Guides
How public sector bidding actually works
Written for firms who want to win public sector work and have not been told how the process really operates. No jargon for its own sake, every figure sourced and dated.
Procurement rules and thresholds change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked, and where a figure comes from an official source we link to it so you can confirm it yourself.
The guides
Start wherever your question is
Where do I start?How to bid for UK public sector contractsThe whole process end to end: where opportunities are published, how buyers choose, what you need ready before you write anything, and the mistakes that lose bids before they are read.Read the guide →What are the current thresholds?UK procurement thresholds 2026The figures that decide which rules apply, current from 1 January 2026, and the two things almost everyone gets wrong about them: they include VAT, and being under one does not mean there is no competition.Read the guide →What is a framework, and is it worth joining?Framework agreements explainedWhat a framework actually gives you, why a place on one is not a contract, what open frameworks changed under the Procurement Act 2023, and how to judge whether an application is worth the effort.Read the guide →Should we bid for this?Deciding whether to bidA short, honest qualification process. Most wasted bid effort goes into opportunities that were never winnable, and the tender documents usually say so on the first read.Read the guide →How do I actually write the answers?Writing a tender response that scoresA tender answer is marked against a published scheme by someone with limited time. How to structure an answer so the evidence is where the marks are, and what to stop writing.Read the guide →How do I get in earlier?Finding contracts before they are re-tenderedAward notices publish contract end dates. That makes most re-tenders visible months ahead, which is the only point at which a supplier who is not the incumbent can still influence anything.Read the guide →