Re: Sellafield, where taxpayer monies go to die...!
I suspect you've never had to bid for work at Sillyfield?
The normal rules of business don't apply, and you can expect many, many questions about costs. Like how much do you pay your staff? What does your electric and insurance cost, and who supplies them? Will they be raising their prices? Can we have five years of your accounts, please, so we can audit you?
These are genuine questions from a tender for occasional coach transport. Having seen some of their construction tenders too, it seems like their contract department likes to be busy!
What seems to happen in reality is that there are three or four firms whose work seems to be bidding for work and buying or selling each other and infinitum* - one of my mates has worked in the same office for ~10 years, but has been employed by around 8 different versions of the same company in that time.
Those mega corps then sub work to the same bunch of local subbies, who occasionally go bust, but then start up again with a slightly different name. They, in turn, subcontract all the work out, usually to one bloke** who is quite busy doing the actual work of around 9,999 people who seem to be able to just push bits of paper around.
*This makes Joint Ventures a great game, especially when it comes to IT support
**Hi John! Hope you're keeping well?