Where UK tenders are published
There is no single place where every UK public contract appears. Opportunities are spread across five main portals.
| Portal | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Find a Tender | Higher-value procurements across the UK under the current procurement regime |
| Contracts Finder | Lower-value contracts from English and UK-wide public bodies |
| Public Contracts Scotland | Scottish public sector opportunities |
| Sell2Wales | Welsh public sector opportunities |
| eTendersNI | Northern Ireland public sector opportunities |
Crown Commercial Service and NHS frameworks run their own pipelines on top of these. The same notice is sometimes republished across portals, so expect duplicates.
How to search for tenders manually
1. Register on each portal
Each portal requires a free account. Register on every portal relevant to where you can deliver, using a shared team inbox so alerts survive staff changes.
2. Work out your CPV codes
CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes are how buyers classify a contract. Note both the specific codes for your services and the broader parent codes, because buyers do not always classify precisely. A cleaning company watching only the exact cleaning code will miss a facilities tender that includes cleaning as a lot.
3. Build a keyword list
Keywords catch what CPV codes miss. Write down the terms buyers use for your work, not the terms you use, including synonyms and older phrasing. Test each against recent notices and drop the ones that return noise.
4. Set your regions and contract size
Filter by the regions you can realistically serve and a contract value range you would be credible bidding for. Chasing tenders you cannot win costs more time than the search itself.
5. Save your searches
Portals let you save searches and usually email you matches. Save one search per service line rather than one giant search, so you can see which are producing results and tune them separately.
6. Check weekly and log what you find
Pick a fixed slot, run the saved searches on each portal, and log anything worth a look with the deadline, buyer, estimated value and reviewer. Saved search emails help but are not a substitute for looking, as covered in tender alert emails vs TendersAutopilot.
What this costs in time
An illustrative weekly estimate for a small company covering three to five portals (your own numbers will vary):
| Task | Typical time per week |
|---|---|
| Running saved searches on each portal | 1 to 2 hours |
| Reading notices to judge fit | 1 to 3 hours |
| Removing duplicates and logging results | 30 to 60 minutes |
| Chasing clarifications and documents | Varies, often an hour or more |
That can easily add up to several hours a week before any bid writing begins, usually done by someone whose actual job is delivery or sales. When they are on leave or busy, the search does not happen.
Common ways tenders get missed
- A buyer classified the contract under an unexpected CPV code, so the saved search never fired.
- The notice used different wording from your keyword list.
- The opportunity appeared on a portal nobody had registered on.
- The saved search email arrived mid-week and was read on Friday, after the clarification deadline.
- The same notice appeared on two portals and was logged twice, and only one copy was reviewed.
- A framework call-off went only to suppliers already on the framework.
- The person who owned the search left, and the portal logins went with them.
None of these are careless. They are the predictable result of a manual process across five sources with inconsistent data.
Checklist for searching tenders manually
- Accounts on all five portals, registered to a shared inbox
- A written list of CPV codes, including parent codes
- A keyword list tested against recent notices
- Region and contract size filters agreed by the team
- One saved search per service line on each portal
- A fixed weekly slot with a named owner and a deputy
- A shared log with deadline, buyer, value and reviewer
- A monthly review of which searches produced bids
How TendersAutopilot changes this
TendersAutopilot scans Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI every day, along with Crown Commercial Service and NHS frameworks. It removes duplicates, so a notice republished on two portals shows up once.
Rather than relying on CPV codes and keywords alone, it scores each tender for fit and win likelihood against your company profile: services, CPV codes, regions, contract size and certifications. The scan still runs when your bid lead is on leave, and deadlines are tracked with Slack, Teams and email alerts.
When something is worth pursuing, it drafts a first response from your own bid library of past bids, case studies and policies. It does not invent claims, and a person always reviews and submits the bid.
| Manual searching | TendersAutopilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources covered | Whatever you registered on | Five portals plus CCS and NHS frameworks |
| Frequency | Weekly, when someone has time | Daily |
| Duplicates | Removed by hand | Removed automatically |
| Fit assessment | Read each notice | Scored against your profile |
| Deadline tracking | Spreadsheet | Alerts to Slack, Teams or email |
| Cost | Several hours a week of staff time | From £199 a month |
Starter is from £199 a month and Growth from £349 a month, with details in the pricing section. The product is pre-launch, the waitlist is free, and there is a 14-day trial at launch. See how SME bid teams use it, or check the FAQ.