Grantus Blog - tender season

Tis the time to Tender

Tenders and grants are meant to solve problems, not create them. Yet every year, they become a logistical nightmare during the holiday season. Ten tenders and three funding submissions are due during the holidays!! Public servants carefully drop tenders and grants into the market in December, then vanish for their well-deserved break. Meanwhile, the rest of us are scrambling to meet impossible deadlines, chasing suppliers who are off the grid and cobbling together bids with incomplete information.

The holiday trap

December and January are dead zones for productivity in industries like construction. Builders down tools, suppliers shut shop, and getting even a basic quote is a fool’s errand. Yet tender processes often hinge on this missing information. How are businesses supposed to meet requirements they can’t reasonably fulfill?

It raises the question: Is this just poor planning, or is it a system designed to fail most applicants?

Red tape: Necessary or lazy?

Tenders often require excessive documentation, much of which is redundant or repetitive. Worse, the information being asked for is sometimes pointless—tick-the-box exercises to create the illusion of fairness. When deadlines are tight and stakes are high, this becomes less about compliance and more about endurance.

Does every tender really need 15 attachments? Is the volume of requirements a reflection of actual project needs, or is it just a way to narrow the pool to only those with the resources to jump through bureaucratic hoops?

Planning that actually works

There’s a simple fix: proper planning. Public servants know when holidays hit and how the construction calendar works. Why not release tenders with timelines that reflect these realities? Here are some practical solutions:

  • Longer submission windows: Stretch deadlines to allow for industry downtime before December and after January.

  • Pre-release tender notices: Give businesses a heads-up on upcoming tenders, allowing them to gather quotes and prepare before the mad rush.

  • Simplify documentation: Streamline requirements to focus on essentials rather than padding.

 

Collaboration, not confrontation

Finally, the process needs to feel less adversarial. Asking for feedback from applicants—what worked, what didn’t—could help shape a system that’s better for everyone. Collaboration would improve outcomes without sacrificing accountability.

Wrapping it up

This isn’t a rant against public servants. They’re operating within a system that’s broken by design. But if we want to see better results from tenders and grants, it’s time for some hard questions.

The current approach punishes small businesses and organisations that lack the resources to jump through holiday-time hoops. It doesn’t have to be this way. With better planning and a little common sense, we could have a system that works for everyone. 

Do you agree…?
Leave your comments below 👇

Simon Coutts - CEO of Grantus

Simon Coutts

Simon is the CEO and Founder of Grantus, a trusted advisor in strategic funding, complex problem solving, and stakeholder management, driving growth and public benefit for organisations dedicated to making a lasting impact. Book a ‘Borrow My Brain‘ session with Simon.

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