Nobody Scores Enthusiasm but They Do Evaluate Evidence
I’ve had the same conversation half a dozen times this month with operators and suppliers across both the UK and the UAE. It usually starts with “we’ve seen a tender we like” and it ends with me asking what foundations they laid six months ago.
Look at what’s happening in the UK. The UK is a great window into the transport sector right now. English train operating companies are moving into public ownership under Great British Railways, while central services like ticketing and rail replacement are actively being tendered. Meanwhile, train services in Scotland and Wales have been run by their respective governments since the pandemic.
At the same time, English buses are shifting into franchising: Greater Manchester completed its switch in January 2025, while West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, and West Midlands are at various stages. Every franchise is won through a competitive bid run under public procurement rules. For bus operators who’ve spent 40 years in a deregulated market, this is an entirely new discipline.
By the time an ITT is published, most of the winning work has already happened, a pattern that holds true across the Middle East and beyond.
Here are three things to have ready before the tender lands:
- Evaluators mark what you can prove. Authorities increasingly want to know what you did, which meetings you held, and who was in the room. Write up every contract, pilot, and KPI while the people who delivered them are still in the building—and attach real numbers. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but storing it centrally prevents hours of desperate chasing when staff move on or a company is sold. The classic journalistic framework—Who, What, Why, Where, and How—is a great guide. It sounds simple, but it’s often ignored because it feels like hassle. From bitter experience, sending emails doesn’t work, but a shared drive (SharePoint or Google) does. Plus, AI can now turn rough notes into a usable case study in minutes.
- In the UK, that means knowing your way around the Procurement Act 2023 (in force since February 2025) and understanding what the authority is under political pressure to deliver. Spoiler alert: “jobs and growth in every postcode” are the top phrases right now. The environment is another case in point. Expect scored questions on ISO 14001, circular economy commitments, and recycling rates. Commitments must now be measurable, and they directly impact scores.
- Whether you’re bidding in Sheffield or Sharjah, the principle is the same: attend market engagement events, speak to the authority beforehand, understand what the previous operator got wrong (and right, so you can preserve best practice), and engage key local stakeholders. You don’t need to speak to everyone, but gathering targeted local intelligence shows in the quality of your tender.
And a quick sanity check: double-check your transport geography! AI model hallucinations can easily suggest services or routes that no longer exist so don’t reference these in a tender. I once worked on a rail bid which referred to a train service to the Isle of Skye, which I had to point out doesn’t exist since it hasn’t been built!. Evaluators can tell within a single page whether a bidder has actually spoken to anyone locally, so do the groundwork.
I’ve written a longer guide covering eligibility, portals, timelines and the mistakes that sink bids: How to bid for public transport contracts with the UK Government. And if a tender is heading your way in 2027 and you’d rather be bid-ready before it lands, book a call.
Useful Reading
📦 Freight: Etihad Rail has launched a direct freight service between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi ahead of passengers services launching on 30th September.
🚏 Bus shelters, the forgotten Cinderella of franchising: Everyone argues about routes and fares, yet this is the part of the network passengers actually stand in.
🌱 Volunteers greening up Britain’s train stations: Platforms turned into gardens by local volunteers, social value delivered with a trowel.
♻️ Just a generally really good idea: No transport lesson to force here; it’s simply an upcycling Lego scheme based in Manchester.
About Surbon Consulting
Surbon Consulting helps public transport operators, authorities and suppliers win contracts and deliver social value, with 18 years of experience and over 40 bids across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Want to know more? Book a call or explore articles and resources.
This article was originally published by Surbon Consulting.
