Scottish bid and tender expert Andrew Morrison has joined forces with Glasgow-based specialist Chris Denyer to launch a new company they plan to make the “Waitrose of bidding”.
The new venture comes just eight months after Mr Morrison sold Business Sale Basecamp, which he set up following his sale of AM Bid in 2023 after nine years at the helm.
Based in Edinburgh, Aspire Bidding has started trading with a UK-wide client base already on its books, from the west of Scotland and the Lothians north of the border to Yorkshire, Cheltenham and London in the south.
The boutique consultancy has launched with six members of staff located throughout the country, with plans in place to add to the personnel as the firm grows across multi sectors.
Aspire Bidding is targeting firms with a turnover in excess of £10m, with the co-founders, whose combined experience spans every side of the bidding process – writing bids, shaping strategy, training teams and evaluating submissions – promising to bring a genuine human touch to the bid writing process along with the proper implementation of AI.
Prior to launching Aspire Bidding, Mr Morrison was most recently a bid consultant with the business and digital transformation company Stellar Omada in Edinburgh.
He is looking forward to rekindling his entrepreneurial spirit following the successful sales of both AM Bid and Business Sale Basecamp.
“I am very much looking forward to harnessing our years of bidding experience,” said Mr Morrison, the global thought leader for the bid world’s professional body APMP – an accolade awarded to him as an individual who is helping shape how the bidding profession evolves internationally.
“I have so much respect for Chris’ work, particularly his great understanding of AI in bid writing.”
“There are things that AI can do that can make the job quicker. However, AI has its limits and, as yet, is no match for human specialist bid expertise. As AI accelerates the mechanics of bid writing, it exposes a deeper truth: winning bids has always been about judgement, insight and human decision-making.
“AI also has glitches and gets quite a lot wrong, so care and experience are needed when using it and that’s where Chris’ expertise will be a real asset.”
Mr Morrison added: “We will also take our clients’ people on the journey with us so that their knowledge and experience grow as a result of our involvement. While we can offer a ‘done for you’ service, working with us on a ‘done with you’ basis will leave a legacy of developing the skill set of existing teams.”
Originally from Sussex, Mr Denyer moved to Glasgow last year and has spent more than a decade writing bids for SMEs in construction, the sector being one of Aspire Bidding’s key focuses in 2026.
“I first met Andrew a year ago and have always been impressed by his knowledge of the sector. He is extremely well known and very, very good at what he does,” said Mr Denyer. “The more we worked on things together, the more sense it made to join forces as I believe our different strengths are a powerful match. I’m really looking forward to seeing where the partnership takes us.
“Our focus is on providing the ‘Waitrose of bidding’.
“We want to work with companies who aspire to improve and grow. If companies are committed to really investing in their ability to win work, even if they are not the biggest of firms, we can help them. Our focus is on people, an element so often overlooked in bidding; our goal is to bring a human touch to the process and make the whole experience stress-free for clients.”
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