Every major tender turns on four decisions. Each needs an owner, written criteria and a written output, or it is taken implicitly, usually too late.

An outside read before the board commits: senior-led, under mutual NDA, independent, with a fixed scope. The client keeps the pen; we state what to change, and why.

Whether to bid, the price you can defend and the risks you carry are fixed in the first weeks of a tender. That is when an independent challenge still changes the outcome.