Building on strong foundations in partnering with local trade

Background

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service has a strong history of supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in public sector tendering. Since signing the Welsh Government’s Opening Doors Charter for SME Friendly Procurement in 2009, the Service has streamlined its tender processes and regularly attended Meet the Buyer events to remove barriers for SMEs.

In late 2021, the Service began developing 18 trade frameworks, starting with electrical contractors. Success with the electrical framework led to collaboration with Dyfed-Powys Police for procuring carpentry and building contractors. To support SMEs, the framework was split into six regional lots for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and four lots for Dyfed-Powys Police. This structure encouraged local SMEs to bid for smaller, manageable packages.

Supplier engagement events were held in October 2023, receiving positive feedback. The tender process was further adapted to limit contractors to bidding for a maximum of two lots per organisation, levelling the playing field for local SMEs against larger national companies.

The vision

Our vision was to source a number of local suppliers for each regional lot, so we could give something back to the communities that we serve. We also wanted to ensure we had a sustainable contract in place, where travelling would be minimised as much as possible, therefore reducing the carbon footprint emanating from the delivery of this contract.

The aim was to get a maximum of 5 suppliers awarded onto each regional lot for resilience.

What was unique about our story?

Two pre-tender supplier engagement events were held with Business Wales to prepare suppliers for the tender process. We took this opportunity to explain key procurement drivers, such as the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015, the Welsh Procurement Policy Statement, and the importance of sustainability and wellbeing benefits.

In the tender, the evaluation gave higher importance to quality (50%) over cost (40%), with a 10% weighting for Social Value, emphasising the importance of contractors contributing to the communities served. These measures aimed to create a level playing field for local SMEs, ensuring they could compete equally with larger national companies in the tendering process.

What did we do?

Two supplier pre-tender engagement events were organised in collaboration with Business Wales – one at Carmarthen HQ, and the other in Llandrindod Wells. The goal was to encourage local SMEs to tender and offer them support before the tender was published. Invitations were sent to relevant suppliers, advertised on Sell2Wales, and shared via social media.

The events had record attendance, with many local SMEs participating. The sessions covered tender timelines, award criteria, and the emphasis on social value. Contractors were able to network and provide feedback, ensuring the tender expectations were realistic and achievable. Business Wales offered guidance to support smaller suppliers in navigating the tendering process.

The tender, published weeks later, received 20 bids, with 12 contractors successfully awarded onto the framework—11 of which were Welsh SMEs within the Service area. High-quality bids showcased strong social value initiatives, reflecting the benefits of the pre-tender support. The outcome highlighted the importance of prioritising quality and social impact over cost alone.

What were we most proud of?

We are particularly proud of designing the tender process to ensure local SMEs had equal opportunities alongside larger companies. SMEs often struggle due to limited resources, unlike larger national firms with dedicated tendering teams. By providing local businesses the chance to showcase their capabilities, we tapped into the wealth of talent on our doorstep.

This procurement also demonstrated the value of engaging with suppliers before the tender stage and partnering with Business Wales to support SMEs. Modern procurement is about more than just purchasing—it’s about ensuring a positive impact, such as reducing our carbon footprint and benefiting local communities. This successful approach will guide future frameworks, especially for Estates trades.

What do we hope other public bodies in Wales will do as a result of our story?

We hope that other public bodies will consider adopting similar procurement strategies that provide SMEs with a level playing field in tendering. While it may require additional time to plan pre-tender engagement events and carefully structure the tender process, the benefits are clear. It helps ensure the specifications are accurate and gives SMEs the opportunity to showcase their capabilities and contribute to local communities.

How does this help us contribute to the Well-being goals and our organisations objectives?

This helps us to contribute to the following Well-being goals and organisational objectives:

• Our Environment – We will improve our working practices and reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. We will continue to embrace our responsibilities by striving to reduce our carbon footprint whilst exploring other opportunities to protect and improve the environment around us. Working with local contractors will enable us to minimise our carbon footprint as well as looking at sustainable solutions when undertaking any type of building work.
• We included social value within the tender to ensure that those companies who gave something back to the communities they lived and worked in achieved higher scores than those who didn’t.
• We partnered with Business Wales to ensure that local SME’s were identified and invited to attend the pre-tender engagement events that we organised. Business Wales were also on hand to provide any tendering advice for Welsh businesses as and when required.
• A Globally Responsible Wales – we considered the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of Wales when deciding on the best procurement strategy for this service provision.