If there has been one certainty over the past few months in politics, it is that nothing is certain.
Against that backdrop though, I can offer some assurance to those of you who may be yearning for some consistency in the bid-tendering market in 2020.
Don’t worry. Not much will change, whatever the result of the General Election.
And the same applies for the eventual outcome of Brexit too. Leave or remain – many things will stay the same.
There we go. Feel better now?
Don’t get me wrong, you will hear a lot of noise and rhetoric on both fronts in the coming weeks.
The political parties will have their say on health, transport, education and all of the other issues of the day. Broadly, they will all say the same thing which is they are going to spend more money and that can only be a good thing for organisations that want to tender.
Procurement
Regardless of whether the country is left with a Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat or coalition Government, they will all offer something reasonably similar for the tendering market.
Procurement will continue. A Government will need to put contracts out to market and there will always be a degree of tendering. That status quo will not change.
In fact, with all parties saying they will begin a spell of serious spending on various issues, there will be even more opportunity for organisations to be able to bid for contracts.
The same is true for Brexit. Whether we stay in or leave, it doesn’t fundamentally change too much. There will still need to be the same services and the same things will need to continue. The only real change could be down to whether or not any new work has a new logo on it!
Brexit
Ultimately, good practice is good practice and that will remain. European rules may go with Brexit, but that could just mean we need to write something in blue ink instead of black!
It won’t be huge change. Whether you have 28 days to respond or 21 days, there are good practices across the world and they will need to stay consistent.
There will be tweaks but nothing that will be insurmountable and largely, it will be business as usual.
So be prepared and keep your ears to the ground but please don’t worry too much. Fundamentally, things will stay the way they have always broadly been.
Read more: Effective tendering tips on the agenda as I presented at East Midlands Chamber of Commerce event.