Guidance

MoD Portals and Bidding Tips

Published 30 September 2025

1. Summary

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) procurement portals and bidding best practices. It is designed to help businesses, especially SMEs, understand how to access opportunities, navigate the bidding process, and engage effectively with MoD frameworks. The summary includes key insights into the Defence Sourcing Portal, R-Cloud, Serapis, and the Hypersonics opportunity, along with practical bidding tips.

1.1 MOD Procurement Portals

Main Portal: Defence Sourcing Portal

• www.contracts.mod.uk

Portal summary

• Went live 15 Feb 2021

• All public opportunities valued over £10,000

• Requires one-time registration as long as you have some key requirements in place

• Company registration

• DUNS number (Dun & Bradstreet)

• Cyber Essentials

1.2 MOD Procurement Portals – R-Cloud

Dstl centric portal for contract research

• https://rcloud.dstl.gov.uk

Portal summary

• Strongly Dstl focused/centric

• TRL level 1-6, so naturally based on earlier stage research contracts

• As of Oct 2023, there’s an extension to this: R-Cloud+

1.3 MOD Procurement Portals – Serapis

A framework running to July 2025. Broken into “lots” managed by different industry primes. Front line commands, rapid exploitation of technologies.

1.4 Key Takeaways Related to Portals

• They’re your window into what is happening in your field

• For SMEs, often they’re most useful as the starting point for actioning a BD engagement plan (rather than directly bidding)

• Make a system! Lots of noise with tenders, organize your life so it’s not overwhelming

• If you’ve never pursued an RFI or PQQ, just have a go! See the process, iterate and become better.

1.5 Additional Resources Worth Looking At

• MOD drafted overview on how to work with them:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-procurement-an-overview/doing-business-with-defence

• Major suppliers

• Lots of further links to relevant policies, guides on procurement

• Facilities and security aspects

• Accreditations (Cyber and other)

• Contact details within MOD for people to help

• Understanding security aspects:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-security

• HMG drafted overview of how SMEs can work with government:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smes-a-guide-to-working-with-government

1.6 Bidding Best Practice

Bidding can be challenging, and the cause of this can include:

• Uncertainty

• How/where do I access opportunities?

• Who can I partner with?

• Does it fit in my business?

• Lack of resources

• Time

• Partners

• Bidding ability/infrastructure

• Lack of experience

• What does good look like?

1.7 Bidding Tips – Team Structure

Exotopic is the prime contractor for this project. Responsibilities include:

• Project Management

• Managing logistics

• Providing space expertise and researcher resources to support the Technical Lead

• Proofreading and ensuring consistency

• Ensuring effective language and presentation in final deliverables

• Managing sub-contract arrangements with [partner name to be inserted]

• Overall responsibility for project delivery and quality

1.8 Bidding Tips – Work Logic

1. Kick-Off

2. Identify relevant stakeholders

3. Identify planned regulatory framework changes

4. Compile existing regulatory frameworks

5. Analyse implications on:

   1. Selected interviews

   2. Email responses

1. Compile views, opportunities, and challenges from stakeholders

2. Identify gaps, challenges, risks, and mitigations

3. Recommendations for areas requiring regulatory clarity:

   1. Interim Findings (Draft Report)

   2. Review Meeting

1. Scope mission context

2. Compile key asks for policy direction

3. Gaps, SWOT analysis, mitigations, and recommendations for regulation/contracting interface:

   1. Final Report

   2. Final Review Meeting

1.9 Bidding Tips: Project Timeline and Workflow (Month 1–12)

Work Packages (WP) and Milestones (MS):

• WP0: Project Management

   - MS0: Contract Signature and Kick-Off

• WP1.1: Requirements Capture

   - D1: Mission Requirements

• WP1.2: Mission Options and Trade-Offs

• WP1.3: Commercial Case

   - D4: Concept of Operations

   - D5: Commercial Case

• WP2.1: Parameters Definition

• WP2.2: Modeling and Simulation

• WP2.3: Research Report

   - D2: Research Report

   - MS1: Mid-Term Review

• WP3.1: Parameters Definition

• WP3.2: Optical Link Modeling

   - WP3: Technology Report

   - D3: Technology Report

• PHI / FP / ESR / FR Deliverables

   - MS2: Final Review

1.10 Bidding Tips – Project Overview

An example project spans from Week 27 of 2024 to Week 34 of 2025, structured into multiple work packages (WPs), each with specific objectives and durations:

Project Management & Quality

• WP100 – Project Management: 29 Jul 2024 – 13 Mar 2025 (33 weeks)

• WP200 – Quality Assurance: 19 Aug 2024 – 13 Sep 2024 (4 weeks)

Policy & Use Case Development

• WP210 – Policy Options: 26 Aug 2024 – 13 Sep 2024 (3 weeks)

• WP300 – Use Case: 29 Jul 2024 – 09 Aug 2024 (2 weeks)

User & Market Analysis

• WP310 – User Requirements Definition: 12 Aug 2024 – 27 Sep 2024 (7 weeks)

• WP320 – Market Dynamics: 30 Sep 2024 – 18 Oct 2024 (3 weeks)

• WP330 – Technology Impact Assessment: 21 Oct 2024 – 06 Dec 2024 (7 weeks)

Strategic Planning

• WP400 – Scenario Definition: 29 Jul 2024 – 20 Sep 2024 (8 weeks)

• WP500 – Theory of Change (ToC): 23 Sep 2024 – 31 Oct 2024 (6 weeks)

Evaluation & Engagement

• WP600 – Impact Assessments: 04 Nov 2024 – 02 Jan 2025 (8 weeks)

• WP700 – Stakeholder Analysis & Synthesis: 06 Jan 2025 – 28 Feb 2025 (8 weeks)

• WP710 – Interviews: 06 Jan 2025 – 14 Feb 2025 (6 weeks)

• WP720 – Synthesis: 17 Feb 2025 – (duration incomplete in image)

 Why This Is Useful

• Structured Planning: A Gantt chart provides a clear roadmap, ensuring all tasks are scheduled and dependencies are visible.

• Time Management: Helps teams allocate resources efficiently and track progress against deadlines.

• Stakeholder Communication: Offers a visual summary for stakeholders to understand project phases and key deliverables.

• Risk Mitigation: Early identification of overlapping or critical tasks helps in proactive risk management.

• Evaluation & Adaptation: Built-in phases for impact assessment and stakeholder feedback ensure the project remains relevant and effective.

1.11 Bidding Tips – Risks

Key Risks and Mitigations:

• Risk: Limited Time May Affect Quality

   - Mitigation: Senior experts in regulation and space will lead the work, leveraging prior research to reduce the burden. A dedicated researcher will support them, enabling parallel workstreams to maintain quality within the timeline.

• Risk: Stakeholder Non-Responsiveness

   - Mitigation: The team has strong existing relationships with key stakeholders, including start-ups and small businesses. These connections ensure timely engagement and help futureproof the project by covering both current and emerging needs.

• Risk: Rapidly Evolving and Unclear Considerations

   - Mitigation: The team includes experts at the forefront of the field, ensuring access to the latest developments, awareness of knowledge gaps, and early signals of future regulatory and technical needs.

• Risk: Expert Unavailability

   - Mitigation: The project includes multiple experts (2 regulatory, 2 space) to ensure continuity. The lead expert has already allocated time in October/November to prioritize this project.

1.12 Bidding Tips – Understanding Project Environment

To fulfil the project’s aim, the research will focus on the following objectives:

1. Identify key players in the [redacted] markets, including the sectors to which the main stakeholders belong.

2. Select and evaluate three main case studies, assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

3. Benchmark the UK’s position against five leading countries in the market (to be approved by [redacted]).

4. Identify and analyse barriers to adoption, including associated risks and proposed mitigations.

5. Develop a robust roadmap to commercialisation of advanced materials, enabling access to new markets and contributing to a more prosperous UK economy across various sectors.

1.13 Bidding Tips – Understanding Project Environment

The diagram outlines the high-level relationship between different actors across three key phases of innovation and commercialisation:

Blue Sky / Early Discovery

• Focus Areas:

   - Exploration of materials and novel properties

   - Measurement and production techniques

   - Serendipitous/emergent material properties and applications

   - Intellectual Property (IP) – Develop

• Key Organisations:

   - Universities

   - Research Institutes

Development / Acceleration

• Focus Areas:

   - Production techniques

   - Application validation

   - Property refinement

   - Viability beyond the lab

   - Supply chain exploration

   - Intellectual Property (IP) – Secure

• Key Organisations:

   - Universities

   - Research Institutes

   - Industry

Commercialisation

• Focus Areas:

   - Cost, production, and scaling optimisation

   - Application integration

   - Supply chain validation

   - Intellectual Property (IP) – Exploit

• Key Organisations:

   - Industry

   - Government (support for export, regulation, etc.)