Niteworks Replacement

Niteworks is a unique consultancy framework providing decision support for the UK MOD with a value of around £30M. This was Salentis (UK) Ltd’s first UK contract. A UK Proposal Manager worked with our client’s Bid Director using a hybrid client/Salentis process. He was supported by a distributed team, with graphics and desktop publishing expertise in the UK and San Diego and additional writing support from our EMEA team.

The Challenge

The clients were bidding for a major UK MOD consultancy framework and had a good solution in mind but not the capacity or expertise to make their case. 

The Solution

The challenge was that one consultancy framework looks very much like another; it is difficult to differentiate between them, and the risk is that it becomes a price shoot-out. The client was justifiably confident that they could make a superior offer; however, proving their offer was distinct from the competition was a real challenge and they sought to make the case using good design in a clear, compelling way.

• A unique distinctive format, designed to stand out from the standard Word-based bids of their competitors
• Use of an isometric, 3-D concept of operations graphic to show the entirety of the proposed solution on a single page
• An illustrator based on the West Coast of the US worked on graphics during the UK evenings and night, meaning effective progress was being made 18 hours a day
• With the client team distracted by multiple other proposals and ongoing programme delivery, Salentis team members were the only people continuously focused on the proposal from start to finish

The Impact

Despite the bid schedule running over the Christmas holidays, the proposal was submitted with a day to spare. The concept of operations graphic provided the only prop the capture team needed in its oral presentation, and Salentis’ clients were the only bidder down-selected for subsequent negotiations.

Article published: January 2021