Become an Anchor Hanover supplier

This page outlines Anchor Hanover’s procurement requirements and the way in which you can be considered to become an approved supplier to Anchor Hanover.

Anchor Hanover’s procurement strategy

The need to demonstrate value for money is central to Anchor Hanover’s procurement strategy.

To achieve this we need the full support of our suppliers. We rely on our supplier network for excellence in the delivery of property works, goods and services throughout our organisation and to our customers. We constantly seek to improve and expect our suppliers to play a major part in this process, sharing our goal of excellent customer service.

Supplier selection is based on overall value for money and in accordance with all applicable legislative requirements.  We achieve this by encouraging competition, providing an equal opportunity to secure our business and by behaving in a professional and ethical way. Whilst price is important, we will always consider quality, reliability, safety, security, design, timely delivery, maintenance and after sales support for example before arriving at a decision which is the most economically advantageous to Anchor Hanover.

Potential suppliers must demonstrate their financial, commercial and technical capability to fully meet our contractual requirements.  We also look for a clear demonstration of commitment to equal opportunities in employment; training of staff; environmental issues; data security and safe systems of working.

As part of our continued commitment to efficiency, sustainability and openness, all our tenders are carried out electronically using the Anchor Hanover e-tendering portal. 

Registering is quick and simple and will allow you to receive an automated email alert when a relevant tender is published.

Where the estimated value of aggregated contractual spend is expected to exceed the relevant European Union (EU) financial threshold, we advertise the opportunity in the Official Journal of The European Union (OJEU).
 

Works, goods and services we procure

Examples of the categories of works, goods and services that Anchor Hanover procures include, but are not limited to:

• Housing & care products
• Logistics
• Property & construction
• Technology
• Consultants
• Other goods & services

If the work, goods or services that you supply do not appear in the list above you are still welcome to register your company details on our e-tendering portal and you will be informed when Anchor Hanover go out to tender for the work, goods or services you offer.

Where agreements or contracts are not in place, or existing ones are subject to review, their renewal will be subject to a formal competitive tender.
 

How to become an Anchor Hanover supplier

If you would like Anchor Hanover to consider your company as a supplier when tendering for new work, goods or services, please register your details on our Bravo e-tendering portal via the following link: https://anchor.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html.   

Registering on Bravo will require you to complete the following basic steps:

• Accept user terms – these are Anchor Hanover’s tendering terms and conditions.
• Complete registration form – you will be guided through this by the system.  The information required is your contact details, information about you/your company and Company registration / VAT details (if applicable).
• There are 3 parts to the registration; all 3 pages (including the category tree) must be completed in order to receive automated notifications for when Anchor Hanover goes to tender for the work, goods, or services that you offer.
• Set up a username and password.
• You will receive an email confirming your password.
• When accessing the system for the first time you will have to change your password to something more memorable.
• You will be setup and able to complete relevant tenders.
   

What is Bravo?

Bravo is a web based procurement tool which essentially is a tender undertaken electronically rather than the traditional paper based method. The Bravo e-tendering portal contains details of all EU and non EU contract opportunities. Anchor Hanover use this product to store details of suppliers who would like to be included in future contract opportunities. Once you have registered your details, including the type of work, goods or services you supply, you will be informed when we begin tendering for that service. Therefore, it is important that all your details are kept up to date in Bravo.
 

The tendering process

In order to achieve value for money we use a range of methods to procure products and services. The choice of method depends on the type of product or service and its overall value.
 

Competitive tendering

Competitive tendering is our overall preferred course of action for supplier selection and is generally utilised in Anchor Hanover when the value of the works, goods and services to be purchased exceeds £25,000. The following documents are usually used and published on Bravo: 

• Instructions to tenderer detailing administrative procedures relating to the tender e.g. dates and times, method of tender return, evaluation criteria.
• All tender queries and responses are logged on the Bravo message board and are attached to the relevant Tender or PQQ.
• Invitation to tender (ITT) which includes: 
• Specification of requirement 
• Service level agreement 
• Pricing schedule 
• Properties List

For details on how to respond to PQQ’s and ITT’s please download the Bravo Response guide.
 

EU tendering

Where the overall value is likely to exceed set financial thresholds then Anchor Hanover is required to follow procedures laid down in the EU Public Procurement Regulations.

Within these regulations there are a number of tendering approaches that can be used and are outlined below.

• Open procedure - the open procedure is a one-stage bidding process, where all interested suppliers responding to a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) will be invited to submit a tender. The notice states where interested parties obtain tender documents and the last date when tenders will be accepted. 
• Restricted procedure - this is a two-stage bidding process in which potential suppliers responding to a notice in the OJEU are subject to a pre-qualification stage. A shortlist is then drawn up and the short listed suppliers are invited to submit tenders. The restricted procedure is most likely to be applied where large numbers of applicants are anticipated. 
• Competitive dialogue procedure - a procedure to be used for complex contracts where the open or restricted procedure would be inappropriate. Potential suppliers responding to a notice in the OJEU are subject to a pre-qualification stage. A shortlist is then drawn up and the short listed suppliers are invited to participate in a competitive dialogue. The competitive dialogue procedure allows Anchor Hanover to discuss potential solutions with the suppliers; there may be further short listing during this procedure where planned. When the dialogues are completed the suppliers are invited to submit final tenders. Following submission of the final tenders no further negotiation with the contractors can take place.
• Negotiated procedure - this is when Anchor Hanover, under certain limited circumstances, negotiates directly with one or, very rarely, more than one supplier. This is a very rare procedure and occurs either when another procurement procedure has failed or when one of the other exceptional reasons permitted by the Procurement Regulations applies.

 

Pre-qualification Questionnaire

Potential suppliers must demonstrate their financial standing and technical ability to meet Anchor Hanover’s requirements. Anchor Hanover will also take account of potential suppliers' past performance and experience with reference to contracts of a similar nature, both with Anchor Hanover and other organisations. Anchor Hanover may also look for a clear demonstration of commitment to equal opportunities in employment, to the environment and to health and safety (where relevant to the subject of the particular contract). If successful at this stage, then you will be offered an invitation to tender.
 

Evaluation of tenders

In order to preserve the integrity of the competitive process, it is imperative that the evaluation of proposals is undertaken objectively, consistently and without bias towards particular suppliers. Tenders will be evaluated against a pre-determined set of criteria. It is very unlikely that contracts are awarded on the basis of price alone. Anchor Hanover usually awards a contract to the supplier(s) it considers offers the best value for money. For this reason, the main evaluation criterion will usually be the "most economically advantageous tender" as determined by the award criteria and sub-criteria set out in the tender documents. The award criteria vary depending on the type of contract. Examples of award criteria, in addition to price, are technical merit, flexibility to future changes to requirements, speed of project delivery, sustainability and quality.

Presentations and Q&A sessions may also form part of the evaluation process. Anchor Hanover may also ask for references from previous customers, bankers and business information companies and, in some cases, arrange inspection visits to the company and/or its work sites.
 

Award of contract

An evaluation team will examine each tender received and make recommendations as to which tender is the most economically advantageous. Once the decision to award the contract has been made, both the successful and unsuccessful tenderers will be notified. Unsuccessful tenderers will receive a detailed debrief, via the Bravo message board, explaining the reasons for Anchor Hanover's decision and the relative characteristics of their bid compared to the winning bid. The debrief will also specify a cooling off period of between 10 and 15 days. Anchor Hanover will not sign the contract until the cooling off period has expired.

A contract award notice will be placed in OJEU (if applicable) within 48 days of the contract being awarded.