Bid writing training
Outsourcing isn’t the only answer — sometimes the right move is making your own people better. Our workshops teach the working disciplines of professional bid teams, using your live tenders and real past bids as the course material, so the learning sticks because it ships.
Who the training is for
- Operations and delivery managers who get handed tenders on top of the day job and have never been shown the craft
- In-house bid teams whose scores have plateaued and need an outside perspective on why
- Owner-managers of SMEs building a bidding capability for the first time
- Graduate and junior writers who need structured foundations rather than trial and error
What we cover
| Module | What your team leaves able to do |
|---|---|
| Qualifying opportunities | Run a disciplined go/no-go — the scored test from our bid/no-bid framework — so effort goes where the odds are. |
| Reading a tender pack | Decode requirements, weightings and traps from real ITT documents; build a compliance matrix that actually gets used. |
| Answer planning | Plan responses against scoring criteria before drafting — the single habit that separates professional bids from hopeful ones. |
| Writing to score | Structure answers the way evaluators mark, evidence every claim, and edit jargon into plain English that wins marks. |
| Social value that scores | Make additional, local, measurable commitments without overpromising — grounded in how social value is actually evaluated. |
| Reviewing like a marker | Score your own drafts cold before the buyer does, using the same method as our critique service. |
Formats
- One-day foundation workshop — the full cycle for up to twelve people, on-site anywhere in the UK or remote
- Half-day deep dives — one module, worked hard, usually answer planning or writing to score
- Live-bid coaching — we coach your team through a real tender from kick-off to submission; training and output in one
- Follow-up clinics — monthly remote sessions reviewing real answers your team wrote since the workshop
Every format is built on your material — your past bids, your feedback letters, the tender you’re staring at now. Generic slide decks don’t change behaviour; marking your own last bid does. Teams pursuing formal certification can extend into APMP study support.
Training plus, not training instead
Honest advice: training works best for the bids you should write yourselves, and most firms still benefit from professional support on the must-wins. The combination we see succeed is a trained internal team handling routine tenders from a well-built content library, with managed support reserved for step-change opportunities. We’ll help you find that line rather than sell you everything.
Why training on your real bids works
Generic bid training — slides, theory, a sample tender no one cares about — changes behaviour for about a week. Training built on your own live tenders and real past bids changes it permanently, because every exercise produces something your team actually needs. When delegates plan answers to a tender they’re really submitting, mark a bid they really lost, or rewrite a method statement they’ll really use, the learning lands and ships at the same time. That’s why every format we run is built on your material: your documents, your feedback letters, the opportunity in front of you. The workshop pays for itself twice — once in the skills your team keeps, and once in the live bid it improves on the day.
Building lasting capability, honestly
We’ll give you an honest steer most training providers won’t: training works best for the bids you should write yourselves, and most organisations still benefit from professional support on the must-wins. The model we see succeed pairs trained internal people — handling routine tenders from a well-built content library — with managed support reserved for the step-change opportunities where the stakes justify it. Training isn’t a way to never need help again; it’s a way to bid more, better, and to know which battles to fight alone. For teams pursuing formal recognition, our APMP certification coaching extends the practical skills into the recognised professional standard.
Frequently asked questions
How many people can attend?
Workshops work best at six to twelve — enough for group marking exercises, small enough that everyone writes and gets feedback. Larger groups split into cohorts; one-to-one coaching suits senior leads.
Do you train on our live tender?
Yes — live-bid coaching is the format with the highest retention, because every exercise produces something you’ll actually submit. We coach; your team writes; the bid improves while the skills land.
Is the training accredited?
Our workshops are practical rather than certificated. For formal credentials we support the APMP qualifications — the recognised professional standard — through our certification coaching.
Remote or on-site?
Both work. On-site suits foundation days (the room matters for marking exercises); clinics and coaching run well remotely. On-site delivery is available UK-wide from our Greater Manchester base, with no travel premium in the North West.