WILLMOTT DIXON

Willmott Dixon brought us in to understand and improve their performance on CF21, the Department for Education's national construction framework - A route contested by most of the major players in the industry. 

They needed to know why some bids landed and others did not. That answer was not going to be found in opinion or instinct; it needed evidence.

We began with a full data and performance analysis of every historic bid, mapping strengths and weaknesses across framework management, proposal writing and design. That analysis became the basis for targeted improvement plans and component projects within each discipline, rather than one blanket fix applied everywhere. 

We then agreed a clear plan to pilot the new strategies, materials and refreshed tender design across four framework procurements - Testing them in live competition against the industry's largest contractors rather than in theory.

The very first pilot produced Hopwood Hall College, £40m - The first win Willmott Dixon had ever secured through the A2 route - Cost-led, two-stage design and build, and available only on the framework's highest-value band. The contract went on to record a 100% success rate for projects passing the pre-qualification stage. Assessors told us directly that the visual treatment of the submissions made the high-scoring information easy to find and easy to understand. 

At handover we provided a full suite of guidance - 'how to' guides for procurement events, best-practice answers for specialist inputs, and a refreshed design standard for submissions - So the central proposals team and their external contributors can repeat the result without us. The success of the pilots becomes the standard.