Why public sector sales feel different
Selling to a council, an NHS trust or a government department is not like selling to a business. Most spend above a fairly low value has to be advertised, evaluated against published criteria and awarded in a way the buyer can defend. That is slow, but it is also the opportunity: a two-person company with the right evidence can beat a large incumbent because the scoring is written down in advance.
Where UK public sector opportunities are published
There is no single place. The UK has official portals split by nation and contract value.
| Portal | Covers |
|---|---|
| Find a Tender | Higher-value UK-wide procurements |
| Contracts Finder | Lower-value contracts in England, plus awards and pipelines; most relevant for a first contract |
| Public Contracts Scotland | Scottish public bodies |
| Sell2Wales | Welsh public bodies |
| eTendersNI | Northern Ireland public bodies |
Register on each portal that matches the regions you can serve. Set up alerts using CPV codes (the classification codes attached to every notice) rather than keywords alone, because buyers describe the same service in many ways.
Frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems
A framework is an agreement with a list of suppliers that buyers can call off from, sometimes through a mini-competition. Once you are on it, individual purchases are quicker and the paperwork lighter. Crown Commercial Service (CCS) runs many frameworks for central government and the wider public sector. For a technology startup, the CCS G-Cloud framework is the best-known route: suppliers list cloud services in a catalogue and buyers search and buy from it directly. NHS bodies also run their own frameworks. A dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is similar but stays open, so you can apply to join at any time.
The catch is timing. Frameworks open for applications for a window and then close, sometimes for years. If one matters to your market, find out when it next opens and prepare well ahead.
What buyers expect you to have
Buyers screen suppliers before they score your answers, and a missing item can disqualify you outright.
- Company details, registration number and accounts.
- Insurance: public liability, employer’s liability and professional indemnity at the stated levels.
- Policies: health and safety, equality, environmental, data protection, modern slavery, anti-bribery and quality. Short, honest documents that reflect how you actually work beat long templates.
- Security: Cyber Essentials is commonly requested for anything touching data; ISO 27001 comes up for more sensitive work.
- Case studies: usually two or three references for similar work, with a contact the buyer can check.
- Social value: what your contract would do for local jobs, skills, the environment or community. Be specific and proportionate to your size.
Build these once, keep them in a folder, and refresh them on a schedule. This library is what makes the second bid much faster than the first.
Deciding what to bid on
Each serious response costs days, so decide quickly and decline most of them.
| Question | Bid if | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | You already deliver the core requirement | You would need to build or subcontract it |
| Size | You can staff and finance the value | It would be most of your revenue and needs upfront spend |
| Evidence | Your references match the scope | Every case study needs a caveat |
| Compliance | You hold, or can cheaply obtain, what is mandatory | A mandatory requirement is out of reach before the deadline |
| Relationship | You have seen pipeline notices or spoken to the buyer | The spec reads like the incumbent’s product |
Read the award criteria before the specification. If price is weighted heavily and you are not the cheapest, or the quality questions reward scale you do not have, move on.
Getting a credible first draft fast
Start from the questions, not a blank page. Paste every question into one document with its word limit and weighting, then answer the highest-weighted ones first. Reuse your policy and case study text where it fits, and tailor the opening of each answer to the buyer’s stated outcome. Answer exactly what is asked; evaluators score against the criteria, not enthusiasm. Set an internal deadline at least two working days before the real one, because portal uploads and clarifications take longer than expected. If you are weighing up outside help, see bid writing consultants versus software.
How TendersAutopilot helps a solo founder
TendersAutopilot is built for companies without a bid team. You describe the company once (what you sell, your CPV codes, the regions you can serve, the contract sizes you can take on and the certifications you hold) and the service does the daily checking of all five national portals and the CCS and NHS framework sources on your behalf. Repeats are merged, and every notice gets a fit score and a win-likelihood estimate with the reasoning shown. Instead of wading through a pile of alert emails, you open a short ranked list and can say no to most of it in minutes.
When you decide to bid, the AI drafts answers from your own bid library of past bids, case studies and policies. It never invents claims: if you have no evidence for a question, the draft says so, and you always review and submit the bid yourself. Deadlines are tracked with Slack, Teams or email alerts.
The Starter plan at £199 a month covers one profile, three members and ten AI drafts a month, enough for most founders bidding selectively. We are pre-launch: the waitlist is free and there is a 14-day trial at launch. The FAQ covers common questions, or email hello@tendersautopilot.co.uk.