People often ask us how to find tenders for their business. There are hundreds of portals in the UK – some generalist, some specialist. Some charge a membership fee and others are free. This article sets out a few ways to find yourself some great tendering opportunities.
Contracts Finder
Contracts Finder is a free new service for businesses, government buyers and the public. This service comes from government under its transparency commitment and you can find:
· live contract opportunities
· closed tender documentation
· contract awards and contract documents
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)
TED is the online version of the ‘Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)’, dedicated to European public procurement. Public procurement in the UK and European Union is governed by a number of Directives and Regulations and all tender opportunities above a certain monetary threshold must be published in the OJEU. TED provides free access to business opportunities. It is updated five times a week with approximately 1500 public procurement notices from the European Union, the European Economic Area and beyond. Register on the TED website for free to get started or contact the Enterprise Europe Network for further advice and support.
Where to find Global Sporting Opportunities
- Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics opportunities in Russia
- World Cup in 2018
- Sport England
- British Olympic Association
- Commonwealth Games Business Portal
- Podium website
- London eTendering website aka Compete For
Where to find Local Authority opportunities
It is worth finding out how your local authorities manage their tenders however we find that in the majority they use their own online portals, advertise in local papers and/or use an external company like Exor to manage their preferred supplier database.
- Exor
- Tendering for Bromley Council contracts
- Tendering in the South West council contracts
- Tendering for Birmingham Council contracts
Central Government
Try these for size
- Home Office tender opportunities
- The Department for Work and Pensions tender opportunities
- The Foreign and Commonwealth Office tender opportunities
- Department for International Development tender opportunities
- Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) – This programme provides business opportunities for innovative companies whilst solving the needs of government departments.
- Ireland – eTenders.gov.ie
- Northern Ireland tender opportunities – NI Business Info
- Scotland tender opportunities – Public Contracts Scotland
- Highland.gov.uk
- Wales tender opportunities – Sell2Wales
- http://www.publictenders.net/
NHS
The Department of Health is divided into a number of business units for purchasing purposes, each with their own budgets. We have selected a few ways to monitor different tendering and business opportunities
- NHS healthcare opportunities - www.supply2health.nhs.uk
- Department of Health opportunities
Specialist
Each sector often has its own specialist portals and we have put together a list of some of them
- Food Northwest – food and drink sector opportunities
- Food South East – food and drink sector opportunities
- Cirrus Tenders – housing sector opportunities
- National Policing Improvement Agency
- Forestry Commission
- Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
- Bluelight - tendering solutions for all emergency services
- Construction Line – pre-qualification website charge applies from £90
What do you think of our How to Find Tenders list – have you got a favourite to add?
