Bidwire
UK public sector contracts

Use cases

How small suppliers use Bidwire

A five-person roofing firm and a twenty-person software house need very different things from the same public data. Here is how each kind of firm sets Bidwire up, using contracts from both Find a Tender and Contracts Finder.

Use case

Building contractors and trades

Builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers and maintenance firms working within a couple of hours of their yard.

The problem

Most of the contracts you could win are small and local, and they're scattered: a school's roof repairs on Contracts Finder, a housing association's planned maintenance on Find a Tender, a council framework on its own portal. National tender alerts bury them under multi-million-pound schemes you'd never bid for.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Pick Construction & building works and Repair & maintenance, and the area you work in. The digest covers both sources.
  • Save a search for your specialism, such as roofing or fire door, with a maximum value that fits your capacity, and leave notices without a stated value included.
  • Sort any list by value: low to high then closing soonest to see the jobs sized for you first.
  • Use renewal alerts to hear about maintenance contracts a year before they end, when the buyer is still writing the specification.

Further reading: below threshold contracts · contract renewals a year out

Use case

IT, software and managed service providers

Small software houses, MSPs, network and cyber security specialists.

The problem

Public sector IT is bought through a maze of frameworks and dynamic markets, with national contracts next to one-off pieces of work for a single school trust. Keyword alerts on "software" return thousands of irrelevant notices.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Pick IT, software & telecoms with Anywhere in the UK if you deliver remotely.
  • Save separate searches for what you actually sell, such as Microsoft 365, penetration testing or case management, so each gets its own section in the digest.
  • Check dynamic markets open to join. You can apply without waiting for a tender.
  • Watch the competitors you meet most often and see their new wins each week.

Further reading: frameworks and dynamic markets · watching competitors

Use case

Cleaning, grounds and facilities services

Contract cleaners, grounds maintenance, pest control, waste and security firms.

The problem

Service contracts come round on a cycle, often ending on 31 March, and by the time the tender is out the incumbent has a year's head start. Taking one on can also mean TUPE, so you need time to plan.

How to set Bidwire up

Further reading: contract renewals a year out · finding the incumbent

Use case

Consultancies and professional services

Engineers, surveyors, architects, planners, HR and management consultants, research and evaluation specialists.

The problem

The work you do is described in a hundred different ways, and the category codes buyers use are broad. An evaluation of a youth programme might be filed under research, education or business services.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Lean on keywords. Save searches such as feasibility study, evaluation or condition survey across every category.
  • Add Surveying, architecture & engineering or Business & professional services as a digest category for the broad sweep.
  • Set a value range that screens out the multi-year frameworks you can't service.
  • Research each buyer before writing, using their award history and what they have open now.

Further reading: researching a buyer · writing a response that scores

Use case

Care, support and community providers

Domiciliary care, supported living, children's services, charities and social enterprises delivering public services.

The problem

Councils and the NHS often buy care through dynamic markets and frameworks rather than one-off tenders, and missing the window to join can mean years without access to referrals.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Pick Social care & community and Health & medical for your area.
  • Keep an eye on dynamic markets, which stay open for applications for their whole life.
  • Save a search limited to small-firm friendly notices to cut out national contracts.
  • Use buyer pages to see which commissioners buy the services you provide.

Further reading: frameworks and dynamic markets · procurement act 2023 small suppliers

Use case

Bid writers and advisers working for several clients

Freelance bid writers, business advisers and growth hubs supporting a portfolio of small firms.

The problem

Every client works in a different trade and area, and running a separate alert account for each one is unmanageable.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Create a saved search per client, named after them, each with its own keywords, categories, region and value range.
  • Switch email on for the active clients: every search gets its own section in one weekly email, and a notice matching two searches is shown once.
  • Open a search's results page to sort and page through everything matching, not only this week's.
  • Send clients straight to the notice page, which links to the original on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder.

Further reading: bid no bid checklist · writing a response that scores

Use case

Firms defending the contracts they hold

Any supplier with public sector contracts coming up for renewal.

The problem

Your existing contracts are someone else's opportunity. You need to know when they are due back to market, and which competitors are winning similar work nearby.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Star your own contracts in the renewal list so their end dates stay in view.
  • Watch the competitors most likely to bid against you and see where they are winning.
  • Follow each buyer's open notices for early signs of a re-procurement, such as market engagement.

Further reading: watching competitors · contract renewals a year out

Use case

Firms bidding for public work for the first time

Established small businesses that have sold privately and want a first public sector contract.

The problem

The jargon, the portals and the paperwork are off-putting, and it's hard to tell which contracts a newcomer could realistically win.

How to set Bidwire up

  • Start with notices marked small-firm friendly, and with the smaller contracts, many of which are on Contracts Finder.
  • Read the plain-English summary on each notice before the legal text, and check the reasons a notice might not suit a small firm.
  • Work through the resources, starting with how to read a tender notice and the glossary.
  • Save a handful of notices to your account and practise the bid or no-bid decision before committing to write one.

Further reading: reading a tender notice · bid no bid checklist

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