Frequently Asked Questions

UK tenders are open invitations from public sector organisations - central government departments, councils, NHS trusts, schools, universities, and other public bodies - for suppliers to bid for contracts to supply goods, services, or works. By law they must be advertised publicly: above-threshold tenders on Find a Tender and lower-value tenders on Contracts Finder. In UK procurement the terms "tender", "contract notice", and "procurement notice" are used largely interchangeably. TenderTracker UK indexes every live UK tender from both official sources, searchable in one place.

All UK public sector contract opportunities are published on two official government portals: Find a Tender Service for above-threshold contracts and Contracts Finder for lower-value contracts (over £12,000 for central government, over £30,000 for the wider public sector). TenderTracker UK aggregates both portals into one searchable index, updated hourly, with email alerts so new opportunities matching your keywords, CPV codes, or target buyers reach you automatically.

Find a Tender Service (FTS) publishes above-threshold contracts - typically higher value opportunities that follow the full procurement regime under the Procurement Act 2023. These are often larger, more complex contracts. Contracts Finder publishes sub-threshold contracts - lower value opportunities that are still significant for many businesses. These cover a wide range of goods, services, and works across the UK public sector. TenderTracker UK aggregates both sources, so you get complete coverage in one place.

Yes. The official portals, Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, are free to search and always will be. Anyone can view published contract notices without paying. What TenderTracker UK adds is a single search across both portals, full-text and CPV filtering, buyer profiles, and email alerts, for £99/month after a 14-day free trial. The underlying notices are public data; the product is the speed and completeness with which you can work with them.

TenderTracker UK currently tracks 264,250 contract notices published since June 2021: 191,640 above-threshold notices from Find a Tender and 72,610 from Contracts Finder. Right now 20,325 tenders are open for bids. Figures update with every hourly sync.

We sync contract data multiple times daily from Find a Tender Service and Contracts Finder. New contracts typically appear within hours of being published on the official government portals.

Yes. Both Find a Tender Service and Contracts Finder include opportunities from public sector organisations across the entire United Kingdom, including Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

You can set up alerts based on keywords, CPV codes, buyer organisations, or value ranges. When new contracts matching your criteria are published, we'll send you an email notification so you can respond quickly to relevant opportunities.

Public contracts are classified with CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes, so the most reliable way to find work in your sector is to follow the handful of codes that describe what you do, rather than relying on keywords alone. On TenderTracker you can browse every CPV division to see live contract counts, filter any search by code, and set alerts on the codes that matter to you so new opportunities come to you automatically.

A UK tender notice typically includes the contract title and description, the buying organisation, an estimated or awarded value, one or more CPV classification codes, the submission deadline, and links to the tender documents. Award notices additionally record the winning supplier and the final contract value. On TenderTracker every notice also links back to its official source on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder, so you can verify the detail and respond through the correct channel.

TenderTracker indexes UK public sector contract notices published from June 2021 to the present, aggregated from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. The index refreshes hourly, so new notices usually appear within hours of being published on the official portals.

A tender notice is a public advertisement that a government body intends to buy goods, services, or works, inviting suppliers to bid. UK notices follow the Open Contracting Data Standard and move through a lifecycle: tender (open for bids), award (winner chosen), and contract (signed). Responding to a notice typically means completing a standard qualification stage and then a written tender against published evaluation criteria.

From 1 January 2024, the main thresholds (inclusive of VAT) are £139,688 for central government goods and services, £215,068 for sub-central bodies such as councils and NHS trusts, and £5,372,609 for works. Contracts at or above these values must be advertised on Find a Tender under the full procurement regime. Thresholds are set under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and reviewed every two years.

CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes are an internationally standardised classification of around 9,400 numeric codes that buyers use to categorise what a contract is for, from 03000000 (agricultural products) to 98000000 (community services). Suppliers use CPV codes to filter opportunities and set precise alerts: following the handful of codes for your sector is far more reliable than keyword searching alone.

A framework agreement is an umbrella arrangement that fixes terms under which public buyers can award future contracts (call-offs) to pre-approved suppliers without running a full procurement each time. A framework place is not guaranteed work, but most call-offs are only visible to suppliers already on the framework. Under the Procurement Act 2023, open frameworks must readmit new suppliers at least once in their first 3 years, and dynamic markets stay permanently open to new joiners.

The Procurement Act 2023 is the largest reform of UK public procurement law in decades, applying to procurements started on or after 24 February 2025. It replaced the EU-derived Public Contracts Regulations 2015 with a single UK regime. Key changes for suppliers include a simpler competitive flexible procedure, open frameworks and dynamic markets that readmit new suppliers, an 8-working-day standstill period before contract signature, and stronger transparency requirements across the contract lifecycle.

Yes. The UK government has a long-standing ambition for £1 in every £3 of central government procurement spend to reach small and medium-sized enterprises, and the Procurement Act 2023 requires buyers to consider and reduce barriers facing SMEs. Sub-threshold notices on Contracts Finder are often sized for smaller suppliers, and bids are evaluated against published criteria, so a well-evidenced SME bid competes on quality, not company size.

Typically several weeks from notice to submission deadline, and weeks to months more until award. Above-threshold procedures include minimum tendering periods, and awards are followed by a mandatory 8-working-day standstill before the contract can be signed. The practical implication: the earlier you spot a notice, the more of the tender window you keep, which is why suppliers set alerts rather than checking portals manually.

Any organisation that meets the requirements set out in the tender can bid, from sole traders and SMEs to large companies and consortia. Buyers assess suppliers against published criteria covering suitability, financial standing, technical capability, and relevant experience, not company size. The Procurement Act 2023 also requires buyers to consider and reduce the barriers facing smaller suppliers, supporting the longstanding ambition for £1 in every £3 of central government procurement spend to reach SMEs.

A dynamic purchasing system is an electronic list of pre-approved suppliers that, unlike a closed framework, stays open for new suppliers to join throughout its life. Buyers run quick mini-competitions among the suppliers on the system to award individual contracts. Under the Procurement Act 2023, dynamic purchasing systems are being replaced by dynamic markets, which work in a similar way but apply across a broader range of procurements and must stay open to new joiners.

The standstill period is a mandatory pause between a buyer announcing the winning bidder and signing the contract, giving unsuccessful bidders time to seek feedback or challenge the decision. Under the Procurement Act 2023 the standard standstill is 8 working days from publication of the contract award notice.

A contract or tender notice advertises an opportunity that is open for bids, setting out the requirement, the deadline, and how to respond. An award notice is published after the contract is awarded and records who won and the value. TenderTracker indexes both, so you can track an opportunity from advertisement through to award.

Without an account you can search the register as a preview, read the full description of any contract notice, and browse the buyer, supplier, CPV, and location directories, all for free. Tender documents, lots, contacts, the AI analysis, and email alerts require an account. A free account starts a 14-day trial with full Pro access and no card required: unlimited search, complete notices, alerts, saved searches, tracking, CSV export, and the market intelligence suite. After the trial, Pro is £99 a month; without it your account keeps limited guest-level access, and any alerts you already created keep emailing you.

Yes. TenderTracker is a discovery and monitoring tool, not a bidding portal. Every notice links back to its official source on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder, and you submit your bid through the buyer's own procurement system exactly as instructed in the notice.

Yes. You can export any search or buyer and supplier profile to CSV for your pipeline or bid team. CSV export is included in the 14-day free trial and in Pro at £99 a month; it is not available on limited guest access.

The 14-day free trial gives you full access to all features - unlimited searches, email alerts, and complete contract details. No credit card is required to start. If you don't subscribe after the trial, your account simply reverts to limited access.

Yes. There are no long-term contracts or cancellation fees. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period.

We accept all major credit and debit cards through our secure payment processor, Stripe. All payments are processed in GBP.

Yes. VAT invoices are automatically generated for each payment and can be downloaded from your account settings. You can also add your company details and VAT number to your account for proper invoicing.