Resources

Guides for winning public sector work as a small firm

Practical articles on finding contracts on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, deciding what to bid for, getting ahead of renewals, and the Procurement Act 2023. Written for firms without a bid team.

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• Finding contracts · 2 min read

  Find a Tender and Contracts Finder: what each one carries

  Two free government services publish UK public contracts. They overlap less than you would expect, and the smaller jobs are mostly on the one people stopped checking.

• Deciding whether to bid · 3 min read

  How to read a tender notice in ten minutes

  Most notices can be ruled in or out before you open the documents. The order to read them in, and what each part is really telling you.

• Deciding whether to bid · 2 min read

  Bid or no bid: a checklist for firms of five to fifty people

  Every tender you write costs days you could have spent on paying work. A straightforward way to decide which ones deserve them.

• The Procurement Act 2023 · 2 min read

  The Procurement Act 2023: what changed for small suppliers

  The biggest change to public procurement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in a generation took effect in February 2025. What it means in practice for a small firm.

• Reference · 43 terms

  Procurement glossary

  Plain definitions of the terms you'll meet in notices and tender documents, from assessment summary to TUPE.

Finding contracts

Where public sector work is published, and how to see the part of it that fits your firm.

• Finding contracts · 2 min read

  Find a Tender and Contracts Finder: what each one carries

  Two free government services publish UK public contracts. They overlap less than you would expect, and the smaller jobs are mostly on the one people stopped checking.

• Finding contracts · 2 min read

  Below-threshold contracts: where small firms actually win

  The biggest contracts get the attention, but most small suppliers build their public sector business on work well under the procurement thresholds. How that end of the market works.

• Finding contracts · 2 min read

  Frameworks and dynamic markets: getting on the list

  A lot of public work is never tendered on its own. It is called off from lists of approved suppliers. How those lists work, and which ones you can still join.

Deciding whether to bid

Reading a notice quickly, spotting what rules you out, and knowing when to walk away.

• Deciding whether to bid · 3 min read

  How to read a tender notice in ten minutes

  Most notices can be ruled in or out before you open the documents. The order to read them in, and what each part is really telling you.

• Deciding whether to bid · 2 min read

  Bid or no bid: a checklist for firms of five to fifty people

  Every tender you write costs days you could have spent on paying work. A straightforward way to decide which ones deserve them.

• Deciding whether to bid · 2 min read

  Contract size, turnover tests and national coverage: what rules a small firm out

  Three things in a notice most often put a contract out of reach for a small supplier. How to spot them, and when they are less of a barrier than they look.

Renewals, buyers and competitors

Using the public record to get in front of a tender before it is published.

• Renewals, buyers and competitors · 2 min read

  Who holds the contract now? Using award notices to find the incumbent

  Award notices tell you who won past contracts, for how much, and for how long. How to read them, and the limits of what they can tell you.

• Renewals, buyers and competitors · 2 min read

  Contract renewals: why a year out is the right time

  By the time a tender is published, the specification is written. The best time to hear about a contract is about twelve months before it ends.

• Renewals, buyers and competitors · 2 min read

  Watching competitors without guesswork

  The contracts your rivals win are published. Used carefully, that tells you where they are growing, what they charge, and when their contracts come back to market.

• Renewals, buyers and competitors · 2 min read

  Researching a buyer before you bid

  An hour spent understanding a buyer before writing a bid is the best hour in the process. Where to look and what to look for.

The Procurement Act 2023

What the new rules changed for small suppliers, in plain terms.

• The Procurement Act 2023 · 2 min read

  The Procurement Act 2023: what changed for small suppliers

  The biggest change to public procurement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in a generation took effect in February 2025. What it means in practice for a small firm.

Writing the bid

Turning a decision to bid into an answer that scores.

• Writing the bid · 2 min read

  Writing a tender response that scores

  Evaluators score what is on the page against a published guide. How to write for the person holding the scoring sheet.

Sectors

• Construction & building works

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Repair & maintenance

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• IT, software & telecoms

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Cleaning, waste & environmental

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Business & professional services

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Health & medical

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Social care & community

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Education & training

  Live notices, sortable and filterable by region.

• Every category and region

  All 22 trades and 13 regions, with counts of what's open now.

Tools

• Search every notice

  By keyword, buyer or place, then save the search as an alert.

• Buyer profiles

  What each public body buys, how often, and who wins it.

• Dynamic markets

  Supplier lists accepting applications right now.

• Use cases

  How different kinds of firm set Bidwire up.