Market Infra: Are you bid ready for CP7?

With Control Period 7 tenders due to hit the market in the coming months, and tendering expected to take place over the next 18 months, Tom Hudson, Managing Director at consultancy Market Infra, offers tips to put your business in the best position to secure work

What is CP7?

CP7 (Control Period 7) is Network Rail’s next regulatory period.

When is CP7?

Delivery of CP7 works will take place between 2024 and 2029 and PQQs are due to hit the market in April 2022, with tendering taking place over the next 18 months.

CP7 Priorities

As always, safety is Network Rail’s top priority, there is still a strong emphasis on productivity, quality, and value for money. Whilst these priorities are not unfamiliar for Network Rail in CP5 and CP6, we expect more forward-thinking approach which must be considered as key differentiators for bidders wanting to improve success during CP7. As bidders start preparing for opportunities, they should consider the following differentiating themes:

· Sharing of resources and encouraging best practice between partners

· Creation of a collaborative culture

· Sustainability and social value

Partnerships will be critical during CP7, and whilst some tier one organisations have engaged in the process already there are plenty of opportunities for tier two organisations. Network Rail are offering long term partnerships, which in some cases are on 5 + 5 year contract terms. They have recognised the need for second supplier contracts to provide additional back-up resources, these will still be contracted directly by Network Rail. This approach has been introduced to ensure organisations aren’t locked out of the market for 10 years.

Intended lot structure of CP7 tender opportunities:

Let’s do things at SPEED

As well as the CP7 themes and objectives, the government launched Project SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery). Project SPEED developed by the DfT and Network Rail is focused on halving the time and significantly reducing costs of delivering rail infrastructure projects. In order to achieve this, innovation is likely to be the focal point throughout in order to improve passenger experiences and provide greater value to taxpayers.

Considering this CP7 will see a drive towards smarter working with focus on specific areas where cost savings can be achieved. Collaboration between client, contractors and sub-contractors will become essential to achieving the targets for the reduction in cost across the regulatory period with an alliancing approach to many frameworks potentially becoming the new norm. Associated with this approach will be the reduction or eradication of the duplicated roles and effort with the introduction of the contractors taking on more engineering assurance and design responsibility.

The ability of the contracting organisations to facilitate this mode of working and demonstrate a willingness and competency to achieve the transition smoothly and efficiently will be a major factor in the success of winning work for the contractors and the overall success of CP7.

Top tips for preparing for CP7 bidding

Over the years we have successfully supported various Rail and major infrastructure clients win over £1bn of opportunities in regulated markets. From this we have developed the following top tips to create bid success and as a team we follow this process when working with our clients to better plan, win and deliver.

1. Work winning challenges – Ask yourself the following four key questions, which will give you a good idea of whether or not to bid for the opportunity.

· Is the opportunity in line with your business strategy?

· Is it worth it/ can you justify the effort and investment?

· Can you win it?

· Can you deliver it?

2. Know your market

• be sure to attend any regional sessions (virtual or in person) ahead of CP7. These are a fantastic way to gain valuable insight into the timelines, expectations and specific needs of the regional lots.
• Understand your clients and competitors within the specific disciplines – use market insights, capture plans, due diligence and hearsay information to influence how you approach the tender opportunity

3. Develop a clear win strategy

• Define differentiators using market and competitor knowledge
• Develop using win themes aligned to client goals
• Evidence these win themes throughout the bid

4. Effective bid planning and management

• Engage early with your bid resources – this may include operations, technical, commercial, health and safety, sustainability and bid management and writing resources
• Understand key teamwork risks, individual needs and resource constrains

How Market Infra can help

We can help you win more work in the Rail sector. With an average client feedback score of 4.8 out of 5, our client retention rate is testament to the quality of service we offer.

The Market Infra team are well placed to help you increase your success. We have a team of specialists who work within the rail sector, offering best practice, innovation and technical solutions to help you better plan, win and deliver rail opportunities.

We are highly experienced in delivering and winning significant rail schemes for HS2 and as part of CP5 and CP6, including Design Services Framework, Civil Engineering Framework Assessment and Various Regional P-Way schemes.

We will work in collaboration with you, integrating into your team throughout the bid period to help develop tender responses and produce winning bids.

To hear more about what clients say about Market Infra, visit: https://marketinfra.co.uk/testimonials For more information on our services, contact Bronwyn at Bronwyn.linkhorn@marketinfra.co.uk

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