Partnering
Bid together.
Win work that is bigger than you are.
Most tenders are lost at the eligibility page. The specialist has the skill but not the turnover, the insurance, the three years of accounts or the two reference contracts. The established business has all of that and none of the specialism. Separately, neither of them bids. Together, they win. Putting those two together, for one named opportunity, is what this desk does.
Two sides, one bid
If you are an established business
You have the balance sheet, the accreditations and the track record. What you keep meeting is a requirement you cannot answer alone — a technology, a certification, a language, a jurisdiction, a sector reference. We find you a verified specialist partner whose evidence we have already checked at source, and we build the teaming pack that makes the two of you look like one credible bidder.
If you are a professional or a small business
You can do the work. You cannot pass the eligibility gate on your own, and you will not for another three years. Partnering puts you inside a bid you could never have led, on your own name, doing the part you are best at — and it builds the reference history that eventually lets you lead one.
How a partnering runs
- One named opportunity. Partnering is always for a specific tender or call, never an open-ended arrangement. It starts with a live reference number and a deadline.
- Requirement split. We read the award criteria and say plainly which requirements the lead can answer, which it cannot, and what the missing piece actually has to prove.
- Candidate partners proposed. Two or three organisations from our verified register, each with what we checked, what we could not check, and where the evidence came from. We propose organisations, not individuals.
- Both sides choose. Either side can say no with no reason and no cost. Nobody is put forward without being asked first.
- Teaming agreement. Scope split, who leads, who signs, how the price is divided, what happens to the work if you lose, confidentiality, and exclusivity for this bid only. Drafted, not improvised on a call.
- Joint bid built. One response, one voice, one criteria map. Both parties approve before it goes near a portal.
- The lead submits. In the lead’s name, from the lead’s account. We do not submit, and we are not a party to the contract.
- Debrief, either way. Win or lose, both sides get the feedback and the scoring, because the second bid together is always better than the first.
What it costs
| Who | What they buy | Price |
|---|---|---|
| The established business | Partner search and teaming pack, one opportunity — requirement split, candidates with verified evidence, the teaming agreement, and the joint criteria map | €1,200 |
| Partner Desk — a standing search across everything you bid for, with candidates proposed before the deadline rather than after it | €450 / month | |
| The professional or small business | Being put forward to a lead bidder | €0, always |
| Capability pack — your evidence assembled into the form a lead bidder and an evaluator actually score: capability statement, verified credentials, insurance and accreditation position, two structured references | €290 | |
| Teaming agreement review, before you sign someone else’s | €180 | |
| Success fee, if the joint bid wins — charged to the lead bidder only, on the same rules as any other bid | 2% of first-year value, capped in cash | |
The lead bidder pays for the search. The specialist never pays to be put forward.
You do not need the capability pack to be proposed to a lead bidder. You will not be ranked higher because you bought it, you will not be ranked lower because you did not, and nobody here is paid more if you do. The pack is preparation — a separate service, sold with a written right to withdraw — and plenty of people are put forward without ever buying one.
We are this specific about it because the opposite — charging the smaller party for access to work — is the practice that gave this whole industry its reputation. We would rather be the firm that does not.
Why teaming beats being placed — for both of you
Partnering joins two organisations to bid for one named contract under a teaming agreement. That is not a placement, and the difference is worth money to both sides.
The specialist keeps their name
You appear in the bid as your own organisation, with your own track record, doing your own scope. You are building a public-sector history you own — which is the thing that eventually lets you lead a bid instead of joining one.
The lead carries no employment risk
A teaming partner is a business with its own insurance, its own tax position and its own liability. There is no employment status question, no payroll, and nothing to unwind if you lose. If you lose, the agreement simply ends.
Nobody is anybody’s body
If what a lead bidder really wants is a person to work under its direction, that is a placement, it needs a licence we do not hold, and we will say so. We would rather lose that piece of work than pretend it is something else.
The law behind that last card, briefly: the Employment Agency Act 1971 s.1(2) regulates seeking people on behalf of others in Ireland, and the Employment Agencies Act 1973 s.6(1)(a) restricts what may be charged to a person for finding them work in the United Kingdom. Both are about people and employment. Neither reaches two businesses agreeing to bid together for a supply contract, and neither reaches grant funding at all. Where the party being put forward is an individual, being put forward is free and unconditional — always. Where it is a company, partnering is a commercial service between businesses, and the lead bidder pays for it. Our full position is in the client terms.
What we check before anyone is proposed
Identity and standing
The company exists, is in good standing on the register, is not in insolvency, and the people signing are who they say they are.
Capability evidence
Credentials and accreditations verified at source, not from a PDF sent to us. Anything we could not verify is recorded as an unverified claim and shown to the other side as one.
Ability to actually perform
Insurance in force, capacity for the dates, right to work in the jurisdiction, and any licence the contract requires. A partner who cannot start is worse than no partner.
We report facts and sources. We do not characterise people, and we do not pass on anything we have not checked without labelling it clearly.
Tell us about a bid
One form, both sides. We reply within 48 hours with an honest answer about whether partnering helps — including when it does not.
Have a bid in mind?
Send us the reference number and the deadline. We will tell you within 48 hours whether partnering helps, and if it does not, we will say so.