Partners sought for Futurebuilders contract-bidding advice consortium

Finance | Celina Ribeiro | 30 Mar 2009

Charities are being asked to participate in a new consortium to help other civil society organisations overcome ingrained difficulties in winning public contracts.

Futurebuilders England is looking for partners to join it in a pilot which, it hopes, will provide efficiencies for charities tendering for lucrative public service contracts.

The organisation hopes that the group will provide a valuable resource for other organisations competing against the private sector for contracts by pooling the expertise of those charities which are experienced in public service contract tendering.

Those working in the areas of education and training, health and social care and welfare reform are being asked to apply to join the consortium, which is scheduled to launch by the end of April.

Testing the water

The consortium, it is hoped, will provide advice and services related to key processes such as bid-writing, financial modelling, performance management and contract negotiation.

Ian Charlesworth (pictured), enterprise director at Futurebuilders, said that the move was in response to demand from within the sector. “One of the biggest issues we hear when talking to charities is the challenge of competing with the private sector for public service contracts – how can we compete against the big boys?

“We have decided to test the water to see if, as a sector, we can answer that challenge by working together more collaboratively in this area”.

“We would love to hear from organisations interested in being part of the consortium, or discuss other ideas on tackling the issue,” he said.

Shaw Trust escapes censure

Meanwhile, the Charity Commission has decided not to launch a formal inquiry into Charlesworth's former employer the Shaw Trust.

Instead it has provided confidential advice on how the charity should improve its governance.

Charlesworth was removed from his position as chief executive in August 2008 after a disagreement with trustees over plans to expand into Australia.

Who's Who: Celina Ribeiro

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