In the UK, there is over £10 billion allocated for research and innovation funding each year. However, applying for grant funding is complex and extremely competitive, with prospective applicants required to write a bid to enter most competitions. As a result, many businesses invest in the services of a professional bid writer to help them secure funding.

Why should I hire a professional bid writer? 

• Saves your business time and resources

Grant applications take an average of 6-10 weeks to complete in-house. During this time, business owners, entrepreneurs and management teams will have to focus on developing the grant application, rather than running their business. Businesses must therefore think carefully about their internal capacity: i.e., can you afford for your team to be working on the application for an extended period of time?

• You benefit from their experience

There is no substitute for experience. A professional bid writer will have worked on hundreds of applications throughout their career. This experience will mean they know the process inside out, and exactly what it takes to develop a successful application.

• They’ll let you know if you’re barking up the wrong tree

A good bid writer will steer you away from a competition that they don’t think is right for you. For example, this may be the case if they have concerns about your eligibility or stage of development. While disappointing, this will save your business time and resources in the long run. They may even be able to recommend a competition that better suits your business.

• Increases your chances of success

Innovation funding is extremely competitive. However, a professional bid writer’s expertise and experience is likely to translate into a higher-than-average success rate. For example, RedKnight’s success rate stands at 42%. This is far above the average success rates of many popular innovation funding competitions, including the EIC Accelerator and Innovate UK Smart Grants. Read more about success rates here.

How do I decide who to hire? 

As a starting point, we recommend asking the following questions:

• What is your business model?
• What is your success rate?
• Can you give me an example of a recent successful project you have supported?
• Can I have the contact details of those case studies, please?
• What is your capacity leading up to the deadline?
• What is your bid writing process?

Their answers to these questions should help you reach an informed decision. For more information, check out ‘The Good, the bad and the ugly: How to select the right bid writer.’

Work with RedKnight 

RedKnight supports tech-based start-ups and SMEs with innovation funding applications. Since 2015, we have secured over £10 million and achieved a success rate of 42%. If you are looking for bid writing support, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact us to arrange a free consultation.