We started Tendl because the best supplier doesn’t always win

I started out as an acoustic engineer, at one of the world’s leading engineering firms. It was good work with good people, and the firm had a reputation it had earned over a long time.

I’d only been there a few weeks when I watched people pack up their desks.

The firm was doing great work. Its best people were so busy delivering for clients that the tenders for the next jobs had to wait. When the tenders wait, the next round of work goes to someone else, and before long there isn’t enough of it to keep everyone on.

Then I saw it happen again at a smaller firm. Same story.

I’ve thought about that a lot since. Being great at the work and being great at the tender are two different jobs. Most firms set out to do the first one. The second comes with winning work, and it lands on the same people who are already busy delivering.

When things get busy, the client work comes first. It should. But the people evaluating a tender can only judge what is submitted and what is in the response. The project you delivered last year, and the engineer who knows the site better than anyone, only count if you take the time to put together a great submission.

So great firms lose to firms that had more time to spend on the tender. Good people lose their jobs, often people who did nothing wrong. And the buyer, who wanted the best supplier, ends up with someone else.

That last part matters to me. Tendering exists so buyers can find the best supplier for the job. When the result depends on who had the spare hours that month, buyers miss out on the firm they were looking for.

Tendl exists so great suppliers can tender well, even in their busiest week. We keep your evidence, your past work and what your people know in one place, ready for the next tender. Your best people spend less time on the tender and more on the work that made you the best, and your response still shows it.

That’s why we started Tendl. We believe the best supplier deserves to win, and we have built the company to make that happen.