Thanks to funding support from Business Durham’s Digital Drive County Durham programme, Durham-based Hudson Procurement Group have launched the first ever online virtual learning platform for tendering and bid writing, Tender VLE.
Working with businesses ranging from freelancers and SMEs to multi-billion-pound organisations, Hudson Procurement Group help their customers to discover new opportunities for work, understand which opportunities are most suitable and create content to push for a win every time they tender.
The business aims to make the tendering and procurement process easier and more accessible to all suppliers, by helping their clients cut through red tape, corporate jargon and ambiguous buyer guidelines and breaking down the process into easily understandable manageable chunks.
Having worked on their Hudson Discover platforms for a number of years, the company found that their biggest growth barrier was that their customers simply didn’t understand the complicated tender process, which deterred them from bidding for work in this way.
The business utilised the funding aspect of the Digital Drive County Durham programme to invest in equipment to create the first online virtual learning platform for tendering and bid writing, Tender VLE. This learning environment uses videos to showcase the company’s knowledge and expertise, breaking down the tendering process into manageable and accessible online teaching modules.
John Hudson, CEO of Hudson Procurement Group, said: ‘Tender VLE has received thousands of unique hits every month since its launch and has added considerable value to our 500+ portal customers. The introduction of Tender VLE has led to a sizeable increase in business for us, allowing customers to see a sample of our in-house expertise, thereby increasing their confidence in us as an organisation’.
‘Indeed, we have found that this has made suppliers more likely to trust us to win work on their behalf, thereby increasing our business exponentially and allowing us to recruit and train new graduates, adding yet more young procurement experts to the local talent pool’.
So, what’s next for Hudson? ‘We’re currently exploring the American market and looking at how AI will have an impact on procurement in the future,’ adds John.
Sarah Slaven, Operations Director at Business Durham, said: ‘It’s great to see a company like Hudson using Digital Drive funding to achieve their own growth ambitions while supporting other organisations in winning more contracts and growing their respective businesses. We encourage other businesses across County Durham to take their lead and apply for funding under the programme to support with digital projects of their own.’
John insists ‘I think anyone starting out in business should definitely join the programme. The Digital Drive team have put together a 360-degree solution for businesses and are a very friendly and helpful group. I have already passed their details to many businesses in the County Durham area’.
Digital Drive County Durham is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Business Durham, which works on behalf of Durham County Council, and private investment, and forms part of the wider Digital Durham initiative to transform broadband speeds for residents and businesses across the North East.
For more information about the support that the Digital Drive County Durham programme can provide and to register your own business, visit www.digitaldrivedurham.co.uk.