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With the economy not exactly in its rosiest state (as you might have noticed) bidding for work tenders has become an ever more competitive business.

Bids and tenders are still one of the main ways for companies to land new contracts. However, compiling a successful written application is almost an art form in itself.

Whatever you’re bidding for – a new legal panel, an audit job, an infrastructure project, or to lay new cables under pavements – follow these top tips for penning the perfect submission:

• Aim for a friendly but professional tone – formal, but not Shakespearian.
• As with all writing, keep sentences short and easily digestible, and use paragraphs to break up different ‘thoughts’.
• Structure your bid sensibly. Decide on your headings in advance. Make sure each section addresses a specific point of the tender outline. Don’t waste words.
• Avoid jargon at all costs – that oh-so handy acronym you regularly use internally may mean nothing to whoever’s assessing your bid.
• If in doubt, search the web for a bid template which can help guide your structure – but don’t be afraid to deviate from the template if required by the tender outline.
• Ask yourself who the audience is. What will they want to read? What is their level of technical sophistication? Tailor your spiel to those who are making the big decisions.
• Remember to proof-read your bid before submitting it. Ideally, ask a second pair of eyes to glance over it.
• Feel free to add any supporting documents as an appendix rather than getting bogged down in technicalities in the main body of the text.
• Be specific about your terms and conditions – be honest from the start, rather than approaching the client with additional stipulations and clauses subsequently.

Finally, if in doubt, ask a team of professional bid writers – such as Wordsworks – to write the application on your behalf. It’s the only way to guarantee that professional sheen which may set you apart from your rivals.

We’ve just finished our latest project for national accountants Baker Tilly – and we’re really chuffed with it!
Wordsworks has been supporting the Restructuring and Recovery Group at Baker Tilly with a number of writing projects over the past few months.
The most recent was a Pension Scheme Trustee Confidence survey. Our writers interviewed a number of Baker Tilly pensions experts to draw out the core findings of the survey, and used these as a framework for turning bland statistics into informative, compelling copy.
We’ve also been working with Baker Tilly’s marketing team to sharpen up the editorial content of a number of client newsletters and sector briefs, drafting commentary, case studies and insights that showcase the firm’s specialist knowledge.
Sometimes it’s a case of a quick interview with a fee earner, for us to then draft the copy from scratch. Other times a rough draft will be prepared in-house for us to further develop, refine and generally prepare for publication.

Check out a PDF of the report here.

It’s going to be a busy summer here at Wordsworks towers. We’ve been commissioned by Henshaws Society for Blind People to write and edit its annual review.

Henshaws has centres across the North of England and their sole aim is enable people affected by visual impairment and disability to build skills and independence for their future.

Annual reviews can be quite dry documents, so it’s our job to make sure the most powerful content is included. We worked closely with the Henshaws team and can’t wait to see the finished result in the autumn.

Hopefully we’ll find a few hours to enjoy some standard Manchester weather – also known as ’sunny spells with scattered showers’.