Bid Consultation

The Challenge

If you are new to public procurement, government portals and frameworks, the whole process of local authority tendering can seem daunting and scary. Maybe you have been bidding for years but are not getting the wins you think you should and do not understand why. Perhaps your business struggles to locate and identify suitable tender opportunities or once you have found them, you worry about the amount of work required to put together a compliant, winning submission. If these are the sort of issues you are experiencing, now is the time to ask for a helping hand to structure your bidding processes, so that you can confidently apply for the sort of work that will take your business forward.

Bid Consultation

The Solution

Pipster will work with you to identify improvements and streamline your bidding processes, guiding you through the public sector tender journey. With our experience we can advise you on how to make the right bid or no bid decisions, conduct gap analysis to ensure you can win and deliver the work, help with due diligence checks and equip you with long-term bidding tools to make tendering so much easier. We can also research contract and client requirements to make sure that each response is accurate, tailored to client needs, compliant and high scoring – increasing the likelihood of winning work.

Meet our team of experts

Pippa Birch

Founder

Hannah Thorne

Bidding Manager

Jo Brassington

Bidding Manager 

Sajia Ahmed

Bid Writer

Founder

Pippa Birch

Pippa has been a Bid Writer and Manager for over 20 years and founded Pipster Solutions in 2012. She worked in the highways industry for much of her employment, within the contracting divisions of RMC, Cemex and Aggregate Industries, gained industry-specific qualifications and was a key member of the Institute of Asphalt Technology, editing Asphalt Professional and sitting on the Council. While the majority of her career has been in Highways and civil engineering public procurement, Pippa has also worked on complicated bids in facilities management, custody, and energy. Holding APMP Professional certification, Pippa is a member of the APMP Intentional Career Path Committee, an APMP UK Rapport Mentor and is an Individual Career Path Lead volunteer for the APMP UK Chapter. Away from bidding, Pippa loves mud and taking part in OCR events across the UK. She dreams of escaping to Cornwall to live by the sea!

Bidding Manager

Hannah Thorne

Hannah is a proactive and conscientious Bidding Manager whose friendly, approachable, and professional nature has seen her build strong relationships with many clients. After joining Pipster Solutions in 2020, she has quickly progressed from Bid Writer to Senior Bid Writer to her current role where she has taken on additional responsibilities including management, business development, and leadership as a key member of the company’s Business Management Team. With eight years’ experience in bidding, Hannah started in the utilities sector and has since worked on many successful highways and civil engineering bids, as well as for the nuclear sector . In addition to bid management and writing, she also has over twenty years’ graphic design experience and uses her excellent eye for detail to elevate bid responses. Since 2021, Hannah has achieved both APMP Foundation and Practitioner Level, as well as Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Levels 2 and 3.

Bidding Manager 

Jo Brassington

Jo is a very organised, efficient and practical Bid Writer and Manager driven to build collaborative client relationships and achieve results. She currently manages a portfolio of clients, supports team member development and contributes to business growth as a member of the Pipster Business Management Team. Jo is passionate about managing data and working efficiently and is currently building business processes and systems to improve functionality including the creation of a bespoke CRM system. With over 20 years in quarrying, construction and civil engineering sectors across bidding, marketing and sales roles, Jo brings not only bidding expertise but industry awareness and knowledge to each project providing confidence to her clients. Over the last three years she has completed the APMP Foundation and Practitioner courses, completed a bid mentoring programme and has recently applied to become a STEM Ambassador with the Minerals Matters group to promote the industry and sectors to younger people while also progressing her own career.  

Bid Writer

Sajia Ahmed

Sajia is a motivated Bid Writer dedicated to winning client work, pursuing professional development, and making a tangible impact on career promotion within the Bidding Industry. She joined Pipster as a People & Socials Officer while completing her postgraduate studies and, by shadowing Pipster’s team, learned about this exciting field and accepted a bidding role. Sajia has since completed a Bid and Proposal Co-ordinator Apprenticeship, and specialist bid writing and design courses, building technical bid development and writing skills. As Sajia builds her Pipster clientele, she is recognised for her project management skills and collaborative, client-focused approach. As Career Development Champion, Sajia is leading the development of Pipster’s industry-first Bid Writer Insight Programme. Driven by her passion, she aims to make the bidding career better known and encourage young people to select it as a conscious career choice. Sajia will soon embark on the APMP Certification Programme and achieve Foundation.  

Having worked with Pipster Solutions for a couple of years now. They have become an integral part of the business Family and are always our first call when we receive a Tender Submission.

Managing Director, Traffic Management Company

We’ve recently worked with Pippa and her team and we couldn’t be happier with the service they provided. They made us feel at ease from start to finish. Their approach is friendly and very professional and communication at every stage was second to none. If you want a job done Pipster Solutions are definitely the guys to go to. Highly recommended!

Director, Water Structure Maintenance Contractor

Our experience of Pippa is that she brings tremendous commitment and energy to the process. We are really pleased with the way she integrated seamlessly and helped us raise our game.

Business Manager, Highways Civil Engineering Business

I have found Pippa to be a great team worker who was able to integrate into our working environment instantly. I would definitely recommend Pipster to anyone who is serious about moving their company onwards and upwards.

Director, Construction Company

Frequently asked questions

Can you guarantee to produce a winning bid?

There are a lot of variables to produce a winning bid so we cannot guarantee this. In becoming a part of your team we will generate submissions collaboratively in a mutual endeavour – you are a big part of winning the bid! We will not get involved in pricing – this is normally dealt with by clients or by external estimators, although we will upload or integrate pricing into the submission should you wish us to. Submissions are scored on both price and quality, so we are only responsible for producing a proportion of the bid, which is why we cannot totally guarantee to produce a winning bid for you.

Why is Pipster Solutions the best choice?

Put simply, Pipster clients win the work they want. When you choose us, we provide a personal, trusted service. We get to the heart of your operations and form an integrated, winning team.

What industries or sectors do you specialise in?

Pipster Solutions is highly regarded in the highways and civil engineering sectors due to Pippa’s long standing experience, comprehensive understanding, and outstanding reputation in these areas. Our team of writers also have knowledge across various industry sectors. Bidding skills transfer across all industries including highways, civil engineering, utilities, construction, nuclear, facilities management, energy, security, forensics, custody, and training. The list is endless!

Interested in how we can help you achieve winning bids?

Get in touch with a member of Team Pipster, and let us know how we can help.