Security services tender writing support for public-sector bids

Check the activities and eligibility requirements

Identify guarding, door supervision, keyholding, mobile patrol, monitoring and any other activities in the specification. Check the licence, screening, training and experience requirements for each proposed role. Read the tender's additional selection conditions separately.

The SIA distinguishes individual licensing from its voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme for businesses. ACS approval is not the same as an officer's licence, and a buyer may make scheme approval a procurement condition. Verify the exact activity and scope rather than treating one status as evidence for everything.

Evidence to gather before writing

Choose material that matches this service and the buyer's questions. Confirm its accuracy, measurement period and permission for external use. The following records give your technical team and writer a useful starting point.

• •Activity-specific licence checks, competence and screening records for the proposed roles
• •A roster showing contracted posts, breaks, supervision, relief and absence cover
• •Comparable incident and response records with clear definitions, dates and the service scope

Build a roster that survives a normal working week

Start with posts, opening hours, patrol requirements, breaks and supervision. Add leave, sickness, training and expected turnover, then show where relief staff come from. Include travel and handover time where the service depends on moving between sites.

Explain how licences and required training remain current, how shifts are confirmed and how a missed deployment is escalated. A national employee count does not prove that qualified officers are available at this location for this shift pattern.

Make incident decisions clear

Describe how an officer recognises and reports an incident, who directs the response and how the buyer is informed. Explain interfaces with emergency services and site management at the level required by the specification. Technical and operational decisions should be approved by the responsible security team.

Where technology supports the service, identify the person monitoring it, the escalation path, system dependencies and fallback. A camera, alarm or reporting application adds little to the answer unless the response arrangement is clear.

Mobilise and price the full deployment

Plan site familiarisation, assignment instructions, staff allocation, uniforms and equipment, communications, access and control-room setup. State the readiness checks before the first shift and how the incoming team receives relevant open issues.

Reconcile pay assumptions, relief, supervision, training, equipment and management with the rate. Check any separate charging for call-outs or additional events. Do not offer a response model that requires resources omitted from the commercial schedule.

Example: security at a public-facing civic building

An illustrative response would connect entrance cover, patrols and incident escalation to public opening hours and the building's activities. It would show how the post remains covered during breaks and how supervisors support difficult incidents.

Choose evidence from a comparable setting. Explain your role and what improved, using defined measures such as attended shifts or response times. A low incident count alone may reflect reporting practice or site conditions rather than the quality of the service.

Working with a security services tender writer

Give the bid team the complete pack, pricing schedule, clarification updates, portal instructions and deadlines. An initial review should check eligibility, delivery fit, evidence gaps and the time your contributors can provide. For an agreed bid, Bidgen can coordinate the plan, interview specialists, draft answers and manage review through submission readiness. Your business approves price, technical claims, risk and the final response.

Apply the current tender requirements and the rules relevant to the activity and jurisdiction.