GCF The Bridge Programme - Strengthening the Commercial Capability of Commercial Leads working towards Accreditation Programme Brochure v2 (HTML)
Updated 14 November 2025
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Strengthening the commercial capability of commercial leads working towards accreditation
The Bridge Programme design
The Bridge Programme has been developed using accumulated data from the Commercial Assessment and Development Centre (ADC), and expert advice from both internal and external sources. The programme has been designed to build and enhance commercial capability with government and wider government bodies (WGBs) in collaboration with senior commercial specialists, subject matter experts (SMEs), professionals from the commercial profession, leadership and learning and development experts.
The Bridge Programme:
- has been co-created and endorsed by commercial leaders, SMEs and ADC assessors
- is aligned to and goes beyond the ADC and the GCF People Standards for the Profession
- provides flexible opportunities to meet individual learning needs
- adopts and promotes the 70/20/10 learning model, where 70% of learning is on the job, 20% is learning through peers and 10% is formal learning
The Bridge Programme focuses on the areas of ‘leadership skills and capability’ and ‘business acumen and commercial judgement’, which current ADC data indicates are the key areas for professional development for commercial leads who are working towards commercial ADC accreditation.
Completing the Bridge Programme will enable you to:
- hone commercial acumen
- instil a culture of excellent commercial leadership and behaviours in teams and working environments
- communicate with impact and confidence
- manage complexity while making the appropriate decisions
- build resilience and learn how to maintain it under pressure
- enhance and maintain commercial networks
- reflect on own strengths and development areas
- create an iterative personal development plan that demonstrates growth
- evaluate the strengths and development areas of self and others
- use information to provide constructive feedback and coach others
- create, practice and evaluate appropriate influencing strategies
- lead and influence better commercial decision-making
What you can expect
Interactive webinars
The 7-month Bridge Programme consists of 7 interactive webinars that you will complete with your cohort, plus an 8-week period of self-directed learning. Experienced commercial SMEs will facilitate the immersive webinars, with input and insight from professional coaches. There will be an engaging mix of challenging activities, exploration and practical learning, as well as a chance to receive feedback, and time for individual reflection.
The programme has been designed to meet specific learning preferences and there are times where you will be challenged and potentially feel out of your comfort zone – this is an important part of your professional development.
While the Bridge Programme is aligned to the ADC it is intended to go beyond this and support your development as a senior commercial leader.
Pre-work
To get the best experience from this programme, we will ask you to complete various pre-webinar activities. This will boost your learning and enrich conversations in the interactive webinars that follow.
Action learning
As well as joining webinars and working together in your cohort, you will also be put into smaller groups to form action learning groups. Your self-managed action learning group (ALG) will meet and work together during the 8-week period of self-directed learning. Your ALG will provide you with a supportive network to further deepen your understanding of the topic areas you have been introduced to during your Bridge Programme development journey. The Commercial L&D Team will provide guidance on how to successfully run and set up your ALG.
How do I access the learning?
To access the programme you must:
- have attained a B at the commercial ADC
- be working at the level of the programme either substantively or on temporary promotion (TP)
- have your line manager’s support
The Bridge Programme: overview
| Pre-webinar activity | Webinar title | Time commitment for pre-webinar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| activity | Time commitment for webinar | ||
| Pre-webinar 1: watch 4 introductory videos and review your ADC report | Webinar 1: Programme Essentials | 2 hours | 5 hours |
| Pre-webinar 2: Spotlight on Political Insight podcast on the GCC, watch a video, complete a self-assessment exercise in your online journal | Webinar 2: Commercial Leadership | 1.5 hours | 5 hours |
| Pre-webinar 3: listen to podcasts and use a coaching model with team | Webinar 3: Building Relationships for Commercial Delivery | 1 hour | 5 hours |
| Pre-webinar 4: read article on tools to capture a range of data | Webinar 4: Using Strategic Analysis Tools to Create Robust or Innovative Solutions | 1 hour | 5 hours |
| Pre-webinar 5: review your stakeholder map and watch a video on assertiveness | Webinar 5: Engaging Effectively with Challenging Stakeholders | 30 minutes | 5 hours |
| Pre-webinar 6: watch videos on supplier engagement and financial literacy | Webinar 6: Utilising Influencing Skills during Negotiation | 1 hour | 5 hours |
| 8 weeks of self-directed learning - action learning groups | - | - | - |
| Pre-webinar 7: watch a video on recalling stories and reflect on challenges and successes during period of self-directed learning | Webinar 7: Practical Application, Reflection and Action Planning | 30 minutes | 5 hours |
Development journey for a GCO, FTC and WGB commercial lead working towards accreditation
This is an example development journey for a GCO / FTC / WGB commercial lead who achieved a B at the ADC, and shows the potential opportunities to support them as they work towards accreditation.
Grade B at the ADC
Fixed term contractor:
6 to 8 weeks - invited to a talent conversation to review the GCO development offer and reflect on development plans (GCO employees only)
GCO pathway
6 to 8 weeks - invited to a talent conversation to review the GCO development offer and reflect on development plans (GCO employees only)
WCB pathway
Commercial leads invited to join the development programme
Optional additional CPD could include Advanced Negotiation and Cost Pricing and Payments in Contracts
Pre-programme activity
- Watch programme videos and review ADC report
Seven month digital learning journey
-
Webinar 1 - Programme Essentials, 5 hours
-
Five 5 hour interactive webinars (webinars 2 to 6) delivered over the course of 14 weeks
-
Eight weeks of self directed learning
-
Webinar 7 - interactive exercise, 5 hours
Post-programme
Months 8 to 10: opportunity to contact executive coach to review development plan, progress to date and future goals (GCO employees only)
Month 10: schedules ADC resit, final touchpoint with GCO ADC team to confirm logistics for ADC, all development plan goals and actions complete
Month 12: ADC resit
Month 14: ADC completed - intended outcome, accredited commercial lead
WGB to confirm ADC resit decision for commercial lead
Access throughout the programme to:
- ‘spotlight on’ sessions to develop skills in specific topic areas
- action learning groups to focus on collective areas of development aligned to development plan
Optional additional CPD could include Whole Life Costing for Procurement Managers and Advanced Negotiation Toolkit
Learner adjustments
We want everyone to feel supported during their learning journey, so we will ask you to make known to us any learner adjustments that would support and enhance your learning experience. The team is experienced in supporting candidates requiring learner adjustments and any information that is shared is treated as confidential.
If you wish to be considered for any learner adjustments, please contact the Commercial Learning and Development Team.
Additional learning tools and development opportunities
There are a wide range of activities outside of the programme to support your learning and development, these are open to you once your attendance on the Bridge Programme is confirmed.
Spotlight on…sessions
The spotlight on… sessions are an integral and important element of the commercial learning and development offer. They provide an opportunity to cover, in greater depth, areas of learning introduced over the course of the programme and encourage you to assimilate your knowledge and experiences. The sessions are delivered as either webinars or podcasts, which have been created using the expertise of highly experienced SMEs, crown representatives and ADC moderators.
Building effective supplier relationships
Working in partnership with suppliers can be an exciting and mutually beneficial experience, it can also bring difficult challenges and unwelcome surprises. The aim of this session is to explore different styles and approaches for working with suppliers and how to, appropriately, apply these.
Diversity and inclusion
This spotlight on session explores behaviours and tools that will enable GCF colleagues to
create and sustain a diverse and inclusive working environment. The interactive masterclass is aimed at all GCF commercial and non-commercial staff.
ADC
The session is presented by moderators from
the ADC team and has been designed to provide you with a broader understanding of how the commercial ADC has been designed and how the ADC functions.
Government Commercial College (GCC)
The Government Commercial College is a web-based platform that enables learners to view and manage all aspects of their commercial learning.
It will deliver significant improvements to the learner’s experience in terms of the way learning is scheduled and tracked.
Knowledge Hub
This is the principal networking online platform, hosted on the Knowledge Hub. Within the GCF Network you will be able to share news, views and requests for information, find networking opportunities, search for colleagues and events and use the best practice zone. Please make your profile as complete as possible.
Further queries
If you have any further queries about the Bridge Programme, please contact the commercial learning and development team via our email address.
commercial-development@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Useful contacts
ADC team: gcfdevelopmentcentre@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Commercial L&D team: commercial-development@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
GCO talent team: commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
GCF partnerships team: gcfengagement@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Bookings team: gcfprog-bookings@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Government Commercial College email: govcomcollege@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Government Commercial College website
Development programme Knowledge Hub group