At the end of a tender process suppliers under EU Regulations are entitled to ask for a face to face debrief.
Debriefing is simply the act of meeting with an unsuccessful bidder to explain why their bid was not deemed to be the most attractive. Debriefing is a fragile process. We want to be as helpful as possible to the unsuccessful bidder, but we also must maintain the confidentiality of other suppliers' information.
Northamptonshire Procurement department see supplier debrief as a means to help the supplier develop within the marketplace and perhaps in the performance with their next tender and with future tenders with ourselves or other public sector bodies. In essence this is ensuring sustainability of the marketplace.
In addition to our tender team offering feedback to the supplier, we ask for and encourage a consultative feedback on our process, on our specification and our documentation as a whole. This is invaluable information to allow our department to develop and focus on understanding the supplier marketplace. In the process of understanding and adapting our ways of working it encourages greater efficiency and sustainable procurement leading to improved contracts and therefore value for money.
Northamptonshire Police Procurement department also believe that the supplier debrief consultation process is appropriate to all bidders, including the winning company. This encourages the start of the supplier relationship management process and the opportunity to discuss areas of strength and weakness within the successful tender and to encourage the supplier/service provider to ensure these are delivered during implementation and the term of the contract.
