Futurebuilders England today launched a new interest-free loan fund for third sector organisations struggling to meet the cost of tendering for public sector contracts. The £1m Tender Fund is intended to help third sector providers win contracts where prohibitive tendering costs would otherwise make it difficult for them to bid. Jonathan Lewis, Chief Executive of Futurebuilders England said: “We know there are organisations with the skills to bid for and win public sector contracts who simply can’t afford the costs involved in preparing competitive bids. “Our conversations with the sector tell us that providers often need money to fund tendering related costs such as legal bills, financial expertise, staffing backfill and advice from procurement specialists. We want to be as flexible as possible with the finance we offer and respond to the sector’s needs, so we set up this fund specifically to help address this problem. The new Tender Fund will provide interest-free three year loans of between £3,000 and £50,000. This will help organisations who simply need a smaller sum of money to get them through the tendering stage.”

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30 June 2008
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