When it comes to public sector procurement, the open tender process is often the first option that comes to mind – ensuring fairness, transparency and competition. However, beneath the surface, open tendering carries hidden costs that can lead to inefficiencies, delays, and financial strain. For local authorities operating within tight budgets, these risks can be detrimental to your project success.
In this blog, I want to discuss these hidden costs and how frameworks, like Procure Partnerships, present a smarter, cost-effective alternative to open tendering, leading to more streamlined processes and reduced project risk as a whole. Let’s get it into it!
The Hidden Costs of Open Tendering
While open tendering fosters competition, it also carries substantial administrative and financial burdens. Preparing, advertising, and evaluating tenders is a time-consuming process that demands significant administrative effort, potentially delaying project initiation and leading to cost escalations. Furthermore, every tender requires thorough documentation, compliance checks, and legal oversight, adding to the overall cost. Managing multiple bids, ensuring compliance, and negotiating contracts can also cause delays, further inflating project costs.
The Financial Benefits of using a Framework
Framework agreements streamline procurement and deliver cost savings in several ways. By providing access to a pool of vetted contractors and consultants, frameworks eliminate the time and expense associated with supplier evaluation. Unlike open tendering where bidders may inflate prices and procurement teams struggle to benchmark costs, frameworks like Procure Partnerships ensure contractors operate within a fixed overhead and profit percentage. This structured pricing model drives cost savings and ensures competitive contractor rates from the outset. Furthermore, standardised processes within our framework minimise procurement tasks, enabling quicker project commencement and completion. With Procure Partnerships Framework the cost is borne by the contractor, not the client, this ensures maximum value without additional financial burden.
Cost Misconceptions and the Power of Early Visibility
A common misconception is that frameworks are more expensive than open tendering due to associated fees. However, our framework fees are covered by the contractor, not the client.
Contractors working under framework agreements with us commit to reduced OH&P percentages with us—often 2% lower than those offered on the open market—because frameworks provide a stable stream of project opportunities. Additionally, contractors in framework agreements compete against their peers rather than a broad market, ensuring more fair and competitive pricing.
Another key advantage of using Procure Partnerships Framework is the Expression of Interest (EOI) process, which provides clients with certainty and efficiency before the formal tendering stage. Within just three days, clients know exactly which contractors are interested and, crucially, who will submit a tender at the end of the process.
This eliminates the uncertainty of open tendering, where tenders are released without an EOI stage—meaning clients often don’t know who (if anyone) is interested in bidding until the end of the tender period, which can take up to eight weeks. By reducing this waiting time and giving early visibility into bidders, we help streamline your projects and prevent unnecessary delays, providing a more reliable and predictable tendering process.
The Cost of Not Using a Framework
Consider a local authority planning a £10 million infrastructure project. Opting for an open tender process, they advertise the opportunity widely, attracting only 5 bids from large firms, SMEs, and less experienced contractors. The procurement team, stretched thin, reviews financial records, past performance data, compliance documentation, social value commitments and so on. This process drags on for months, requiring extensive internal meetings and legal consultations.
By the time a contractor is selected, further legal and contract negotiations delay project initiation. Once work begins, unforeseen issues arise. The chosen contractor struggles to meet quality standards, resulting in costly remedial work and contract disputes. Facing overruns and rising costs, the local authority is forced to source additional suppliers, incurring more expenses and delays.
This may sound slightly dramatic, I know, but the scenario is more common than many realise. Had the local authority used a framework like Procure Partnerships, they could have accessed pre-vetted contractors, eliminated the lengthy tendering process, and benefited from controlled, competitive pricing. The project would have started sooner, stayed within budget, and minimised risk.
A Smarter Choice
Procure Partnerships offers multiple call-off methods, including direct award, single-stage, and two-stage tendering, providing the flexibility to suit different project requirements and time constraints. This adaptability is particularly beneficial for public sector organisations operating under “use it or lose it” budget conditions, where funds must be allocated within a specific timeframe. By enabling expedited procurement, frameworks help ensure budgets are utilised efficiently, avoiding delays and maximising value.
Open tendering doesn’t always guarantee the best value especially when it overlooks hidden costs and risks. Here at Procure Partnerships we offer a structured, cost-effective and risk-mitigated approach by leveraging pre-qualified suppliers, competitive pricing and streamlined processes. With this, local authorities can achieve better financial outcomes while reducing administrative burdens and project delays.
If you need clarity on how our framework could successfully help deliver your project contact me today on 0752 332 5289 or via email chris@procurepartnerships.co.uk or contact Jordan on 07507 295782 or via email jordan@procurepartnerships.co.uk.
