Welfare to Work

The welfare to work sector is a continually evolving and increasingly competitive marketplace. DWP’s move to a prime contractor model has seen their contract portfolio shrink significantly; mergers and acquisitions among the provider base have led to ever larger primes; and international providers continue to seek a foothold in the UK market. The forthcoming commissioning of the multi-tiered Employability & Health Related Services Umbrella Agreement will  significantly influence both the delivery and tendering landscapes. Subsequently, the need for organisations to think strategically and plan competitively has never been greater.

The Candour Collaborations team started their careers in frontline operations within the employability sector, so have a passion for, and thorough understanding of what works in, helping people into sustainable employment. And they know what commissioners want to see in bids. Between them, they have won tenders with a combined lifetime value of over £300m in the adult and youth sectors including prime contracts for Work and Health Programme, Employment Zones, Work Programme, New Enterprise Allowance, Flexible New Deal, and a range of ESF and ESIF Co-financing initiatives. Opportunities have been secured from a range of funding bodies including DWP, Jobcentre Plus, ESFA, YPLA, local authorities, and the GLA.

We can help you to create or refine your business development strategy for inclusion and growth in this market. This might mean developing your product, or being able to selling it more effectively, for example:

• Identifying and assessing future bidding and delivery opportunities, and developing your ‘win’ strategy.
• Undertaking Market, Competitor and Brand analysis.
• Developing diversification and routes to market strategies.
• Ascertaining how currently delivery models fit with new contracts being commissioned, including service (re)design and subcontracting strategies.
• Conducting stakeholder engagement to enable you to align your model with the existing local and regional provision landscape.
• Looking at unsuccessful bids and identifying where you’ve gone wrong – and how we can put it right.
• Project managing large tenders, which involve multiple facets, people and organisations.