Are public sector tenders rigged?

What the award data shows

Of 2,734 contracts we can see being awarded again by the same buyer under the same name, 52% changed supplier. Incumbency is an advantage, not a lock. The figure counts only single-supplier contracts re-awarded at least six months later, so renamed re-tenders are missed; treat it as a real measure of a real subset.

Small firms win too, and more often the smaller the contract. Over the twelve months to 6 October 2026, where the buyer recorded the winner's size, small and medium-sized businesses won 57% of contracts under £25,000, 45% between £25,000 and £100,000, 42% between £100,000 and £500,000 and 31% above that.

What the law requires of buyers

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, tenders above the thresholds run under the Procurement Act 2023. Several of its rules exist precisely to stop a tender being fixed:

• Equal treatment. Buyers must treat suppliers the same unless a difference between them justifies otherwise, and must then avoid putting anyone at an unfair advantage (section 12).
• Brand names. A specification may name a trade mark, product or supplier only where that is necessary to make the requirement understood, and must then say that equivalent quality or performance will not be disadvantaged (section 56).
• Talking to suppliers first. Buyers may engage the market before a tender, but must not give anyone an unfair advantage, and must publish a preliminary market engagement notice or say why not (sections 16 and 17).
• Conflicts of interest. Buyers must identify conflicts, keep them under review and record a conflicts assessment before publishing the tender (sections 81 to 83).
• Proportionate requirements. Conditions such as turnover and experience must be proportionate to the contract, and a buyer cannot require you to have held a previous contract with it (section 22).
• Your scores. Every unsuccessful bidder receives an assessment summary explaining its scores and how the winning tender was assessed, before an eight working day standstill (sections 50 and 51).

Scotland has its own procurement law, with equivalent principles. Below the thresholds the rules are lighter, but one helps small firms in particular: when a buyer in England, Wales or Northern Ireland invites tenders for a smaller contract, it cannot screen suppliers out on an assessment of their capacity before they bid (section 85).

Signs a tender may be a formality

• A response time of days rather than weeks, for work that needs real thought.
• A specification that reads like a description of the current supplier, or names a product without saying equivalents are welcome.
• Experience requirements narrower than the work needs, such as having done exactly this for exactly this kind of body.
• A contract extended again and again, then re-tendered at short notice.
• Quality questions so short, or word limits so tight, that only someone who already knows the service could answer well.

None of these proves anything on its own. Together they are a reason to spend your effort elsewhere, or to ask questions first.

Signs it is genuinely open

• A detailed specification describing outcomes rather than a product.
• A preliminary market engagement notice, a supplier day or soft market testing before the tender.
• Clarification answers shared with every bidder, and a buyer that answers properly.
• Lots that a smaller firm could win, and timescales that allow a considered response.
• A specification that has visibly changed since the last contract.

What to do about it

Ask clarification questions: they are answered to everyone, and a buyer asked why a product is named or why an experience requirement is so narrow often widens it. Read your assessment summary after every loss. And if you believe a procurement or a payment was handled unfairly, the Cabinet Office's Public Procurement Review Service investigates concerns from suppliers about specific procurements and late payment.