WORKING SESSIONS FOR CONTRACTORS AND BID TEAMS
Social value training for construction bid teams
A half-day working session on your next PPN 026 tender.
PPN 026 starts on 1 January 2027. Your bid team has new criteria to answer, and the contract holds you to what they write. We work through a live tender with them. They leave with a commitment drafted and a plan to deliver it.
WHAT YOUR TEAM LEAVES WITH
A commitment drafted on a live tender
The KPI you will be held to
A delivery plan with a named owner
A written action plan and a follow-up call
REMOTE ON TEAMS
ON YOUR OWN TENDER OR JOB
ONE FIXED FEE
NEC ACCREDITED
APMG QUALIFIED
PPN 026 / NATIONAL TOMS
NEC / JCT / FIDIC
WHY IT MATTERS
What PPN 026 changes for your bid team
The commitment is scored in the bid. The contract then holds you to it.
New criteria from January
Six award criteria across two outcomes, Good Jobs and Skills. Most answer libraries were written for the old model.
It must be additional
A commitment has to add to the core contract. We test yours against that rule.
It is published after award
From £5m a social value KPI is published and rated. Poor delivery can count against you in later bids.
Someone has to deliver it
Each commitment needs an owner and a start date. We set both with your team in the session.
For main contractors and specialist subcontractors bidding for public work.
THE SESSIONS
Social value bid training and a project controls session
Each runs for half a day on Teams, on your own documents.
Social value bid and delivery session
IN THE SESSION
We take one live tender and work through it with your bid team. We go through the criteria the buyer has chosen and how each one is scored. Your team drafts a commitment and we test it against the additionality rule. The KPI and the delivery plan are written down before we finish.
AFTER IT
You receive a written action plan within three working days, and one follow-up call is included. Your team can use the same method on the next bid. On this tender we can also write the answer with you. If you win, we can deliver the commitment through a planner job on the contract and keep the evidence.
Project controls working session
IN THE SESSION
We take one live NEC job with your contracts manager, site team and QS. We go through the early warnings that should have gone in. We check each compensation event against the eight weeks for notifying it. Then we build one real quotation with the team, with the programme and the price together.
AFTER IT
Your team leaves with notices and a quotation it can issue. You receive a written action plan, and a follow-up call three to four weeks later covers the Project Manager’s replies. After that we can run the programme for you each month.
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
A University of Birmingham policy report, launched in Parliament on 3 November 2026, features the model as an example of best practice.
ON LIVE PROJECTS
Two engineers we prepared have already planned live UK projects through our firm.
HOW IT RUNS
From first call to the session
A call about your tender or job
Tell us what is coming up and who should be in the room.
WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY
Scope, fee and date
Agreed in writing. One fixed fee for the session.
WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE CALL
We read your documents
The tender questions and criteria, or the contract data and latest programme.
BEFORE THE SESSION
Half a day on Teams
Up to ten people from one company. The work is done on your own documents.
REMOTE AS STANDARD
We can run the session in your office if you prefer. Travel is charged at cost.
FOR BID WRITERS
If you are a bid writer
Offer the social value session to your own clients. We run it with you.
Your client stays yours
We don't write bids and we don't sell bid writing. You bring us in for the session.
Under your name
The session can run under your name with us as your specialist.
An answer that holds
When your client wins we can deliver what the answer promised.
One bidder per tender
On any one tender we work with one bidder. What we see stays with the people on that bid.
A tender programme and narrative we built for a design and construction package went in with the winning bid.
PPN 026
The PPN 026 criteria your bid team will answer
PPN 026 applies from 1 January 2027 to central government departments, executive agencies and NDPBs on procurements of £1m or more including VAT. Other public bodies may adopt it. Good Jobs has three award criteria: creating high-quality jobs or apprenticeships (1a), fair working conditions (1b) and fair pay (1c). Skills has three: training and retraining (2a), in-work progression (2b) and the talent pipeline (2c).
PROCUREMENTS FROM £1M
10%
minimum social value weighting
PROCUREMENTS FROM £5M
20%
minimum social value weighting
PPN 026 STARTS
1 Jan 2027
for new procurements
The session works to PPN 026, the National TOMs or the buyer’s own model.
QUESTIONS
Questions bid teams and directors ask
Do you run social value training for construction bid teams?
Yes. It is social value training for your bid team, run as a working session on one of your own tenders. Your team leaves with a commitment drafted and a method for the next bid.
How is it different from your bid support?
With bid support we write the social value answer with you on one tender. The session trains your team to write it on every tender, and its fee is fixed whatever the result. You can start with either.
Will a planning job on the contract count as social value?
It depends on the contract and the buyer's criteria. The commitment must be additional to the core contract and aimed at a target group. We test that in the session before anything goes into a bid.
What does a session cost?
A half-day session is £1,250 + VAT as a fixed fee, for one company and up to ten people. The fee covers our reading of your documents, the session, a written action plan and one follow-up call. Writing the answer for a tender and delivery after award are scoped separately.
Who should be in the room?
For the social value session the bid director, the bid writers and whoever will deliver the commitment. For the project controls session the contracts manager, the site team and the QS.
Is it run remotely?
Yes. Sessions run on Teams as standard. We can come to your office if you prefer.
PRACTICAL ADVICE