Public procurement rules are tiered by value. Above the thresholds, full procedures apply, with minimum timescales and formal notices at every stage. Below them the rules are lighter, the contracts are smaller, and the competition is usually other small and local firms rather than national companies with bid teams.
What the thresholds are
The thresholds differ for goods and services, for works, and for central government against other public bodies, and they are revised every two years. Works thresholds run to several million pounds; services thresholds for most local bodies are in the low hundreds of thousands. Check the current figures on GOV.UK rather than relying on a number you remember, because they change.
When a smaller contract has to be advertised
Many small purchases are never advertised. A buyer is often allowed to ask a handful of suppliers it knows for quotes. But under the Procurement Act 2023, when a buyer does choose to advertise a contract worth more than £12,000 (for central government) or £30,000 (for most other public bodies), including VAT, it has to publish a notice. Once that contract is awarded, it has to publish the contract's details too.
That second notice matters more than it sounds. It tells you who won, for how much, and for how long, which is how you learn who does this work locally and when it will come round again.
Lighter rules on who can bid
For below-threshold contracts, the Act stops buyers running a separate shortlisting stage to narrow the field before tenders are invited. A buyer can still ask for evidence that you are suitable, but it has to do that as part of the tender, not as a gate in front of it. For a small firm that means fewer contracts you are excluded from before you have had a chance to show what you can do.
Why this is where to start
- You can deliver it
- A contract worth £40,000 fits the capacity and cash flow of a small firm in a way a £4 million one does not.
- The bid is proportionate
- Smaller contracts tend to have shorter questionnaires and quicker decisions.
- It builds evidence
- Every contract delivered is a reference and a case study for the next, larger tender.
- It builds a relationship
- Deliver well for a council's facilities team and you are the supplier they think of when the next quote comes up.
Where to find it
Lower-value opportunities are spread across Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, and each buyer's own supplier portal. Contracts Finder is particularly rich in small awards. Register on the portals of the councils, trusts and schools near you as well, since some quotes only go to suppliers already registered there.
Setting Bidwire up for small work
Sort any listing by value: low to high to see the smallest stated contracts first, then add closing soonest as the second sort. Or save a search with a maximum value, say £100,000, and leave include notices that don't state a value ticked: most notices state no value, and a lot of small work is among them.