What I do

Most engagement between contractors and contracting authorities still begins when the ITT is issued, by which point the procurement is already designed, the evaluation model is fixed, and the relationship is transactional rather than built on trust. PA23 advocates earlier involvement of parties in the process. For contracting authorities, early industry dialogue helps shape a procurement and operating model that genuinely aligns with what the market can deliver. For contractors and consultants, that same early engagement provides the only real chance to understand what a client truly needs, rather than guessing from a published specification. I assist both sides in making the most of that window before it closes.

Local Government Reorganisation is the biggest disruption to highway contracting in a generation. 21 county areas are transitioning into new unitary authorities, with vesting days extending through 2027 and 2028, and billions in DfT capital at stake on contracts that won't automatically survive the transition. Boundaries shift, performance regimes clash, and asset management plans can cease to meet DfT compliance overnight. I assist contractors and authorities in working through the future operating model decisions this shift necessitates, before vesting day arrives, not afterwards, when options become more limited.

 I recently reviewed a capture plan for an incumbent contractor who missed a price renewal despite having the highest quality marks in the field. The evaluation model, heavily weighted towards price per quality point, had never been stress-tested early enough to identify the issue. That's a pattern I keep seeing: capture planning begins too late, pricing isn't modelled against the market until it's too late to adjust, and the evaluation model is accepted rather than challenged. If your renewal or extension discussion is still 12 to 24 months away, that's the ideal time to test it.

Over the past year, I developed the evaluation methodology for a contracting authority's two-stage competitive process under the Procurement Act 2023, constructing the MAT and PPQP models, then guiding the client evaluation panel through scoring and reaching consensus on partnership contracts worth over £100 million. Most bid advisors have never been inside that room. I have, and it changes how I read a bid: I know exactly what is being scored because I built the scoring model myself.

The Procurement Act 2023 didn't just amend the old rules; it replaced them with two evaluation methods that most highway contractors and authorities are still trying to understand. The Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) approach considers both quality and price, while the Price Per Quality Point (PPQP) makes that balancing explicit and numeric. I've developed both methodologies from the ground up and participated in the evaluation panel as they were applied, offering a different perspective from just reading the guidance.

Specialist contractors operate under PA23 rules that were really designed around major term contracts, not smaller, more specialist scopes of work. For one specialist contractor I work with, I developed a suite of PA23-compliant procurement documents, a below-threshold direct award pack, an open competition pack, and a five-section outline business case, correcting a framing issue that would have incorrectly classified the work under above-threshold provisions rather than Part 6. Getting that distinction right the first time avoids delay, legal risk, and wasted rework.

Winning the work is only the first step. I help successful contractors transfer bid team knowledge to their operational and commercial delivery teams. I facilitate partnership launch workshops that bring together a new client service team and contractor mobilisation teams to launch a new contract. I also assist with day-to-day NEC contract administration for Options A, C, and E, as well as the Term Service Contract, including early warning notices, compensation events, and payment mechanism disputes. This stage of the lifecycle receives the least attention in most business development discussions. Yet it often poses the most significant commercial risks and can erode a local authority's confidence in its selection choices if not addressed early and decisively.

I serve as an independent reviewer for bids, proposals, and strategic submissions, stress-testing the narrative, refining the value proposition, and evaluating the response as an assessment panel would, not as it was intended to be read. I also assist clients in learning from unsuccessful submissions, pinpointing the specific gaps that cost marks, so the next bid does not repeat them. Sometimes, the most valuable thing I can do is tell you the thing nobody else on your team is willing to say.

Diminishing budgets mean highway authorities must demonstrate a real shift from expensive reactive repairs to funding that prevents defects. DfT's transparency reporting makes this shift measurable. Authorities need to show planned versus reactive spending, and incentive funding depends on correct classification. For contractors, how you bid and report must align with what your client authority now needs to demonstrate. I assist both sides in achieving this.