Bid & tender writing for SMEs and charities
Bids written to be scored, not just read.
Evaluators mark against the question, the weighting and the evidence. We make sure every answer earns its marks. Fixed prices, fast turnaround, no retainers and no “synergies”.
Led by Carl Auger, a work-winning specialist with 26 years in the MEP sector.
- Answers the question actually asked
- Evidence and outcomes, not adjectives
- Word count spent where the marks are
- Social value that is specific and measurable
- Compliant, consistent and on time
Good organisations lose bids they should win.
Rarely because they can’t do the work. Usually because the submission doesn’t prove it in the way it’s marked.
Describing, not evidencing
“We are committed to quality” scores nothing without the process, the proof and the outcome behind it.
Marks left on the table
Word counts spent on background while the highest-weighted criteria get a single paragraph.
The eleventh-hour scramble
Final answers written the night before, with nobody reading them the way an evaluator will.
Services & pricing
Fixed prices. No retainers. No surprises.
Start with a Health-Check. Most clients know within an hour of the debrief exactly where their marks were going.
Bid Health-Check
Start here- Every quality answer reviewed against the published criteria and weightings
- Marked-up draft with specific rewrites, not vague comments
- Top five changes, ranked by the marks at stake
- 30-minute debrief call
Bid Write
- Interview-led drafting of your quality questions
- Evidence drawn from your team, never invented
- Written to the word limits and scoring guidance
- Two rounds of revisions included
Bid Library
- Model answers for the questions you see every time
- Company overview, quality, health and safety, social value and case studies
- Structured so each answer can be tailored in minutes
All prices are fixed and no VAT is currently charged. Deadline in under 48 hours? Ask about a rush turnaround.
How it works
From inbox to improved in 48 hours.
Send it over
The tender documents, your draft and the deadline. Under NDA if you prefer.
We score it
Every answer read the way an evaluator reads it: against the question, the criteria and the weighting.
You get the fixes
A marked-up draft and a ranked action list, back within 48 hours.
Submit with confidence
A 30-minute call to walk through the changes and answer your questions.
Built for organisations without a bid team.
SMEs bidding for public contracts
Councils, the NHS, universities and housing associations, through Find a Tender and Contracts Finder.
Charities and social enterprises
Commissioned services and funding bids, where the narrative carries the score.
First-time framework bidders
Getting onto a framework first time, so you are in the room for every call-off that follows.
About
Big-bid discipline, small-business price.
Shortlist Bid is led by Carl Auger, a work-winning specialist with 26 years in the MEP sector.
Carl has spent his career on the bids where the stakes are highest: £15m to £150m mechanical and electrical packages for data centres and major commercial buildings across the UK and Europe, where every mark counts and second place wins nothing.
He knows how evaluators read because he has spent decades writing for them, leading bid teams from first read to final submission and turning complex offers into answers that score.
Shortlist Bid brings that same discipline to your bids: read the criteria first, plan to the weighting, evidence every claim. Big-bid rigour, at a price that makes sense for a smaller organisation.
Questions, answered.
Will you guarantee we win?
No, and be wary of anyone who does. We guarantee every answer is reviewed against how it will actually be scored.
Is our information kept confidential?
Yes. Your documents are used only for your bid and deleted when the job is done, and we are happy to sign your NDA.
Which sectors do you cover?
Most public-sector services, facilities, professional services, care and charity work. We don’t take on construction or building services bids.
How quickly can you turn it around?
Health-Checks within 48 hours of receiving everything. Rush turnarounds by arrangement.
Deadline looming? Send it over.
A free 15-minute call to see if we are a fit. No hard sell: we are bid writers, not salespeople.