← Kindling
Example answer: taking over a school cleaning contract
Almost every school or academy cleaning tender asks some version of "How will you mobilise the contract, including the transfer of staff?" It's often the most heavily weighted quality question, and the one small firms answer too briefly. Here's a first draft for an invented firm, the kind bid help produces. Every [square bracket] is something only the firm can fill in.
What evaluators look for: a clear timeline with dates, named people, how you'll treat the cleaners who transfer to you (TUPE), how the school's day won't be disrupted, and how you'll know it's working in the first month. Generic promises score low. Specifics score high.
The question
"Describe how you will mobilise this contract, including your approach to the transfer of existing staff under TUPE. (Maximum 1,000 words.)"
The draft answer
Our mobilisation team
[Name], our Operations Director, leads mobilisation and is the school's single point of contact until the contract has run smoothly for a full month. [Name], who will manage the contract day to day, joins from week one so that the school, the staff and the site all know them before the start date. Both have mobilised [n] school contracts in the last [n] years, including [school, year].
Timeline (from award to the first full month)
- Week 1 after award: mobilisation meeting with the business manager to confirm the specification, site access, keys and alarm codes, storage, and how the school wants to receive reports. We agree the mobilisation plan and a weekly check-in.
- Weeks 1 to 2: we ask the outgoing contractor for the employee liability information, which the law requires at least 28 days before transfer, and start the consultation process.
- Weeks 2 to 4: site walk-round with the business manager to confirm areas, frequencies and any problem spots. We set up our job-sheet app for each area and order equipment and consumables.
- Weeks 3 to 6: one-to-one meetings with every transferring cleaner (see below), DBS checks updated where needed, and training on our procedures, the school's safeguarding policy and COSHH.
- Final week: equipment delivered and checked, cleaners' cupboard set up, start-day rota confirmed with the school.
- First month: the contract manager is on site at the start and end of each shift in week one, then daily spot checks. A joint audit with the school at the end of weeks 2 and 4.
The cleaners who transfer to us
The people who clean the school now know it best, so we treat the transfer as keeping a team, not just meeting a legal duty. Under TUPE their employment, pay and terms move to us unchanged. We will:
- Meet each person individually, in their own working hours and paid, with a written welcome pack in plain English [and in other languages where useful].
- Tell the outgoing contractor in writing about any changes we plan (uniform, equipment, the app), the "measures" TUPE requires us to share, so staff are informed and consulted before the transfer. We won't change contractual terms.
- Check right-to-work and DBS status, and make sure everyone is paid correctly from the first payday. [We pay at least the Real Living Wage.]
- Keep a named contact for each cleaner so problems are raised early, not at the next audit.
Keeping the school running
Mobilisation happens around the school's day. Site visits are booked through the business manager, and nothing changes in classrooms until the start date. If the start falls in a holiday, we use the first week for a deep clean to set the standard.
How the school will know it's working
Each completed area is recorded on our job-sheet app with a time stamp and photos where useful. The school gets a short weekly report during the first month and monthly after that, with any issues and how we fixed them. [Our target is to resolve any reported issue within [n] hours.]
Risks we plan for
Late or incomplete employee information from the outgoing contractor (we ask early and escalate through the school if needed), cleaners choosing not to transfer (we keep [n] trained relief cleaners within [n] miles), and equipment delays (we hold stock for [n] sites).
What the firm still has to do
- Fill every bracket with real names, numbers and past contracts. Evaluators check.
- Match the timeline to the tender's actual award and start dates, and to the word limit.
- Take advice on anything specific about TUPE for your situation. This draft is a starting point, not legal advice.
Want the other side of it? See an example go/no-go check and an example quotation for a groundworks job.
Got a cleaning tender like this? Send me the link. The go/no-go check is free, and the first two full drafts I write are free in return for honest feedback.
Email [email protected]
An independent example from Kindling, not connected to any school or contractor. TUPE: the outgoing employer must give the new employer employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer (Acas guidance). General guidance, not legal advice.