AI helps Sutton Coldfield firm match university on £96k tender bid

AI Director Ltd, a one-person AI consultancy in Royal Sutton Coldfield, has matched a top UK university on quality scoring in a live £96,000 public procurement tender.

The bid ran through an automated AI pipeline, with minimal input from founder Simon Steggles.

Steggles (pictured) built TenderWatch, an AI system that scans government procurement portals worldwide to find contract opportunities.

To stress-test it in a live setting, he entered an active tender run by a UK financial regulatory body.

A separate set of AI tools then drafted the response. Fed with Steggles' own company records, including his company registration number, the tools answered most compliance and technical questions without help.

A handful of questions used language Steggles didn't follow.

The AI translated those into plain English and helped him shape the final answers.

The regulator scored every submission, with AI Director Ltd scoring 70 per cent overall.

A leading UK university won, with 85 per cent. However, on methodology, the two organisations tied, each scoring 30 out of 40.

On cost, AI Director Ltd scored a perfect 20 out of 20, ahead of the university.

Steggles, who manages ADHD alongside running his business, says tender paperwork has often felt harder to navigate than the work itself.

"Procurement paperwork has put off businesses like mine for years," said Steggles.

"This test was built to find how far automation can go on its own, and it shows the barrier was administrative, not a question of capability. If AI can get a sole trader to 70 per cent against a university, it can do the same for any small business that's written off public contracts as too complicated."

Steggles said the test was a proof of concept, not a live pursuit.

Howeverm, now that it's proven, he has added two more layers, with multiple AI models cross-checking every answer against the evaluation criteria, testing how each is likely to score, and refine the text.

A final human review sits at the end of the process.

The aim now is winning tenders outright and getting AI Director Ltd onto public sector frameworks.

Steggles is offering to help fellow Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce members work out whether the same approach might open up public sector contracts for their own businesses.