The company information every tender asks for, and how to keep it ready

2026-10-11 · 10 min read

Tender questions ask for numbers. How many people do you employ? What was your turnover for the last three years? What is your staff retention rate? How many contracts of this size have you delivered, and how did they perform?

Most businesses can answer all of these. The difficulty comes when the answer is needed the day before a deadline and the figure is spread across a finance system, an HR report and one colleague's spreadsheet. The number that gets used is usually the quickest one to find, which may not match what the last bid said.

Evaluators read a submission as a whole. A headcount of 45 in the selection questionnaire and 52 in a quality answer leaves the evaluator wondering how well the business knows itself. Buyers want evidence of an organisation that runs on records, with figures that agree wherever they appear.

The practical answer is a bid data pack, a single spreadsheet that records the figures bids ask for with an owner, a source and a date against each line.

Free bid data pack (Excel) — 88 lines across three groups, with a suggested owner, source and review period on each, plus a contract register, site list and renewals tracker. No sign-up needed. Download the bid data pack

Core information

Selection questionnaires ask for these and many quality responses quote them, so they should always be up to date.

• Company details. The registered name and company number should match Companies House exactly, with the VAT number alongside. Record the head office address and say if the registered office is different. A business with several locations needs a separate site list showing where each one is and what is delivered from it. Note who the directors are, who has significant control and whether there is a parent company.
• Financial position. Turnover for each of the last three years, taken from the filed accounts. Buyers often set a minimum turnover, so the figures need to match those accounts exactly. Note the year end date of the latest accounts too.
• People. Total headcount and full-time equivalents, with the date they apply to. Many bids also want headcount split by site or by role. A current organisation chart should show who would lead a new contract, with an up-to-date CV for each of those people.
• Contract experience. A register of current and recent contracts, each with the client, value, dates and scope. Add the outcome and a referee who has agreed to be contacted. The register answers most experience questions directly, such as how many contracts are live, what they are worth and which was the largest.
• Insurance. Employers' liability, public liability and professional indemnity are the usual three. Record the cover level, insurer, policy number and renewal date for each. Keep a copy of every certificate.
• Accreditations. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials come up regularly. Record the certificate number and expiry date for each one you hold.
• Core policies. Buyers expect health and safety, equality and diversity, data protection and safeguarding policies, with a review date on each. Environmental and anti-bribery policies are often requested too.

New to how selection questionnaires and quality questions fit together? Our guide to the UK tendering process walks through each stage. Read the UK tendering process guide

Performance and workforce information

Quality questions draw on these to show how the business runs and how it performs.

• Staff turnover and retention. Show up to three years of staff turnover, because one year rarely shows a trend. State how it is calculated, for example leavers in the year divided by average headcount. Retention is often requested alongside it, such as the share of staff with two or more years' service or average length of service.
• Absence and agency use. The sickness absence rate for the last 12 months is usually needed. Some buyers also ask how much delivery work is done by agency or temporary staff.
• Skills and development. Training hours or spend per employee are often asked for, along with the number of apprentices or trainees in post. Where the work is regulated, record the share of delivery staff with the qualification it requires. Add the result of the latest staff survey with its response rate.
• Workforce profile. A summary of the workforce by gender, ethnicity, age and disability, with a note of how the data was collected. Record whether you are a Real Living Wage employer.
• Contract performance. The share of KPIs met on live contracts over the last 12 months. Customer satisfaction scores need the survey method and response rate with them. Complaints received and the average time to resolve them are often asked for too.
• Renewals, penalties and awards. Contracts renewed or extended in the last three years are strong evidence. Also note any service credits or penalties incurred and any awards won.
• Early terminations. Any contract that ended early in the last five years, who ended it and why. Buyers ask this directly, so the answer needs to be factual and identical every time it appears.
• Health and safety record. The accident incident rate with the basis it is calculated on, plus RIDDOR-reportable incidents over the last three years. Record any enforcement notices or prosecutions in the last five years.
• Supply chain. List the main subcontractors and what each one delivers. Work out the share of spend with small and local suppliers, defining "local" once and using it every time. Average days to pay suppliers should be recorded too.
• Social value data. Examples include the share of employees who live locally, apprenticeships started, work placements offered, roles filled by people from priority groups such as care leavers and volunteering hours. These figures are much easier to evidence when recorded as they happen.
• Financial detail. Net assets and profit before tax come from the latest accounts. Some buyers also ask what share of turnover comes from public sector clients.

Contract-specific information

Which of these apply depends on the sector, the buyer and the type of contract.

• Data location and hosting. Which system each type of data sits in, who hosts it and where it is stored and processed. Some buyers require personal data to stay in the UK. The tender documents say so where they do.
• Data protection. The ICO registration number, the data protection lead and any third parties that handle personal data, with where they are based. Add the number of breaches reported to the ICO over the last three years.
• Backups and access. How often data is backed up, how long copies are kept and how access is controlled. Include how access is removed when people leave.
• Information security. The date and outcome of the last penetration test or security review. Recovery times matter as well, meaning how long systems take to restore and how much data could be lost.
• Business continuity. The continuity plan and the date it was last tested.
• Financial strength. A recent credit report is the usual starting point. Some buyers also ask about bank facilities, a parent company guarantee or insurance claims over the last five years.
• Carbon and environment. Scope 1 and 2 emissions for the latest year, a net zero target date and details of the vehicle fleet. Central government and NHS contracts worth more than £5 million a year require a published carbon reduction plan under PPN 006.
• Safeguarding and vetting. The DBS check process, how often checks are renewed and the share of staff with a current one. Name the safeguarding lead and record when safer recruitment training was last completed.
• Regulation and sector. Regulator ratings such as CQC or Ofsted need the inspection date alongside them. Sector schemes such as Constructionline, CHAS, SafeContractor or TrustMark and licences such as waste carrier registration should be listed with their expiry dates.
• Legal reporting. Gender pay gap figures are required for employers with 250 or more staff. A modern slavery statement is required for commercial organisations with turnover of £36 million or more.
• Partnerships. For any consortium or joint venture, the partners, their roles and the lead entity.

Keeping it current

A data pack goes stale quickly unless someone is responsible for it. Each line needs one owner. Finance usually owns turnover and insurance, while HR owns headcount, staff turnover and absence. Contract performance sits with operations. The pack should record who owns each figure and which system it comes from.

Every figure also needs a date and a definition. A staff turnover rate of 12% means little without knowing it covers leavers in the twelve months to 31 March divided by average headcount. Recording both means the same figure is used in every bid.

A monthly review covers the figures that move, such as headcount, absence, contract performance and new contracts. Accounts, insurance and accreditations follow their own calendar, so put the renewal dates in a diary and update the pack when documents change.

Keep the source report for each figure alongside it. If a buyer asks where a number came from, the evidence is already to hand.

Automating the collection

Chasing colleagues for figures every month takes time. Much of it can be automated. Many HR, payroll and finance systems can produce a standard report on a schedule. Saved to a shared folder each month, those reports can feed the spreadsheet through Power Query in Excel.

Businesses that work in Microsoft 365 can go further. An agent built in Copilot Studio can be set up to collect figures from the systems it can connect to, put them into the spreadsheet and message any owner who has not updated their lines. Power Automate can run it on a schedule, for example on the first working day of each month. Agree with whoever manages your IT who can see what, because the agent will be reading HR and finance data.

Whatever collects the figures, check the output against the source before a number goes into a bid. An automated process can pull the wrong report or the wrong period. An AI agent can also misread a figure. The as-at date and the definition still need confirming by the person who owns the line.

A template to start from

We have put together a free bid data pack in Excel that lists everything above, with a suggested owner, source and review period against each line. You can fill it in and upload it to BidMate, or use it in your own systems.

• Read me. Instructions, plus a summary of what is overdue, expiring or not yet filled in.
• Data pack. 88 lines across the three groups. Each line has space for the figure, the date it applies to and a definition. A suggested owner and review period are filled in. The status turns amber and then red as the review date approaches and passes.
• Contracts. The contract register. Live contracts, total value, contracts completed in the last three years and the largest contract delivered are calculated from it and filled in on the Data pack sheet.
• Sites. Every location the business works from, with the address, what is delivered there and the headcount. The number of sites and total headcount across them fill in on the Data pack sheet.
• Renewals. Insurance, accreditations, policies and plans with their expiry or review dates and the days remaining.

Download the bid data pack (Excel) — Free, no sign-up or email needed. Start with the Core lines and add the rest as bids call for them. Download the Excel file

Using the pack in a live bid

When a question asks for a figure, take it from the pack and quote the as-at date. Before submission, search the full response for each figure and check it matches everywhere it appears. Headcount, turnover, contract values and years trading are the ones most likely to drift between answers written on different days by different people.

The pack also shows where the business has gaps. If a buyer asks for a retention rate and nobody has calculated one, that is much easier to fix weeks before a deadline than the day before it.

Checking that figures agree is one of ten checks worth doing before you submit. See the full pre-submission checklist. Read how to review a bid

Where BidMate fits

BidMate's Evidence Locker stores the case studies, policies, CVs, methodology descriptions and social value commitments that sit alongside these figures. They are written once and tagged for reuse in every response.

BidMate gives you a repeatable process, without needing a bid team to run it. Start your free trial

FAQ

What information do I need to bid for a tender?

Almost every tender asks for basic company details, financial figures and headcount. It also asks for proof of insurance and accreditations, along with examples of similar contracts. Quality questions then ask for performance evidence such as retention, KPIs and customer feedback. The selection questionnaire and tender documents set out the specific requirements.

How often should I update my bid information?

Figures that change regularly, such as headcount, retention and contract performance, are best reviewed monthly. Accounts, insurance and accreditations should be updated when they renew or are issued, with expiry dates in a diary so none lapse during a live bid.

Do buyers check the figures I give them?

Buyers can ask for supporting evidence such as accounts, certificates and referee contacts. They may verify answers during evaluation or before award, so keeping the source document for each figure makes that straightforward.

Does my data have to be stored in the UK?

It depends on the buyer and the contract. Some require personal data to be stored and processed in the UK. The tender documents say so where they do. Knowing where your own data is held and who hosts it lets you answer quickly either way.

Can I automate keeping the data pack up to date?

Partly. Scheduled reports from HR and finance systems can feed the spreadsheet directly. Businesses on Microsoft 365 can use Copilot Studio and Power Automate to collect figures and remind owners. The output should still be checked against the source before it is used in a bid.

Is there a template I can use?

Yes. The bid data pack above is a free Excel workbook with the groups, suggested owners and review periods already set up, plus a contract register and a renewals tracker.