Main contractor procurement teams will initially compile a long list of suppliers that will be asked to respond to pre-qualification questionnaires or requests for prices and information. After assessment of this submitted information, the main contractor procurement teams will produce a short list of suppliers that will then be invited to tender.
Suppliers need to be noticed to get onto a long list, they then need to respond effectively and promptly to reach the tender stage.
What we do to help
The Hinkley Supply Chain Team promotes suppliers registered on the portal where there is a strong capability match to known main contractor requirements. This may result in Meet The Buyer events, Work Package briefings, support for collaborations or simply a presentation of supplier lists that match the requirement identified (these are then followed up with the relevant procurement teams).
What suppliers should do to raise their profile to maximise their chances of engagement
Your registration on the Hinkley Supply Chain portal and the promotion of your capability that we undertake is only one of at least three “routes” into the HPC new nuclear market. The other two routes suppliers could consider include:
- Researching the main contract landscape for contracts that are likely to need your capability and understand when the relevant main contractors are likely to mobilise. Once a target customer or contract has been identified then maximum use of your existing customer, supplier, competitor networks should be leveraged to get close to the relevant procurement teams.
- Get pro-active with your existing network of contacts (customers, suppliers, competitors) to harvest up to date intelligence on contract opportunities that you might not be aware of (often at Tier 2 or 3 level and less easy to identify from published information). Once identified use the same contact network to get close to the target procurement team or be referred to them.
The Hinkley Supply Chain Team will work hard to identify work package opportunities and promote the most capable suppliers – but there will be 1000’s of work packages over the next 8 years and we won’t have the resources to look at all of them. So some teamwork will be required!