Expression of Interest Letter

Invitations to tender are published regularly in the government website or related newspapers or can be browsed online on the TED database, which is available free-of-charge and is updated daily.

How to write an Expression of interest letter to participate in a tender?

In accordance with the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget that is available, it's often required by government regulation to put contracts for the purchase of goods and services out to public tender. If you want to win a public sector contract tender, you need to submit a proposal for the tender.

Expression of interest meaning

The Expression of Interest (EOI) is the first step is to respond to a call for expressions of interest and calls for proposals. It demonstrates your interest in tendering. It's a form of a request to organizations or individuals to express an interest in providing particular goods or services, entering a construction project, a lease agreement, or other commercial arrangements, etc. It's therefore important to closely follow the instructions outlined in the tender documents during the procedure, so the panel of the organizers of the tender will accept your bid. This list of bid requirements is provided to you when you send in a request or Expression of Interest cover letter. 

Expression of interest format

Follow these steps when writing a tender/quotation or expression of interest cover letter:

• Find and review the tender advertisement; Company publishes all tenders in the local government section of local newspapers and one other local publication. Tenders are also advertised on the government website and advertised at several websites (for example here: Official Journal of the European Union Latest Open Tenders.
• Obtain a copy of the tender or EOI request; Tender documents can be downloaded at several websites.
• Decide whether you are suitable for the project; Read the tender document very carefully and familiarize yourself with the conditions of tendering, the advertised selection criteria, the specifications, and the conditions of the contract, especially the clauses dealing with delivery and price variations, before deciding whether you are suitable or not.
• Understanding the contract and conditions of the tender; If you are unsure about the proposed contract, either discuss it with the contact officer nominated in the tender advertisement or have the tender reviewed by your legal representative.
• Completing your tender or EOI forms; Ensure you have filled out all the necessary fields from the document, answered each of the criteria, and supplied the required number of copies of your submission. You are then ready to lodge your tender documents.
• Company records are generally open to the public. However, tenders received are treated in confidence during the evaluation and reporting stages (see Steps 9 to 10), and subsequently retained on Tender File. They may at some time be the subject of an application to inspect.
• Tenderers who require any information provided with a tender to be kept permanently confidential should advise this in writing and give reasons, e.g. to protect a commercial interest or intellectual property.
• Tender Period; Company will offer the same tender documents to all those who respond to an invitation to tender. The tender period is usually two or three weeks. During the tender period, you may wish to seek further information or clarification from the contact officer. If advice, verbal or in writing, is given to a respondent clarifying the meaning of the tender documentation, the same information will be issued to all other respondents. The company will maintain a written record of all advice given.
• The company may invite prospective tenderers to a pre-tender meeting to provide further information and to respond to questions raised. The minutes of this meeting will be distributed to those who attend the meeting, or who have registered their interest with Company.
• Lodging your tender documents; Bids must be placed in a specific location, and no later than the closing time on the closing date. There are however some reasons that late tenders may be accepted – as described in the Local Government Act and Regulation. Mostly LATE submissions cannot be accepted.

        What Happens Next?

• Opening of tenders:  The company’s tender opening panel will open all tenders received by the due date and time, in the Company’s Reception area located at Company Chambers. The panel will list the tenders received in alphabetical order, and the list will be displayed in the Reception area for public viewing.
• Evaluation of Tenders; Every submission will be reviewed by a tender evaluation panel. While other criteria may be used which are more specific to each tender, the following are examples of commonly used criteria in an assessment:
  • quality;
  • price;
  • operational capability;
  • technical and methodological assessment;
  • financial capacity to undertake tender;
  • duration or time requirements;
  • occupational health and safety assessment;
  • environmental and sustainability considerations.
• The tender evaluation panel will examine all tenders for compliance with the conditions of tendering, including completion of all the relevant tender forms.
• Each tender submission is read in detail and its strengths and weaknesses are assessed and recorded. The submissions are then scored against the advertised criteria and ranked.
• (optional) Post-tender interviews; The tender evaluation panel may invite you to a post-tender interview to seek further details of your capability to carry out the works. Following the interview, the panel may review the scores and ranking of tenderers.
• You will be advised in writing if your tender was unsuccessful or successful. If your tender is successful you will be advised in writing and contract documentation may be required to be completed.
• Recommendation to Company; The panel will prepare a report to the Finance Department or Committee with a recommendation either to accept no tenders, with reasons given or to enter a contract with one tenderer or a number of tenderers. The Committee’s resolution will then go as a recommendation to the full Company.

Expression of interest example

Dear sir or madam {{add the name}}, or To Whom It May Concern,

Firstly, we like to thank you for permitting us to discuss the opportunities to contribute to {{PROJECT NAME}} in {{COUNTRY}} and we do hereby confirm that we are capable of performing the scope of work. Please know that we are highly interested to do this project {{PROJECT REFERENCE NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION}}.

Therefore, we like to send you our Expression of Interest to participate in Tender, which was published/send on, {[DATE]}, and gives an update based on the latest request and specifications provided to us on {{DATE LATEST REQUEST}}.

As you might know, our strengths lie in the ability to conceive and implement the strategic and continuous supply of the required food items to a central location, for a period of {{TIME FRAME months/years}}, in {{LOCATION}} for further distribution to: {{DESCRIBE ALL TENDER REQUIREMENTS}}... etc.

Check out this sample expression of interest letter for a construction project template and send it out to the organization that is organizing the bid. Wish you good luck!