A bid review is an expert check of your finished tender before you submit it. We read your bid the way the buyer’s evaluators will, score each answer against their published evaluation criteria and tell you exactly what to change to win more marks.
Reviews are carried out by our experienced team, led by Nathaniel Houghton, founder of The Bid Consultants Ltd. Nathaniel has 11 years in bids and has personally written 500+ bids. Our team won 85% of the public sector bids it submitted in the 12 months to November 2026, and has won contracts worth up to £20 million. Bid reviews start from £995.
Who a bid review is for
This service is for organisations that have written their own bid and want an independent view before they submit. You know your business and you’ve done the work. What’s hard is reading your own answers as a stranger would, after weeks of writing them.
A typical review covers an average-sized bid, such as a single lot public sector tender.
What we check in your bid
| What we check | What the evaluator is looking for |
|---|---|
| Compliance | Every instruction followed: word and page limits, formatting, mandatory documents and pass or fail questions |
| The question asked | Every part of the question answered, in the order the buyer asked it |
| Evaluation criteria and weightings | Answers aimed at what earns the top score, with most effort on the highest weighted questions |
| Genuine value | Win themes and clear benefits for this buyer, not general claims about your organisation |
| Evidence | Case studies, figures and named processes that prove what you say |
| Specification | Answers that match the specification and your pricing |
| Clarity and structure | Headings that mirror the question, short paragraphs and answers that are easy to mark |
| Consistency | The same staff, numbers and commitments in every answer |
| Spelling and grammar | A clean, professional submission |
The most common problem we find is answers that aren’t tailored to the buyer’s evaluation criteria and don’t show the genuine value the buyer is scoring. That is usually where the marks are lost, and where a review makes the biggest difference to your score.
Want to check your own bid first? Use our free pre-submission bid checklist.
How a bid review works
1. Send us the tender pack and your draft
Share the tender documents, specification, evaluation criteria and your draft answers.
2. We read the buyer’s documents first
We work out what a top score looks like for each question before we read your answers.
3. We score and mark up every answer
You get tracked changes and comments in your document, and a score for each answer on the buyer’s own scoring scale.
4. We talk you through the feedback
On a call, we go through the changes that will move your score most, so you know where to spend the time you have left.
5. You finalise and submit
You stay in control of the submission. Your organisation remains the supplier and is responsible for its delivery commitments.
If the review shows that a bid has little chance of winning, we will tell you. We only bid when you have a real chance of winning, and we bring the same honesty to a review.
What you get back
- Your bid with tracked changes and comments on every answer
- A score for each answer on the buyer’s scale, with the reasons for it
- A call to talk through the feedback and agree your priorities
When to book
We generally need 48 hours to review an average-sized bid. Send it earlier if you can, so you have time to make the changes and upload your submission to the buyer’s portal.
We also review bids after the outcome. Under the Procurement Act 2023, in force since 24 February 2025, every supplier that submits an assessed tender receives an assessment summary with its score for each award criterion and the reasons for it. Unsuccessful suppliers also receive information on how the winning tender scored. We review the summary alongside your bid, so your next submission scores higher.
Pricing
Bid reviews start from £995 for one bid of average size, such as a single lot public sector tender. Larger or multi-lot bids are quoted on their size and deadline. A review of a bid after the outcome costs £595 to £1,995, depending on the bid.
If the review shows answers that need rewriting and you’d like us to do it, that is our bid writing service, from £2,000.
Why use The Bid Consultants for your bid review
- A proven track record: an 85% win rate on public sector bids in the 12 months to November 2026, 500+ bids written by Nathaniel and contracts worth up to £20 million.
- Sector knowledge: our specialists each focus on their own sectors, so your reviewer knows what buyers in your sector expect to see.
- Framework experience: we have supported bids for frameworks managed by the Government Commercial Agency (GCA), formerly Crown Commercial Service (CCS), Fusion21, NHS Shared Business Services, NHS London Procurement Partnership, ESPO, YPO and Pagabo.
- Public and private sector: we review bids for the public and private sectors, in the UK and internationally.
- An honest view: we tell you what will cost you marks, not what you want to hear.
“We brought in Nat late in the process. We had drafted our response, but the deadline caught us up and we needed the confidence that we had 1. been fully compliant with the tender process and 2. put our best foot forward. Nat identified gaps, developed win themes and all round improved our answer. He was quick, and well worth the small price for peace of mind and winning a contract that resulted in significant revenue.”
Director, Manchester-based construction company
Frequently asked questions
How much does a bid review cost?
Bid reviews start from £995 for an average-sized bid, such as a single lot public sector tender. Larger and multi-lot bids are quoted on their size and deadline. The price includes tracked changes and comments, a score for each answer on the buyer’s scale and a feedback call.
How much notice do you need for a bid review?
We generally need 48 hours to review an average-sized bid. The earlier you send it, the more time you have to act on the feedback.
Will you rewrite our answers?
A review gives you tracked changes, comments and suggested wording, but you make the changes. If you’d like us to rewrite answers, that is bid writing, which starts from £2,000.
Is this the same as proofreading?
No. We do check spelling and grammar, but most marks are won or lost on content. A bid review checks compliance, scores each answer against the evaluation criteria and shows you how to give the buyer more evidence of genuine value.
Can you guarantee our bid will win?
No one can honestly guarantee a win. The buyer decides, and the price and other bidders are outside your control. What we can do is show you where your bid is losing marks and how to fix it, so your submission is as strong as it can be.
Can you review a bid we have already lost?
Yes. For tenders run under the Procurement Act 2023, you receive an assessment summary showing your score and the reasons for each award criterion. We review it with your submission and show you what to change next time, so your next bid scores higher. A review after the outcome costs £595 to £1,995, depending on the bid.
Book a bid review
Tell us about your bid and your deadline, and we’ll arrange your review.