Transport for London (TfL) will reimburse bidders who miss out on major contracts, after successfully trialling the initiative on the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, it has been revealed.
TfL programme delivery manager for Bank Andy Swift vowed to pay losing bidders on future projects, while speaking at New Civil Engineer’s Tunnelling Festival. Swift claimed that paying losing bidders for their ideas increases competition, improves collaboration and drives up contractors’ tight margins.
It comes after TfL paid losing bidders for their ideas on the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade programme.
In total, TfL reimbursed losing bidders with a one off payment of £200,000 each to assist in covering some of the costs incurred in bidding for the contract. Subsequent to the tender evaluation a further £940,000 was paid to the unsuccessful bidders for their innovations under the terms of the Innovative Contractor Engagement (ICE) process.
While no specific projects were named, Swift confirmed that TfL will be using the ICE scheme in the future and he urged fellow clients to adopt a similar approach for the “benefit of the whole industry”.