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How UK public procurement actually works — written for the people who have to bid, not for the people who write the rules.

• How to bid for a UK council contract: a step-by-step guide

  Councils buy everything from grounds maintenance to IT, and the process is more knowable than it looks. Here is the route from finding the notice to submitting a compliant bid — where councils publish, how to qualify before you write, and where bids get thrown out.

  2026-07-21
• What is a framework agreement — and is it worth joining?

  Frameworks decide who gets asked to bid for years at a time. Here is what a framework actually is under the Procurement Act 2023, how call-off contracts are awarded, why a framework's headline value is a ceiling rather than spend, and when joining one is worth the effort.

  2026-07-21
• How to write a social value response that scores

  Social value carries a minimum 10% weighting in central government procurement, and most responses lose marks the same way. What the Social Value Model asks for, why councils differ from Whitehall, and how to write commitments that score — and that you can still deliver.

  2026-07-21
• The competitive flexible procedure, explained: the Procurement Act's new way to tender

  The Procurement Act 2023 replaced five rigid tendering procedures with two — the open procedure and the competitive flexible procedure. Here's what the CFP is, how buyers design a bespoke single- or multi-stage process, the rules that keep it fair, and what it means for your bid.

  2026-07-08
• Your delivery record is now public: KPIs and performance notices explained

  Under the Procurement Act 2023, buyers must publish at least three KPIs for contracts over £5 million and rate performance against them — and poor performance can now count against you in future bids. Here's how the new transparency cuts both ways for suppliers.

  2026-06-24
• Dynamic markets: the door that never closes on public work

  The Procurement Act 2023 replaced dynamic purchasing systems with dynamic markets — supplier lists you can join at any time, with no closing date and no cap on numbers. If you've ever missed a framework window, this change is for you.

  2026-06-10
• The debarment list is real: how suppliers stay on the right side of it

  The Procurement Act 2023 created a central, published debarment list and wider exclusion grounds — from fraud and competition breaches to persistent poor performance. What the rules actually say, and the housekeeping that keeps your bids safe.

  2026-05-27
• Paid in 30 days: how the Procurement Act protects cash flow down the supply chain

  From 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act 2023 implies 30-day payment terms into public contracts and, via section 73, into every public sub-contract — with authorities publishing payment compliance notices. Why it matters most to smaller suppliers.

  2026-05-06
• 30% to SMEs: what the new spend targets mean for small businesses

  The National Procurement Policy Statement and PPN 001 set SME and VCSE spend targets: central departments must set three-year SME targets from April 2025 and report annually, with an ambition of 30% of spend with SMEs by 2027/28. What it means if you're a small supplier.

  2026-04-15
• Where UK public tenders are published — and the thresholds that decide

  Find a Tender carries higher-value UK public contracts (it replaced OJEU/TED on 1 January 2021); Contracts Finder carries lower-value ones. Here are the thresholds in force from 1 January 2026 and what they mean for where a contract appears.

  2026-03-26
• Register once, bid many times: the Central Digital Platform and the new Find a Tender

  From 24 February 2025 the enhanced Find a Tender service and the Central Digital Platform let suppliers register core business details once and reuse them across bids. It's free, searchable and supports alerts — here's how to make it work for you.

  2026-03-11
• The Procurement Act 2023 is live: what changed for suppliers

  The Procurement Act 2023 went live on 24 February 2025, replacing the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. A single competitive flexible procedure, more transparency across the contract lifecycle and tougher exclusions — here's what it means if you bid for public work.

  2026-02-19