Under the old rules a supplier mostly saw two things: an advert, and later an award. The Procurement Act 2023, in force since 24 February 2025, requires notices at many more points, all published on Find a Tender. Together they form a public record of a contract from the first plan to the day it ends. Procurements started under the old rules still finish under them, so older-style notices will be around for a while.
Not every notice deserves your attention. Here they are in the order they appear, with what each one is good for.
Before the tender
- Pipeline notice
- A buyer that expects to spend more than £100 million in the coming financial year publishes a list of the larger contracts it plans to procure over the following 18 months. It is the earliest public sign that work is coming, though only from bigger bodies and only for bigger contracts.
- Preliminary market engagement notice
- Published when a buyer wants to talk to suppliers before writing the tender, or explained in the tender notice if it did not. This is the moment to influence how the work is packaged, including whether it is split into lots a small firm could win.
- Planned procurement notice
- An optional early warning that a tender is on its way. A buyer that publishes one can allow a shorter bidding period later, so treat it as a prompt to get ready.
The tender itself
- Tender notice
- The invitation to take part. It sets out the procedure, the conditions of participation, the award criteria and the deadlines. See how to read a tender notice in ten minutes.
- Procurement termination notice
- Published if a buyer abandons a procurement. Worth knowing about if you were preparing a bid, because the work may come back in a different form.
Direct awards
When a buyer awards a contract without competition, which the Act allows only in defined circumstances, it normally publishes a transparency notice first, explaining what it is buying and why. It is the one chance to see a direct award before it happens.
After the decision
- Contract award notice
- Announces who the buyer intends to award to. For most above-threshold contracts it starts a standstill period before the contract can be signed, and every bidder whose tender was assessed receives an assessment summary first. See after the result.
- Contract details notice
- Published once the contract is signed, with the supplier, the value and the dates. For larger contracts the buyer also publishes the contract itself, with sensitive parts removed. The end date here is what tells you when the work comes back.
While the contract runs
- Contract performance notice
- For larger contracts, buyers set key performance indicators and publish how the supplier is doing against them, at least once a year. A struggling incumbent is useful to know about a year before a renewal.
- Contract change notice
- Published when a contract is modified, for example extended or enlarged. An extension moves the date the work returns to market.
- Contract termination notice
- Published when a contract ends, including early. An early end can mean the work is re-procured sooner than expected.
- Payments compliance notice
- Buyers report at regular intervals how quickly they pay invoices. Useful if cash flow is tight and you are choosing between buyers.
Which to watch, by what you want
- Work to bid for now
- tender notices in your trades and area.
- A head start on a buyer you want to win
- their pipeline and preliminary market engagement notices.
- When a contract comes back
- award, contract details, change and termination notices for the contract.
- How a rival is doing
- the award notices naming them, and performance notices on their larger contracts.
On Bidwire
Bidwire's digest and contract listings are built from tender notices. Its renewal alerts, buyer pages and competitor watch are built from award information on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Pipeline and preliminary market engagement notices are not in the digest, so for the handful of buyers that matter most to you, check their notices on Find a Tender directly.
This is a summary for orientation, not legal advice. Which notices apply, and when, depends on the type and value of the contract. GOV.UK publishes the government's guidance on each notice.