Clinical & Healthcare Sector: Legal Update & Preparing for the new Clinical and Non-Clinical RM6397 framework

Fiona Brunton is one of the few professional tender writers dedicated to the recruitment industry.  A recent winner of APSCo’s Recruitment Service Provider of the year award, Fiona has worked in the recruitment sector for over 20 years (Manpower, Search Consultancy & Pertemps) before setting up her own consultancy and training business in 2005. 

For the last nine years, she has specialised in helping recruiters to understand what makes the Buyer tick (and indeed fume!) by providing a portfolio of tender writing and training services to help independent and SME agencies in all sectors to compete effectively with the “big boys.” Her partnerships with purchasing experts have allowed her to really get under the skin of procurement, and translate this knowledge into practical techniques that recruiters can use to move their proposals and tender submissions from “acceptable” to “outstanding.”

Fiona has an exceptional track record, winning over 75% of all the business she has been commissioned to work on. To date, she has written in excess of 800 PQQs, tenders and proposals; with business wins valued at multiple millions for her recruitment clients. 

Range of training expertise:

• Understanding OJEU notices and finding profitable tender opportunities
• Unscrambling procurement jargon
• Writing compliant PQQs (i.e. getting through the first stage evaluation!)
• Tackling challenging tender questions and method statements
• Constructing winning proposals
• Writing powerful case studies & examples
• Structuring executive summaries
• Compiling an effective tender library
• Effective use of electronic tender portals
• Understanding and avoiding common mistakes when tendering
• Engaging successfully with procurement

Belinda Brooke has worked in or for the recruitment sector for almost three decades, first in private practice, after qualifying, and then for over a decade at the REC, running the legal helpdesk at a time when the Working Time Regulations were introduced, the current Conduct Regulations were implemented and the  Agency Workers Directive was being fashioned by the European Commission. In 2008 she became legal director of a large international recruitment company overseeing the implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations and pension auto enrolment amongst many other things. Thereafter she has worked as legal director for recruiters serving the public sector, white-collar professionals and energy and infrastructure. She has overseen the implementation of the IR35 Off-Payroll rules in both the public and private sector roll-outs as well as changes to the travel and subsistence tax rules and GDPR. In 2024 she returned to private practice and now provides specialist advice to those operating in the workforce solutions space.