Case studies

Community Wealth Building Raises the Roof

Old Plean Roofing originally registered with the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) in 2018 and the business has attended multiple events since, including tender training, and Meet the Buyer events, with the intention to better understand the public sector bidding process. The small business attended Stirling Council’s Community Wealth Building Supplier Event in July 2022 to renew its approach to public sector tendering.

From August 2019, Old Plean Roofing participated in SDP tender training webinar events on topics such as how to examine and understand the Single Procurement Document (SPD), how to get the highest possible score when bidding, and understanding the e-tendering system, Public Contracts Scotland. Free training from SDP equipped the small business with skills and confidence to approach public sector tendering for the first time.

Mark Thornton, Managing Director of Old Plean Roofing, said: “The training we received from SDP has really helped us to understand how to pull together a comprehensive, winning bid.”

The company has continued to engage with SDP’s events and activities over the years to improve its approach to tendering, attending a Quick Quotes Made Easy workshop, Fife Meet the Buyer 2021 and a refresher webinar on using the Public Contracts Scotland website. Old Plean Roofing attributes SDP’s tender training as to why it was more likely to bid for more public sector contracts, and put this into practice by winning multiple tenders.

To date, the small business says it has won three tenders collectively valued at more than £200,000, including a Maintenance Framework with Dalmuir Housing Association running from 2022-2026, a contract for Roof Works from August to October 2022 and another Roof Works from September to November 2022 for the RSPB Loch Leven Visitor Centre. As part of the delivery of these contracts, the business has delivered multiple Community Benefits, including creating new apprenticeships and participation in Stirling job fairs to encourage local people into employment.

The company plans to build upon the foundation it has with the public sector by engaging early with Stirling Council’s Community Wealth Building Strategy. Fiona Thornton, Director of Old Plean Roofing, commented: “Live events like the Stirling Community Wealth Building Supplier Event are key to growing our business, enabling us to provide a service to local people, by local people.”