Win the bid.
Pay when
you do.

Public sector tenders and charity funding bids, written by two former chief executives who have secured over £50 million in ten years.

In SMEs and charities the bid usually lands on the chief executive, and bid firms charge up front with no guarantee. So we charge on results, and keep part of our work for charities at reduced rates.

Send us a bid you lost See the fees
72→94

Same bid, same buyer, one year apart. An NHS contract scored 72% written the usual way. Rewritten against the buyer's marking scheme, it scored 94%. The organisation hadn't changed. The answers had.

Our fees

Bid companies typically charge £5,000 to £15,000 a bid and guarantee nothing.

Public sector tenders and contracts
£1,000+2.5%on award

£1,000 on appointment, then 2.5% of first-year contract value if you win.

  • Contracts from £100,000 to £50 million
  • If we don't think it can be won, we say so first
  • You set the price and submit
Paid on performance, not promises. If the bid loses, £1,000 is all you pay.
Charities and grant funding
£995from, per application

A fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start and scaled to the size of the opportunity.

  • Lottery, trusts and foundations, statutory grants
  • No success fee for trustees or funders to question
  • You keep everything we write
  • If two applications are unsuccessful, we write the third free
Below our commercial rate, as part of our work is reserved for charities. Fixed, because most funders won't let a grant pay commission on itself.
Terms in brief
  • Fees scale with the opportunity. The final fee depends on the size and complexity of the application or tender, and is agreed in writing before work starts.
  • We need the right documents. Informed bids need your evidence: accounts, policies, outcome and impact data, case studies, previous applications and funder or buyer correspondence.
  • We need them on time. Timescales depend on information and sign-offs arriving when agreed. Late material can change the timetable or the fee.
  • You check and submit. You confirm the accuracy of everything submitted in your name and make the submission yourself.
  • Third application free. Applies when two consecutive applications we wrote for you are unsuccessful, both went to funders we agreed were a good fit, and the information we needed arrived on time. The free application is of similar size to the previous two.
  • Win fees are invoiced on contract award. Frameworks with no guaranteed volume are charged on a fixed fee only.
  • All fees exclude VAT.

The marking scheme is rebuilt before a word is written.

Marks come from the scoring descriptors, which most bidders never read. That is where we start.

How it works

About 45 minutes of your time before you see a full draft.

1

Bid or no bid

We test whether it can be won before anyone commits.

2

One call

We research the buyer, then spend 45 minutes with whoever knows the operation.

3

We build it

Every answer written to the top scoring band and checked five times before you see it.

4

You submit

Accuracy and submission stay with you. We delete your documents the same day.

An extract from a reconstructed marking scheme: each score band, the published descriptor, and what the top band actually requires

What a rebuilt marking scheme looks like

Left: what the buyer published. Right: what the top band actually requires. Illustrative and anonymised.

Yes, we use AI. Here is where.

If you have to sign an authorship declaration, you should know exactly how.

Where we use it

  • Reading the pack and spotting contradictions
  • Researching the buyer or funder
  • Checking word counts and figures across every answer

Where we never use it

  • Claims about you: each is traced to your documents
  • Judgement on what to argue and what to leave out
  • The final wording, which is written by hand

The people who quote are the people who write it.

Both former chief executives in the independent and charity sectors, both board chairs, and over £50 million secured between us in ten years through contracts, tenders and grants.

Chris Adams

Chris Adams

Method, bid writing, pricing

Chief executive of a CQC-registered healthcare provider and chair of a charity's trustees. Has sat on the buying, selling and board side of funding decisions.

  • £20m+won through competitive tender in the last three years
  • 72 to 94the same NHS bid, rewritten to the marking scheme
  • £15min five-year contracts negotiated with BP and Shell
Jon Bennetts

Jon Bennetts

Clients and commercial

Chief executive in the independent and charity sectors and a board chair. Built a national franchise network and took it through a public market exit. You deal with him directly.

  • 32UK franchise outlets built in a sports coaching business he founded
  • 2000sold as part of an AIM flotation
  • Boardleadership roles across commercial and charitable organisations

Send us a bid you lost.

Send the pack and your submission from one you didn't win. We'll show you where the marks went. No charge.

Or email hello@harbour-group.co.uk

Thank you. One of us will reply within one working day.