Enhanced tendering system to benefit many NI suppliers

Thousands of suppliers throughout Northern Ireland and further afield are set to benefit from an enhanced tendering system which helps organisations bid for public sector business.
By Claire Cartmill
Published 28th Sep 2020, 13:00 BST
Finance Minister Conor Murphy with Ian McLelland from LM Services, Angie Brown from Pierce Printellect, Paul Millar from Hamilton Architects, and Principal Consultant Gerard GrahamFinance Minister Conor Murphy with Ian McLelland from LM Services, Angie Brown from Pierce Printellect, Paul Millar from Hamilton Architects, and Principal Consultant Gerard Graham
Finance Minister Conor Murphy with Ian McLelland from LM Services, Angie Brown from Pierce Printellect, Paul Millar from Hamilton Architects, and Principal Consultant Gerard Graham

eTendersNI, the portal through which around 22,000 suppliers tender for contracts to provide goods, services and works to Northern Ireland Government departments, agencies and arms-length bodies, has been redesigned to make it easier for suppliers to work through the tender submission process.

The system is managed by the Department of Finance’s Construction and Procurement Delivery Division.

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Meeting with representatives from some of the companies who helped in the design process recently, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said it was important to make the tendering process as user-friendly as possible.

He continued: “Public sector procurement is vital for local businesses and jobs.

“Around 95% of all public sector bodies use this portal to advertise government tender opportunities.

“Public procurement expenditure is approximately £3bn each year and accounts for around 25% of the Executive’s budget.It is therefore important we make the tendering process as user-friendly as possible to give companies the best opportunity to bid for contracts.

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“I was delighted to hear first-hand the positive response from representatives from a range of companies who regularly use the system to search for business opportunities and bid for contracts.

“Collaborating with industry and taking on-board user feedback has helped enhance the system - making it easier to do business with government.”

Previously, suppliers prepared tenders on their own computer, but using their feedback, the system has been enhanced so that suppliers can prepare and submit tenders from a secure space in eTendersNI.

Multiple users within the organisation can work together on their tender response and mobile phones and tablets can be used to access the system which also contains a document library for uploading and attaching documents.

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Related topics:Northern IrelandConor Murphy