How do I find government contracts?

The public sector is made up of numerous organisations run by the government, this includes local councils, emergency services, armed forces, and the NHS. Each of these organisations relies on the private sector to supply them with a wide range of goods, works, and services – spending around £300 billion a year with suppliers across all industries.

To ensure there is a competitive marketplace, contracts must be published publicly, making them accessible to any supplier. This means whenever a public body has a procurement need, they have to advertise the contract online using any of the numerous publishing platforms (also known as advertising portals) available to them – details of these can be found at the end of this post.

Tender Publishing Platforms in the UK

Tenders published by the public sector in the UK can be advertised on any of the following platforms:

• Find a Tender: for all high-value notices published across the UK.
• Contracts Finder: for English contracts worth over £12,000 with the government and its agencies.
• Public Contracts Scotland – for all public procurements in Scotland, high and low-value.
• Sell2Wales – for all public procurements in Wales, high and low-value.
• eSourcing NI – for all public procurements in Northern Ireland, high and low-value.
• Public Buyer Specific: low-value tenders, which make up over 70% of all public contracts, can be published on the buyer’s own website or through a third-party service such as myTenders – meaning there are hundreds of sites used to publish notices.

How to find relevant government tenders for your business

Over 45,000 contracts are published by the public sector each year, meaning a streamlined approach to sourcing opportunities will make your life easier. The following tips will help improve your chances of finding suitable contracts for your business:

1. Refine your search criteria: Be specific about the type of contracts you’re interested in, and use relevant keywords related to your industry, products, or services. You can use our Free Tender Search to try and plan your keywords.
2. Read the descriptions carefully: Pay attention to the tender descriptions, making sure you understand what type of contract is being advertised, the buyer’s requirements, and the evaluation criteria being used.
3. Check submission deadlines: Know how much time you would need to craft a winning tender, and dismiss opportunities you would not be able to bid for by the deadline.
4. Analyse past tenders and contract awards: Review these to understand what common requirements are, and use award notices to conduct competitor research.
5. Quality over quantity: Focus on tenders which best align with your business goals and capabilities, trying to apply for every opportunity will spread your resources too thin and reduce your chances of success.

The challenges of finding tenders

The above tips will help you find tenders more efficiently, however there will still be some challenges you should take into consideration when planning your resources:

1. Too many portals: With more than 600 portals spanning various regions and departments, it would be impossible to thoroughly check all sources regularly, leading to missed contracting opportunities.
2. Limited search capability: Each portal will have its own search tools, relying on differing criteria (CPV codes, keywords, contract titles) to generate search results – increasing the level of work needed to maximise your market awareness.
3. Competitive distribution: Some tenders will be easy to find, while others will be almost impossible to find – around 12% of tenders only have 1 to 2 bidders.

While these challenges may discourage some businesses from accessing the market, they do create some significant opportunities for businesses choosing to enter the market.

Businesses with the knowledge of how to navigate these portals, and have the resources to do so efficiently, will have a better understanding of the market and access to more opportunities to bid for. For businesses that do not have the resources to constantly monitor the market, there are tender alert services like Tenders Direct.

What is Tenders Direct?

Tenders Direct is the UK’s leading platform for comprehensive and accurate public sector tender opportunities. We offer a single platform for businesses to access all high and low-value contracts advertised by the UK government and its agencies.

• Unparalleled market coverage: Access every publicly issued tender, including those from FTS and other portals, ensuring you never miss a relevant opportunity.
• Personalised tender alerts: Receive daily email notifications tailored to your specific needs and preferences, saving you valuable research time.
• Seamless integration: Combine Tenders Direct with your existing workflow using our Integrate API. Export tender details to your preferred applications for efficient management.
• Powerful search & analysis tools: Conduct in-depth market research, identify new business opportunities, and gain valuable competitor insights with our advanced search functionalities.
• Guaranteed accuracy: With the Tenders Direct guarantee, you can be confident you’ll never miss a qualifying tender.

With Tenders Direct, you can unlock the full potential of the UK public sector contract market and save time and resources rather than searching across countless platforms.

Stop wasting time and resources searching fragmented platforms. Choose Tenders Direct and unlock the full potential of the UK public sector contract market.