Balancing Price and Quality
/What Public Sector Tendering Means for Building Services Providers
When it comes to public sector contracts, there is no question that procurement frameworks serve an essential role. They provide transparency, promote competition and ensure that public funds are spent responsibly. At JCW, we have participated in many public sector tenders across the UK and we are proud to have consistently scored highly for quality.
Yet, one recurring reality in the process is hard to ignore: price often wins over value.
In this blog, we share our perspective, not as a criticism, but as an open and honest reflection on what public sector tendering means for providers like us, and what it may mean for our clients, too.
Where JCW Consistently Delivers: Quality
In every tender we submit, JCW leads with our strengths - technical compliance, experience and service reliability. These are not simply box-ticking exercises for us; they are embedded in how we deliver.
Whether we’re supporting a local authority building, a school, or a healthcare facility, we focus on:
Fully qualified, directly employed engineers
Compliance with current UK regulations and British Standards
Tailored Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) schedules
Clear audit trails, documentation and real-time reporting
Safe, respectful and discreet delivery in live environments
It is why our quality scores are consistently near or at 100%, and why many of our long-term clients continue to trust us with critical buildings and sensitive environments.
When Price Dominates, Value Can Be Overlooked
Frameworks and tendering systems are, by nature, commercial. That’s entirely understandable, public bodies are under pressure to demonstrate best value.
But the balance of scoring between quality and price can sometimes tell a different story.
In many tenders, quality accounts for 30–40% of the score, while price makes up 60–70%. This weighting can inadvertently favour ultra-low-cost bids - often at the expense of standards, service reliability or continuity.
From a service provider’s perspective, this creates a dilemma:
Cut corners to reduce cost and meet the price target?
Or maintain high standards and risk losing on price?
At JCW, we chose the latter - because the buildings we maintain are too important for anything less.
What This Means for Clients
For our public sector clients, past, present and future, we want to emphasise that we remain a committed, value-driven partner. When we bid for work, we do so with the full intention of delivering it properly, compliantly and with the long-term in mind.
And for our private sector clients, this same approach applies - every school, care facility, commercial building or leisure venue we support benefits from the same standards, regardless of contract type.
The trade-off is that we won’t be the cheapest, and we won’t compromise the quality that keeps your estate operational, safe and compliant.
Beyond Cost: The True Value of Maintenance
In critical public spaces, from GP practices to council-run leisure centres, building services are more than just operational costs. They are essential to public wellbeing, public perception and the long-term integrity of the estate.
Choosing a provider based solely on price might reduce spend in the short term but over time, it often leads to:
Increased downtime
Reactive-only repairs
Compliance risks
Greater costs in corrective works
Staff turnover and under-resourced service teams
That’s not value - that’s false economy.
Questions Worth Considering
As a long-standing building services provider, we do not question the importance of robust procurement processes. But we do believe there is room for continued dialogue about how these frameworks evolve to reflect the realities of service delivery.
Based on our experience, we find ourselves asking a few questions that may be worth wider reflection:
How is the strength of the provider–client relationship measured within the procurement process?
How often are significant contracts awarded without a face-to-face meeting or site engagement with the provider?
Are all technical and operational requirements listed in tenders truly necessary for effective service delivery?
And how is the value of long-term relationships weighed against the administrative and financial cost of frequent retendering?
We pose these questions in the spirit of collaboration; after all, everyone involved shares the same goal – buildings that serve their communities efficiently, safely and sustainably.
Real Value
We believe in the value of public sector procurement and we respect the transparency it brings to the industry. But we also believe that value isn’t just about price - it’s about outcomes.
At JCW, we will continue to submit thoughtful, competitive bids that reflect our standards and we will continue to work with clients who share our view that quality, safety and professionalism are worth investing in.
If you're looking for a building services partner who prioritises long-term performance over short-term cost savings, we’d be pleased to speak with you.
Get in touch with us to discuss how JCW can support your estate - responsibly, reliably and without compromise.
