Getting commercial contracts.

[richy_B]

Have you contacted them and go no reply? 

[arbwork]

http://www.elcoat.co.uk/index.html  http://www.elcoat.co.uk/index.html      if you serious to go big then a consultation with Elcoat Ltd may be of great value, it will need investment of your time and a committed approach, browse the testimonials.

[roseyweb]

Companies like balfours are not much fun to work for' I've done it, 

just renember not long ago you would have put Carrillion on that list 

 

we do a lot of commercial, I prefer smaller companies to work for, I find we keep with these companies as the kit we have does there work efficiently and they like that. We can do small clearances and bigish trees pretty easy and cover a large area. 

 

Having staff who can do the job helps and leaves me to chat up clients and deal with h&s and work plan stuff which commercial types like. 

[Mark Wileman]

59 minutes ago, richy_B said:

Have you contacted them and go no reply? 

The companies are too big to just phone up for a chat. You need to know what contracts are in the pipe line, my experience of Balfour for example, the tree work schedule was finalized and a price agreed a year before work started.

[richy_B]

1 hour ago, Mark Wileman said:

The companies are too big to just phone up for a chat. You need to know what contracts are in the pipe line, my experience of Balfour for example, the tree work schedule was finalized and a price agreed a year before work started.

I disagree. Outside MOD you can directly contact anyone if you are willing to put a bit of honework in. Ask around on a job site, get a name. Google/linkin them. Tell you what you have put here, interested in commercial work, would they consider using you. Rinse and repeat. You may get somewhere eventually.

 

If you want an easy way to get commercial work contracts then you are going to be disappointed. 

 

I'd stick to domestic. Once you run a few teams then look at term contracts.

Edited October 14, 2018 by richy_B

[richy_B]

2 hours ago, roseyweb said:

Companies like balfours are not much fun to work for' I've done it, 

just renember not long ago you would have put Carrillion on that list 

 

we do a lot of commercial, I prefer smaller companies to work for, I find we keep with these companies as the kit we have does there work efficiently and they like that. We can do small clearances and bigish trees pretty easy and cover a large area. 

 

Having staff who can do the job helps and leaves me to chat up clients and deal with h&s and work plan stuff which commercial types like. 

An interesting number was that in the wake of Carillions collapse 2700 small business who subcontracted to them folded within 6 months. Read into that what you will. 

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

'ARB Approval' may be worth looking at if you wish to better position your business to access commercial work as it meets the H&S compliance requirements under the 'SSIP' banner. Hence commercial clients have a benchmark for your safety, and quality, performance.

 

Many other business who have become ARB Approved have said it helped access commercial work, and not least as it gave them the confidence to so do. 

 

For 'FREE@ workshops to find out more see https://www.trees.org.uk/Training-And-Events

 

Good luck..

Paul

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

15 hours ago, Mark Wileman said:

Hi guys,

 

I do a lot of work for large civil engineering companies with the various companies I sub into and I see a huge amount of work taking place elsewhere.  I much prefer land clearance/take downs to pruning apple trees and hedge cutting so trying to manouvre myself into the right position.

 

For the big dogs out there, how did you first get into commercial contracts?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

Mark, type "ProContract" into your web browser and it 'should' open a page something like the pic below.  You have to register and complete a raft of forms then await your account going live if you qualify.  ProContract provides the e-commerce portal for large commercial and public sector contract opportunities nationwide.  Once registered you refine the regions and industry sectors that you wish to access and bid for.  You set the parameters and you are notified when any suitable tendering opportunities arise within your interest set.  It is targeted at the larger contracts which might be above the level you are currently aiming for but you'll soon see what its all about and if it might be of any use to you.  What is particularly useful is the ability to access and review the type and form of large contract Invitation to Tender documentation and qualifying criteria which will provide the templates to allow you to get all your paperwork and admin in order.  Some of the larger contracts have an eye-watering amount of admin associated with them, but once it's done, it's done and minor tweaks are all that is required going forward. 

 

Similarly, LA's are starting to establish smaller scale e-commerce portals for local contracts.  That could also be a useful starting point.  

[Mark Wileman]

3 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Mark, type "ProContract" into your web browser and it 'should' open a page something like the pic below.  You have to register and complete a raft of forms then await your account going live if you qualify.  ProContract provides the e-commerce portal for large commercial and public sector contract opportunities nationwide.  Once registered you refine the regions and industry sectors that you wish to access and bid for.  You set the parameters and you are notified when any suitable tendering opportunities arise within your interest set.  It is targeted at the larger contracts which might be above the level you are currently aiming for but you'll soon see what its all about and if it might be of any use to you.  What is particularly useful is the ability to access and review the type and form of large contract Invitation to Tender documentation and qualifying criteria which will provide the templates to allow you to get all your paperwork and admin in order.  Some of the larger contracts have an eye-watering amount of admin associated with them, but once it's done, it's done and minor tweaks are all that is required going forward. 

 

Similarly, LA's are starting to establish smaller scale e-commerce portals for local contracts.  That could also be a useful starting point.  

Thanks, that's really useful. I use sell2wales and etender wales, but it's mostly NRW and council contracts which only come up ever 24 months.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, time to have a look at the reality of trying this approach over domestic work.

[steve@black]

A lot of this is down to luck/contacts also , who you went to school with , who you've been drinking with ect , some companies will wine and dine managers an QS's or people handing out the work in many different ways smaller companies just can not . Boxes at football or other sporting events . 

All above board and just the way it is .