If the public sector organisation decides this is something that needs to go through the purchasing/tendering route rather than being something that can be bought in, it will define exactly what it is that they want to procure through the process. The organisation will decide where it needs to advertise the contract and the process will begin.

You've indicated your interest in winning the contract - now, the public sector body may come back to you with a few questions, just so they can feel confident you can supply in full. They'll probably ask for your books, your management account (i.e. how the business is doing right now), some references and evidence of previous experience in fulfilling contracts like the one on offer. On smaller contracts, a template drawn up by the OGC (Office of Government Commerce) is often used meaning that many of the PQQs you get will be either completely or substantially similar. If you are in any doubt what they are after, ask them. They want to have a diversity of suppliers as much as you want to win the contract.

"ITT" - the invitation-to-tender. If they're happy with what you've sent them about yourself, they now want you to bid for the deal. The race is now most definitely on and you've got a real chance! The ITT will include further instructions on how to bid and the timetable during which they wish to tender process to be completed. The real meat of the ITT is exact instructions on what they want to buy and the terms & conditions under which they want to have it supplied More likely than not, there'll also be a list of criteria explaining how your bid will be assessed. If anything's missing, let the organisation know.

Read the ITT carefully - remember to try to meet all the requirements of the public sector organisation with the information you supply them with. How the contract is awarded will be described in one of the accompanying documents, together with the relative importance of each of those criteria. Concentrate on the most important, of course, but make sure you provide information on everything they're wanting to know.

The awarding body will often ask for clarification on areas in the tenders submitted by some or all parties. This is just to make sure that there's no misunderstanding on either your side or their side. After clarification has been sought, the public sector body then will announce who it intends to award the contract to. This will be the supplier whose bid meets all the requirements including those under the "Best Value Initiative" scheme. All potential suppliers can now ask for feedback on the award decision and, finally, it's awarded to the supplier whose bid offers the best value for moeny.