Who we are
Operator experience, not theory.
The person who has written the tender, sat across the negotiating table and reviewed the rate card, now doing it for your business instead of one employer.
Who that is
Carl Dawson. Contracts director and managing director in telecoms and utilities delivery before DCD & Sons was formed — writing and submitting the tenders, then administering the contracts that came out of them, mostly under NEC4 and MSA frameworks.
Winning work and delivering it profitably are different jobs, and most commercial damage happens in the gap between them. A submission priced without knowing how the contract will be administered is a submission that wins the wrong work. That is the gap this firm exists to close.
Why Bid or No Bid is free
We write bids and run contracts for a living, which means we read notices every week regardless. Publishing the verdict costs us very little and it is the most honest advertisement there is — you can watch us judge live tenders for months before you ever speak to us.
Roughly a third of what we publish says do not bid. How we judge a tender sets out the five things we look at, and our successes shows the work behind it.
Free · 15 minutes · no pitch
Talk to the person who writes it
Fifteen minutes, not an hour — long enough to be useful, short enough that you will actually book it. Pick a slot and it lands in both diaries.
What we cover
- What you are bidding for, or the contract you have been handed.
- Where we think the real risk sits in it.
- Whether it is worth your time — including if the answer is no.
What you leave with
- A straight read on whether that tender is winnable for a firm your size.
- The two or three things that would sink the submission if left alone.
- A price for the work, if you want one. No pressure to take it.
Bring the notice reference or the contract if you have one — fifteen minutes goes a lot further when we can look at the actual document.
Pick a time →