Alternate CPV codes, incorrect geographic regions and confusing contract titles can make it baffling to find tender opportunities for your organisation. If you want to start bidding for contracts or even have experience bidding but are trying to firm up your bid pipeline, it can be difficult to find the best place to start.
We share our tips on how to identify and pre-qualify tender opportunities and how the Procurement Act has given additional scope for information in tender notices.
Using government websites to find tender opportunities
All contracts above a certain value must be advertised on the government websites, which are free-to-use:
- Contracts Finder, for all contracts above a value of £12,000
- Find a Tender, hosting all contracts with a value exceeding £30,000.
Normally, we recommend clients set up an account on the portal with relevant alerts and check these pages two to three times per week utilising the following filters to ensure the tender is right for their business:
- Keyword search, allowing interested bidders to use contract titles, industry or sector descriptors and contracting authorities to identify and filter contracts
- Procurement stage, comprising pre-bid activity such as ‘pipeline’ and ‘planning’ notices, live tenders and open opportunities, contract award notices and terminations due to underperformance
- CPV code for industries or sectors, including construction, facilities management, such as security, cleaning, grounds maintenance or mechanical and electrical tenders, and health and social care
- Suitability, where you can include tender opportunities which are suitable for SMEs and VCSEs (such as grant or research funding).
Using the functions above will effectively narrow searches when looking for tender opportunities.
How the Procurement Act makes it easier to find tender opportunities
Coming into force 24 February 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 introduced widespread changes aimed at simplifying the tender process and encouraging greater numbers of suppliers to bid for contracts.
Changes to tender notices were also integrated into the Act’s remit, including:
- Greater pre-market engagement notices: As part of increased pre-bid activity and formalising bid pipelines, the new ‘planning’ and ‘pipeline’ notices give information on upcoming contracts not yet available for tender. The tender notices will include information on the scope of procurement, anticipated question set and any pre-market engagement sessions – either online or in person.
- Information regarding the evaluation criteria: Equally, the Act has given new scope for notices to include greater detail on what the evaluation criteria will comprise, including the quality/price split and themes and topics covered within the submission. This allows bidders to form an initial evaluation of the submission without expressing their interest and downloading the tender documents.
Lastly, the government’s Find a Tender service has integrated the Central Digital Platform (CDP), a central database where all suppliers must input company information in order to be eligible to bid.
The CDP is closely linked to the new Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ), a new pre-qualifying document which has replaced the SQ.
Top tips for finding and pre-qualifying tender opportunities
Once you have identified a suitable tender opportunity, the pre-qualification process begins. Follow the below process to ensure you stand a viable chance of success.
Check the tender notice details are correct
Occasionally, tender notices can be issued under the incorrect CPV code (industry) or geographic area – meaning you may not be able to deliver a contract which is ostensibly in your region. Equally, contract values can be incorrect, displaying a value of £0 or an incorrect larger value.
Be sure to cross-reference this with information included in the tender notice for accuracy. The authority will also nominate a procurement lead, who you can contact if you have any questions regarding the tender.
Equally, some tenders can be replaced by updated notices – normally granting an extension to the deadline. Although this will be communicated on the tender portal, Find a Tender and Contracts Finder should also update the tender notice accordingly.
Register your interest to access the tender pack
The tender documents themselves will be hosted on a different portal, not Contracts Finder or Find a Tender. Once you have signed up and registered your interest, review the tender pack for:
- The contract specification, reviewing this in full to ensure you can deliver against the requirements
- The invitation to tender (ITT) document, which provides an overview of the opportunity and scope of works
- Documents to be returned as part of the tender submission, typically a pricing element, quality questions, pre-qualifying document and various ‘sign and return’ documents such as form of tender.
Assess the opportunity in line with your bid strategy
Does the contract make sense for your organisation? Public sector tenders are usually a multi-year commitment and are complex to manage and monitor. Examples include:
- Whether your previous experience is suitable to demonstrate you can deliver against the scope of works
- If you can effectively resource the contract against the volume of requirements
- The number of successful suppliers who will be awarded the contract or a place on the framework, alongside the contract value.
Make an informed ‘bid/no-bid’ decision
With the Procurement Act 2023 introducing stricter measures for underperforming suppliers, your organisation’s ‘bid/no-bid’ decision is more important than ever. Consequently, you should be confident you can deliver against the contract scope.
How Executive Compass can help you find tender opportunities
Whilst we do not offer a formal, standalone tender search service, we do monitor the government portals and send contract notices to our clients which may be of interest, supporting a strong bid pipeline for our clients.
Our bid writing support also extends to managing portals for clients, collating and uploading documents and monitoring clarification questions.
To get in touch about the bid and tender services we provide, contact us today at 0800 612 5563 or info@executivecompass.co.uk.