A Glasgow based-procurement publishing house has acquired online tendering firm Tendering Services Ireland for an undisclosed fee.
Business Information Publications (BIP), which reported a £6m sterling turnover in recent days, is a provider of public sector contract information and hosts the UK’s largest database of online public sector contracts. It described its acquisition of Tendering Services Ireland as its first step into new European markets and beyond.
Established in 1991, Tendering Services Ireland owns the Irishtendersdirect.com portal for public and private sector tenders in Ireland. The website contains information on over 1,200 tendering agencies in Ireland, including the Government Purchasing Agency, Dublin Corporation and the Southern Health Board.
BIP, which employs 100 staff at its Glasgow headquarters, considers itself a major competitor to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), in which all European governments must publish their procurement information. It claims to have 67pc more Irish and UK contract announcements than the OJEU.
Tendering Services Ireland’s subscriber base will be integrated into BIP’s contract information services and the Irish office will be consolidated into the company’s Glasgow headquarters.
“Tendering Services Ireland marks our first acquisition in Europe and its customers will now enjoy a higher level of services and more contracts being available through BIP products and services,” commented BIP’s managing director Ron Burges.
“We are confident of 25pc growth this year and are starting to look beyond the UK as the opportunities in the US are vast and we have ambitions of building BIP into a global business,” Burges said.
By John Kennedy
