Encompass Consultancy help Yorkshire firms win contracts worth £600m

Yorkshire firms were able to win contracts worth a total of £600m after collaborating with Encompass Consultancy, a bid-writing service based in Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire.

The firm, which specializes in helping companies win competitive tenders, started five years ago and since then has helped companies across the UK land contracts worth £10bn.

Encompass’s most recent successes, which are based throughout Yorkshire, include PrimaryTec in Hull, an IT provider to the education sector; Caremark (East Riding), which specialises in quality care for people in their own homes; and the Hull-based Choices and Rights Disability Coalition.

Founded by managing director Lucus [CORR] Elliott, a former Hull University student, and sales director Adam Rhodes, from Hull, Encompass has since grown to a staff of 22, who work across three divisions: bid writing, training delivery and advising on employment law.

Commenting on the firm’s success, Lucus said: “There are so many opportunities through tendering, both in the public and private sectors, for companies of all shapes and sizes in all industries. Winning these types of contracts can really help take a business to the next level.

“However, writing a bid – especially if you’re not that experienced with tenders – can be a difficult task. Compliance requirements can be daunting and the jargon can be very hard to cut through. Our bid writers come from a variety of sectors, from SMEs to big multi-nationals, so there’s a tremendous wealth of experience - and that experience means we have an 85 per cent success rate.”

As well as bid writing, Encompass can also see if a company is “tender ready” by carrying out a comprehensive review, working with the firm towards accreditations. Encompass also offers a tender alert service, and will notify clients when tenders relevant to them are being sought.

Lucus added: “If a company is submitting a lot of tenders then gaining industry and international accreditation recognised accreditation is very worthwhile. Being able to demonstrate that your company operates to a recognised international standards speaks volumes in a tender bid. It also saves a lot of time too – if a bid asks for evidence about a certain process we can simply write ‘ISO9001’, for example, instead of sourcing a lot of data and writing a lot of case studies.”

Adam also commented: “We are delighted to have recently crossed the £10bn milestone. Starting up during the recession was a bold move but it’s paid off. We are much further on from where we imagined we would be, which is great.

“We started at a time when the banks weren’t lending, but in 2010 when Government departments were tasked with saving up to 20%, more and more business was out to tender as a means of increasing efficiency. We saw this as an opportunity to help other businesses access contracts.

“Having a business that helps other businesses and organisations to grow is hugely rewarding. As we work closely with our clients, we feel like celebrating every time they win a tender.”

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