and to provide targeted training and advice around their systems and processes.
The success of this work led to the development of an ongoing support (retained) agreement, providing opportunity to embed and support the new approach. This was driven through integrated working practices, inclusive of formal and ad-hoc bid and pipeline reviews, as well as targeted training through to key subject matter experts from across the organisation – developing their understanding of bidding and the pivotal role their expertise plays in the development of nuanced and informed tender responses.
We are proud to say that we now have a longstanding partnership of over 2 years. This has driven up average bid scores by over 15%, with success driving outstanding bid performances with a 100% track record on framework submissions and a single provider tender win rate in excess of 78% .
A secondary advantage of the relationship is the efficiencies generated through our detailed understanding of their business and how these relate to sector competitiveness. This has enabled us to provide strategic advice and support, including the development of a coherent and cohesive approach to Social Value – helping them understand the importance of this agenda within the new procurement legislation and associated practices.
“The partnership we put in place with KLow helped the organisation to quickly and efficiently address a key capacity challenge. Since its establishment, the relationship has only grown stronger, creating a trusted and open working relationship in which both parties can confidently share thoughts and ideas that further refine how we identify opportunities and, crucially, how we put ourselves in the best position to win!”
Commercial Director – National Health and Social Care Provider
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