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20% mark up for supplying a service...doesn't sound excessive, and if they are auditing your work sounds like they have a degree of responsibility.
As for NHS, MRI scan £450, ireland E100, France E70, but they are like a religion and you are blaspheming by suggesting they might not be approaching this in the right way.
Unfortunately, being the middleman, it is out of your control. As far as I know, the NHS has (by law?) to accept the lowest quote. What was the quality of the work last year, I wonder? If you have a good contact at the NHS, then go it alone - at the risk of alienating yourself from the guy than gives you work now.
Regarding rates, I am sure there are plenty that would get well under £30.00 per hour and do a very good job. Maybe a bit of pencil sharpeing will be required.
You have based your price @ £25 per man per hour 2760 hrs x £25 = £69k
So winner as based his price £15.21 per man per hour.
This is close to the bone with machinery costs and maintenance, Wages and national insurance/holiday pay.
What does the work involve?
Mowing
Feeding lawns
Tree surgery
Replacing lost plants/shrubs
Turning beds
Feeding beds
Basically what do you have to do for the price
My wife is a nurse at Royal Preston and the place is on red alert due to mass nurse shortage often working double shifts 7am till 10pm, this cannot be right, however I am sure they will employ a team of managers on £100k each to review the issue
It’s always painful when you lose out, particularly when you know you are doing an excellent job at a reasonable rate.
However, times are changing due to the economic climate and quite a few contractors and property companies know how to work the system on the tender process and for the client to get a better price.
Whilst we all work to a high standard and our morals and principles dictate this, at times you have to lower the standard of the work to ensure that you are price competitive or put it another way, find out what the key areas that must be maintained to a high spec or highly visible areas are and reduce the time spent on less important areas.
Hence people can go in at a lower rate but the hourly rate is probably about the same as yours, it’s just less time working per visit. Property owners / managers know this and are happy to pay uplifts for improvements.
In your example the NHS have saved nearly £40K per year due to no middle man and cheaper quotation.
That’s one big carrot of a saving and they know the standard wouldn’t be like for like.
As you said, you get what you pay for.
Let's hope that they call upon you to service the shortfall and probably under the small budget procedures that they have in place, they wouldn't need to go out to competitive tendering.
Was the spec task or performance based?
Good old NHS.
They often now have set budgets for all non medical related work, - eg estates and they are pairing these down to the bone for obvious reasons.... And auditors would have a field day if a more expensive quote was taken, even if the spec was higher...
An aside - I cant identify as family works for NHS - but i know of one local contract for 12 grass cuts over the season, in which all 12 were done between March and July last year... contractor DID get paid... wonder how often sloppy cheap contracts are based around the poor ability of public sector managers to make the best choice, and contractors knowledge of the bizzare systems used to assign contracts....
I think, bigger picture and all that, seeing the NHS minimise spending on non-medical services is a good thing, though I an sorry for you and not getting the work after getting your hopes up about it.
It may be a learning experience that taking the time to price for jobs for cash-poor organisations might well always end in tears whether you win the work or not.
Hi all,
Thanks for your comments, The spec was task based.
Ive never had such a hot meeting. The NHS chaps was loving how enthuastic i was in getting some of the sites up to there former glory, the way my men work, I day men as i have no ladies at present. I didnt feel i was ripping it out. Just asking for a good rate to do a dam good job.
I've looked at £20's per hr, all in, thats brings it about £54-£56K, still scrapping to get it to £42K, thats a joke. Maybe there just doing the bear essentials and not giving a s..t about the things that the client shold care about, the attention to details.
I suppose its like the buidling industry where chippy's and plummbers are looking at £160 - £200 for a days work and the Eastern Europeons are banging in a day at £80, you just can't compete.
I have the details of the clinet now, and i think he wants to deal with me direct, which is good. Maybe i'll have to leave it to next years tender, and hope in the meantime i'll get the chance to get a few remedial areas or one off bits in the interim period.
Ermm still licking my wounds !
Andrew
To give you an idea of what your dealing with - In leeds I see lots of GP surgeries sudently burying their lawns and flower beds in 4-6 inches of Chip and arb waste... no membrane just enough depth to kill it all.
Flower beds at hospitals are now verges etc... And perhaps the contractor you competed against simple turned round and said they would simplify the site to get to that price... same rate as you, but less work to do... NHS boses can say "we love AMP's work, but can get a basic service for half the price"
The basic service may well be the same quality - its all swings and roundabouts.
Try and find out if the new company challenged the spec and took it down to quote lower?
£42K is still a lot of money Andrew, out of interest, would one man working 5 days a week, 8 hours a day be able to service the contract?
Andrew Michael Palmer said:
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