Information Technology

We supported an innovative Distributed Ledger Technology start-up to conduct a two-stage review of their draft proposal to the European Commission. This contract was to collaborate with the Commission’s technology experts drawn from across the EU and create a new blockchain technology for the delivery of public-facing services in a secure environment.

We then conducted a full review of the drafts, giving detailed feedback on elements such as the logical flow of content and language; the strength of evidence provided; and their win themes.

This client had no prior experience of bidding, and so found considerable value in advice and guidance on interpreting the Commission’s documentation and the form responses should take. Our experience meant we could advise on ambiguous questions and repetition.

The project demonstrated the team’s ability to learn complex, and cutting edge, subject matter at speed, in order to accurately convey our client’s solution.

This was a successful project for the client, resulting in a contract win with the highest quality score in the competition, massively exceeding that of the next highest bidder.

“Christian was able to get through a large volume of technical information very quickly…. He delivered on time, in full, and there was excellent visibility and communication throughout.  This made it feel like we were all part of one team.”

– Business Development Manager

Our client was struggling to prepare a bid into the Scottish Government for the design, development, and implementation of an IT system to manage the 2021 Census. We were asked to provide support and work with the client’s staff to prepare the draft responses.

The integrity of data security was a critical element for which we needed to clearly articulate the security features that would be put in place and the level of testing that was undertaken to assure the public that the system was secure. This was a highly technical bid that required a detailed understanding of the terminology used both by the client and the Buyer, and then how to present that information in a succinct and clear manner.

This was a successful tender for our client who was awarded the contract.

We supported our client in a bid to Heathrow Airport to create an integrated IT system that drew data from all aspects of baggage operations including systems operated by the airport, airlines, and ground handling agents. Our existing client, a market-leading global logistics provider, was the lead of a joint venture with a small IT integration company and an international engineering firm. This required expertise on our part in working across different businesses to collate the information while being mindful of protecting the integrity of their Intellectual Property Rights.

The project aimed to create a super-system that could be used to analyse performance data across baggage handling operations including airline check-in processes, conveyancing systems, and ground handling agents. This was a highly technical bid that demanded a detailed understanding of IT systems, and their development, because of the need to integrate the client’s proposed solution with other systems operated by stakeholders. The project also required a good understanding of security controls given the sensitive information that would be captured and used by the parties.

This tender was successful for the client and their JV partners, winning this prestigious contract with Heathrow Airport.

We supported a globally operating American Electronic Monitoring cooperation in partnership with New Zealand telecommunications and security companies with a $180m (NZD) bid.

The consortium sought our support to prepare a tender to the New Zealand Department of Corrections for the provision of electronic monitoring equipment and software for its programme of community offender management.

For us, this project had the added dimension of working across the consortium of three organisations in the USA, UK, and New Zealand and across four different time zones. Our team worked collaboratively with the clients, across the different time zones, understanding their solution for the service to create a coherent account for the bid responses. With the New Zealand Department of Corrections as the Buyer, it was crucial to write using the correct terminology which differed slightly from terms used in UK-based bids. To monitor this, we created a glossary of New Zealand terminology and slang and also commissioned a New Zealand native to check all responses.

Our client was very happy with the bid we produced, submitting a tender that they recognised was the highest quality they had ever prepared. We achieved the highest quality score of all the bidders.

Our client is a global software engineering and technology consultancy. Based in Ukraine, they had limited experience bidding into the UK public sector and wanted a bidding partner that would help them as they grew a UK business unit. Our writers supported several critical public sector bids into Crown Commercial Services, Low Carbon Contracts Company, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Ministry of Defence.

We continue to support this client as they develop in the UK, and with our support, they have doubled their win rate.

Kittle was engaged by a leading global technology company specialising in IT, transport, defence, and digital transformation consultancy, which wanted to break into the UK market. They wanted our support bidding into National Highways to design, develop, supply, install, and maintain traffic enforcement equipment on UK motorways. This included cameras, radar sensors, mock equipment, and their associated infrastructure. The solution also included a hardware/software back office aspect to allow Police personnel to retrieve evidence collected by the equipment, control the equipment, and view evidence to verify offences. There was also a requirement to provide the back office solution as a cloud-based IaaS option.

We provided a team of one Senior Bid Writer and two Bid Writers who worked closely with the client’s subject matter experts to gather their expert input. As English was not our client’s first language, our writers had to be extremely collaborative and communicative to ensure they accurately captured and articulated the client’s solution.

Our team drafted bid responses on a variety of technical topics including their proposed solution where one of our writers drafted a functional design specification for the solution, its software and hardware architecture, and its associated Microsoft Azure-based IaaS solution.

Throughout all the responses, our writers drew out the unique benefits and added value of our client’s solution and provided evidence of where they had successfully delivered similar services in the past.

Our client was successful and secured a place on the framework, scoring in the top two suppliers.

Kittle supported an international technology company with its bid into TfL, to provide complex end-to-end software allowing TfL’s operators to manage CCTV camera footage from over 6,000 devices in London, including those of third parties like London Boroughs. This contract is valued at £30m, and was a highly complex subject matter, with responses covering IT platforms, system performance, and future AI-monitoring integrations, amongst others.

A dedicated Kittle writer led this bid and was supported by a flexible team, scaling up and down throughout the project to meet peaks in demand. We worked closely with the client’s technical experts over a period of four months, drawing out technical solutions into simple language to best demonstrate the benefits of their unique IT system and approach.

This bid is currently under evaluation. Our organised and adaptable approach enabled us to complete every response on time despite unforeseen challenges, such as TfL experiencing a cyberattack that prevented them from answering CQs.

We have been supporting a leading UK-based cybersecurity firm on a variety of their B2B proposals such as delivering a complete XDR service for the client as a Managed Security Service Provider. This includes operating a SIEM, a SOAR, and managing all endpoints, EDR software, firewalls, and servers.

This is a highly technical subject matter, and through our work with the client, our team have developed a good foundation and awareness of their services and typical bid requirements. We have a flexible approach and have provided support in a variety of forms to best meet the needs of the client for each tender. This includes providing quick turnaround reviews of drafts produced by their internal team and drafting highly weighted responses, social value and carbon reduction questions. We have also produced high-level guidance documents detailing suggested word counts, structure, and headings of each question.

Towards the end of 2023, we worked with a Spanish information, technology, and defence systems company bidding to run an HS2 Train Dispatch system The system would span across HS2’s Phase 1 Stations (including London Euston, Old Oak Common, Interchange Stations, and Birmingham Curzon Street) and Phase 2b.

Our client approached us to support this bid at an early stage due to their lack of experience bidding in the UK market. We assigned a Senior Writer to work closely with their team, providing guidance and feedback on how to meet the authority’s requirements and effectively answer the questions, as well as drafting several highly weighted technical responses.

The client’s team were stretched across multiple projects, meaning they had limited availability. To make the best use of the client’s time, our writer meticulously researched and used their prior knowledge of the railway industry to create initial responses, and then develop these further using the client’s experience.

Our approach and support helped the client successfully pass the first stage and we have continued to work with this client on several other high-priority bids. 

Kittle Group supported a FTSE 250 client with both rounds of their submission into the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the operation of the 2022 Electronic Monitoring Field Service. The project represented an excellent opportunity for our client to become a strategic supplier for the MoJ, which would have significant long-term benefits. The contract is valued at approximately £300m.

This bid was a huge challenge for our client; though they had assembled a team of Electronic Monitoring experts to provide them with the necessary expertise, they had no existing material on electronic monitoring at the Selection Questionnaire (SQ) stage. Our team of Kittle writers worked at pace with each of the subject matter experts to produce a considerable amount of material in a short time. After successfully leading our client through the SQ, they requested our support for the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage. A team of three Kittle writers coordinated interview calls with the client and key members of their supply chain – including working across time zones with subject experts in the USA – to understand and articulate their solution. Two weeks before the final submission, our company director stepped in to act as the client’s Implementation Workstream Lead. He provided consultancy, leadership, and writing support for the implementation response, drafting over 30 pages of narrative.

The client’s Bid Director was delighted with the Kittle team and said that our communication was “the best of any bid team he has ever worked with”. The client’s initial bid was successful and was down-selected to BAFO stage. The client received the highest score on quality at the second stage, but they were unsuccessful on commercial grounds.