Income Generation, Bidding and Tendering

The three modules of the programme are delivered over a period of eight to ten months. The course is taught through a mixture of workshops based on campus and electronic materials.   

Programme Aims

The programme is designed to increase the personal competence of individual participants, and thus the capability and capacity of their employing organisation, in the skills required to successfully win funded projects, tenders, or consultancy contracts.

Delivery Team and Delivery Methods

The programme is delivered by a team from the Funded Project Unit, which is part of the Northampton Business School.

The programme features guest speakers from organisations that tender out contracts. These are a unique combination of contractors, funding bodies and successful suppliers, including: the European Union, UK Government Departments, Regional Development Agencies, Local Authorities, Funding Councils, Lottery Funders, and the private sector.

Designed for busy people, the three modules of the programme are delivered over eight to ten months. The assessment tasks are overtly practical in order to to submit income-generating bids and tenders. The programme is ideally suited to any professional new to the strange and sometimes confusing world of bidding and tendering, as well as their more experienced colleagues who wish to further develop their competence.

The programme is delivered via intensive workshop sessions, high quality hard copy and electronic learning materials, and work-based learning.

• Designed for practitioners in employment
• Practical activities - development and submission of bids
• Delivery via workshops and e-materials
• The programme features guest speakers from a range of organisations

Click here for a detailed list of modules. 

Key Skills for Income Generation

• Networking
• Partnership Management, including working with overseas partners
• Client Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Meeting Skills
• Personal Presentational Skills

 Winning Funded Projects

• Funding Organisations: who they are
• Why Work is put out to Tender
• The Ideal Bid
• Costing a Bid
• Gaining Competitive Advantage
• Project Planning in a Bid
• Risk Identification and Mitigation

 Winning Tenders

• Identifying which Tender to Bid for
• Templates for Tenders and Proposals
• Costing a Tender or Proposal
• Project and Risk Management in Tendering
• Written and Verbal elements of the Proposal
• Identifying and Communicating Competitive Advantage

Northampton Business School established its Funded Project Unit in 2005 to create a professional team dedicated to gaining and delivering funded projects, tenders, and consultancy contracts. Employing both academic and professional project staff, the Funded Project Unit has won contracts and tenders worth over £10 million in the areas of enterprise, employment and education. Many of its contracts are delivered with and through partners, both in the UK and abroad.

Students are assessed through the following means:

• A reflective account of the application of learning in the workplace
• The creation and submission of a bid for funds
• The creation and submission of a proposal for a tender