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01Groundworks · Sussex · No Win, No Fee

Groundworks bid writer in Sussex — no win, no fee.

You price the dig. We craft the proposal. Founder-led bid writing for groundworks and civils subcontractors tendering £50k–£5m packages.

Book a 15-minute callRequest the sample pack
£1,500 minimum success fee · 2% above £75k · Founder-led · Also covering Surrey, Kent, Hampshire
02The honest problem

Groundworks bids are decided on temporary works and risk.

Groundworks tenders are the highest-risk evaluation in the early-trades package. Excavation support, contaminated land, ground gas, SuDS compliance, traffic management — every line is a programme risk and a HSE risk that the main contractor is liable for.

The submission with the cheapest price doesn't win. The submission with the cheapest price and the most demonstrably-controlled risk wins.

Most groundworks subs have managed these risks dozens of times. Few of them write the bid pack to the level of temporary-works rigour, environmental compliance and traffic-management discipline that the main contractor's project director wants to read.

03What’s hard about it

The three problems that cost you the appointment.

  1. 01

    Temporary works framing

    Excavation support, shoring, propping — these are now CDM-trigger items. The bid pack should frame the temporary-works design responsibility, the temporary-works coordinator role, and the inspection regime. Vague 'we'll appoint a TWC' lines lose points.

  2. 02

    Contaminated land & ground gas

    Brownfield work and even greenfield work near former-industrial use now requires contaminated-land and ground-gas methodology. The bid pack needs to frame the survey, classification, handling, disposal and verification — not leave it as a clarification.

  3. 03

    Environmental & SuDS compliance

    Drainage, SuDS, watercourse proximity, dewatering, spoil disposal — environmental compliance is increasingly a planning condition. The bid pack should frame the methodology and the monitoring approach.

04Sussex market context

Why bid evaluation in Sussex works the way it does.

Sussex sits between the South-East commercial corridor and the South-Coast economic strip. Bid activity is heavier in the Brighton, Crawley, Gatwick Diamond, Worthing and Eastbourne corridors. The mix is commercial fit-out, hospitality refurb, schools and universities, healthcare estates, and a steady stream of council-framework work.

Most Sussex subcontractors win locally on relationships and lose nationally on submissions. The big main contractors running South-East frameworks (Wates, ISG, Willmott Dixon, BAM, Vinci) want the regional sub's site capability — but evaluate the bid pack against the same standard they apply to their tier-1 supply chain. That's where well-priced Sussex firms get out-bid by national rivals with bigger bid teams.

05How it works

From tender on the desk to submission-ready pack.

  1. 01

    You send us the tender

    Brief, scope, return-by date, your draft price.

  2. 02

    We write the proposal pack

    Method statement, programme narrative, groundworks-specific compliance evidence, and the supporting documents your evaluator wants to read — in the main contractor's QS language, not yours.

  3. 03

    You review and submit

    Your name on it. Your win.

  4. 04

    You pay only if you win

    £1,500 minimum, 2% of contract value above £75k. Don't win, don't pay.

Founding-team UK firm. Sussex-covering. Karl runs it.

06Inside the pack

What you get in a groundworks proposal pack.

  • 01
    Method statement
    Excavation sequence, support / shoring, dewatering, spoil management, backfill protocol.
  • 02
    Temporary works narrative
    TWC role, design responsibility, inspection regime, change-control protocol.
  • 03
    Traffic management plan
    Highways access, road sweeper, banksman, public-realm protection, neighbour communication.
  • 04
    Ground gas & contaminated-land approach
    Pre-start survey, classification, handling, disposal, verification, monitoring.
  • 05
    Environmental & SuDS compliance
    Drainage methodology, watercourse protection, dewatering monitoring, pollution prevention.
  • 06
    Materials testing & concrete cube regime
    Sampling frequency, third-party testing, witness regime, defect protocol.
  • 07
    Programme narrative
    Weather and dig sequencing, archaeology / utilities allowances, follow-on trade coordination.
  • 08
    Experience matrix
    Past groundworks projects mapped to the tender's evaluation criteria.
07Why no win, no fee

A first-tender risk-sharing offer.

We only get paid if the bid wins. £1,500 minimum success fee (binds on contracts up to £75k), 2% on contract value above £75k. Eligible on opportunities over £50k. Founding offer — capped at the first ten Sussex contractors who take it up.

08Sample pack

See what one actually looks like.

We’ve put together a sample bid pack — fictional contract, watermarked, real format. Request it via the link below. No commitment to engage; we just want you to see what one looks like.

Request the sample pack →
09Frequently asked

Groundworks bid writing — practical answers.

01How much does a no-win-no-fee bid writer cost for a Sussex groundworks tender?
£0 if your bid doesn't win. £1,500 minimum if it does, or 2% of contract value on tenders above £75k. There's no upfront fee, no retainer, no hourly rate. The fee is invoiced once you confirm the contract award. Eligible on opportunities over £50k.
02What's included in a groundworks proposal pack?
Method statement, temporary works and excavation support narrative, traffic management plan, ground gas / contaminated-land approach, environmental and SuDS compliance, materials testing and concrete cube regime, programme narrative tied to weather and dig sequencing, defect rectification approach, and experience matrix mapped to evaluation criteria.
03How do you handle temporary works in the bid pack?
Explicitly. The pack frames the temporary-works coordinator (TWC) role, the design responsibility split between the groundworks sub and the consultant, the inspection regime and the change-control protocol. CDM 2015 puts personal liability on the principal contractor — they read the TW narrative more carefully than any other section.
04Do you frame contaminated land and ground gas correctly?
Yes — that's most of the work on a brownfield bid. We frame the pre-start survey, soil classification, handling and disposal protocol, gas monitoring during excavation, and verification at handover. Most groundworks bids leave this as 'subject to clarification' — that's worth thousands of pounds on price-and-risk-scored tenders.
05Are you tied to any specific groundworks suppliers?
No. We write to whatever suppliers and concrete mixes you've priced (Tarmac, Cemex, Hanson, Aggregate Industries, ReadyMix, Naylor drainage, Hepworth, Polypipe). The proposal frames your chosen suppliers' credentials, lead-times and testing certificates in the main contractor's language.
06Do you understand the Sussex / South-East tender market?
Yes. Sussex is part of our warm geography. We work with the regional supply chains around Gatwick, Brighton, Crawley, Worthing, Eastbourne and Chichester — and the frameworks run out of those corridors (universities, healthcare, schools, council estates). We also cover Surrey and Kent within the same warm region, and we work UK-wide on cold opportunities up to £5m contract value.
10Next steps

Worth a 15-minute call?

If you’ve got a live groundworkstender on the desk now, let’s look at it together. Karl will run through what the proposal pack would cover, and we’ll agree the engagement terms before any work starts.

Book a 15-minute callRequest the sample pack
Karl
Bidwright · bidwright.co.uk
Prefer email? karl.gleave@bidwright.co.uk