Tenders are how government organisations and large businesses invite multiple suppliers to compete for work. They create a structured way to get the best value through open, fair competition.
This guide will explain how tenders work, why they exist, and what businesses need to know to respond effectively to a government tender.
A tender is a formal request from a buyer to suppliers to submit proposals for the delivery of goods, services, or works at a defined price and within a defined timeframe.
While tenders are used in some private sector settings, they’re most commonly associated with government procurement. For example, a local council might put out a tender for waste collection services, the NHS could seek suppliers to upgrade clinical systems, or a central government department may commission new software.
Public bodies issue tenders to run these projects through open, competitive processes, giving suppliers a fair shot and ensuring public money is spent responsibly.
In the below screenshot from Stotles' Tender Tracker, you can see an example of a tender from The National Trust, seeking a vendor to airlift materials for peatland restoration.
When a public body like The National Trust or The Home Office needs to replace legacy IT systems, it can't just pick a supplier. It must publish a tender notice inviting qualified suppliers to bid for the work.
Suppliers review the documents, prepare a proposal, and submit it by the deadline. The buyer scores each bid against set criteria and awards the contract to the supplier that offers the best value.
This happens daily across UK government departments, the NHS, and councils.
The tender process is the structured way public sector organisations buy goods, services, and works. It involves two core participants: the buyer, who creates and publishes the tender, and the supplier, who decides whether to bid and prepares a response.
Under The Procurement Act 2023 this process is now supported by a formal system of transparency notices. These notices create visibility at every stage, from pre-market planning, to contract award.
The tender process into three stages: before a tender is published, while it’s live, and after the contract is awarded.
Let’s walk through the process from both the buyer and supplier perspectives.
Before a tender goes live, buyers are expected (and sometimes required) to signal their upcoming activity if the project meets particular criteria. These notices help suppliers prepare in advance and start qualifying opportunities early. Below you can see the three types of pre-pprocurement notices:
For suppliers, this stage is an opportunity to research the buyer, assess strategic fit, and begin early outreach to understand the need behind the notice.
Below is an example of a pre-procurement notice, a pipeline notice from the Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospital for payroll services.
The contract or framework is officially published and advertised by the government buyer. The moment this notice is published is when the tender goes live or becomes an open tender. Under The Procurement Act, the Tender Notice (UK4) marks the opening of a tender window and declares that the process is officially live.
Buyer responsibilities:
Supplier responsibilities:
This is the most resource-intensive part of the process. Bids often involve large teams, multiple revisions, and thousands of words of written content.
In cases where the buyer chooses not to run a competition, they must issue a Transparency Notice (UK5) to declare a direct award. If the tender is cancelled after publishing, a Procurement Termination Notice (UK12) is required to confirm the process has ended.
In the below screenshot, you can see a tender from a different buyer, the Magna Learning Partnership for a similar government need, the provision of payroll services. The tender opened on May 3rd, 2025 and closes June 3rd, 2025.
After the bid window closes, the buyer evaluates submissions based on the published criteria. This typically includes:
The buyer selects the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) and issues a Contract Award Notice (UK6). This triggers an 8-working-day standstill period, allowing any supplier to review the outcome and raise concerns if needed.
All participating suppliers receive an Assessment Summary that explains how their submission was scored and how the winning bid was selected.
Buyers then confirm the contract with a Contract Details Notice (UK7) and publish the full contract text via the Publication of Contract (UK8).
In the below screenshot, a contract for Payroll Management Services from the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board was awarded on November 11th 2016.
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Public sector buyers use a range of procurement procedures depending on the complexity, urgency, and risk profile of what they need to buy. Understanding the procedure behind a tender can help you anticipate timelines, documentation requirements, and how competitive the process will be.
This is the most common approach for straightforward procurements. The buyer publishes the tender openly, and any supplier that meets the minimum criteria can submit a full bid. There is no pre-qualification phase.
Suppliers must be ready to prepare their entire submission upfront, including pricing, technical responses, and compliance documents. While the process is accessible, it often attracts high competition, so clarity and speed matter.
Introduced under the Procurement Act 2023, this replaces older formats like the restricted procedure. It gives buyers more control to design a process that fits their procurement needs.
The procedure typically starts with a Selection Questionnaire (SQ) to shortlist suppliers. The buyer can then tailor the next steps: from requesting full proposals to running dialogue sessions or structured negotiations.
For suppliers, this means the process may include:
It’s especially common for complex services, software solutions, or major infrastructure projects.
Used when the buyer’s requirements are not fully defined at the outset. After shortlisting suppliers, the buyer enters a dialogue phase to explore possible solutions before issuing a final specification.
This is typically used in large-scale or high-risk procurements, such as system integrations, estate redevelopment, or multi-partner service models.
Suppliers should be prepared for multiple engagement rounds and a longer timeline.
Similar to competitive dialogue, the buyer is allowed to negotiate after receiving initial bids. This procedure gives buyers more flexibility to refine pricing or scope before awarding the contract.
Expect a multi-stage process, with initial submissions followed by negotiation and final offers.
This is used when no existing product or service can meet the buyer’s needs. The selected supplier works with the buyer to co-develop a solution, which may later be purchased.
It’s rare but relevant for cutting-edge technology, AI, or R&D partnerships.
Tenders are the foundation of a fair, competitive, and open public sector sales process. They protect public money, prevent corruption, and ensure contracts are awarded based on merit, not insider access. The public reporting requirements for tenders uphold accountability and aims to ensure government funds are efficiently used.
In the UK, public bodies are legally required to publish high-value opportunities. Central government must advertise anything over £12,000. For sub-central buyers like councils and NHS trusts, the threshold is £30,000. These rules create a level playing field where any qualified supplier can compete.
But tenders aren’t just about compliance. They’re also one of the most powerful tools a supplier can use to grow. Every published tender leaves a trail of commercial signals: award values, buyer behaviours, supplier performance, contract timelines. When you know where to find this data and how to use it, you can unlock insights that drive smarter bids, stronger pipelines, and bigger wins.
Just look at the JEDI cloud contract from the U.S. Department of Defence. The £10 billion deal to modernise military cloud infrastructure sparked a legal and political battle between Amazon and Microsoft. The result? Months of delays, intense public scrutiny, and eventually a full reset of the process in favour of a more transparent, multi-vendor approach. That’s how much public tenders matter. And how high the stakes can be.
And JEDI was just one contract. The global public sector represents more than £13 trillion in annual spend. For suppliers ready to compete, tenders aren’t just paperwork, they’re the gateway to serious growth.
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At a basic level, a tender is the opportunity, and a bid is your response.
A tender is published by a buyer, often a public sector organisation, to invite suppliers to compete for a contract. It sets out the scope of work, submission instructions, and the evaluation criteria.
A bid is the proposal submitted by a supplier. It usually includes pricing, delivery timelines, and answers to quality-based questions that demonstrate why they’re best suited for the work.
For example: the Department for Education might issue a tender for a new digital learning platform. In response, several edtech firms submit bids, each outlining their proposed solution, costs, and qualifications.
The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the distinction is important. Tenders come from buyers. Bids come from suppliers.
That said, not every tender is open to every supplier. A qualified tender refers to a contract opportunity where the supplier meets the eligibility criteria, whether that’s sector experience, financial standing, or technical capabilities. It’s the difference between seeing a tender and being in a strong position to win it.
Platforms like Stotles help suppliers identify the tenders they’re qualified for, so you can focus your time where it matters most.
A qualified tender is one where your business has a real chance of winning. It’s not just about being eligible to apply. It’s about being competitive.
In public procurement, many tenders are technically open to all suppliers. But experienced bid teams don’t chase every opportunity. They focus on the ones that align with their capabilities, budget range, delivery model, and track record. That’s what makes a tender "qualified" from the supplier’s perspective. Is there a path to winning a given tender?
For example, imagine the NHS publishes a tender for a new regional data platform. At first glance, it might seem like a strong fit for any cloud software provider. But buried in the specification, the buyer may state a requirement for on-premise hosting due to internal policies. If you’re a cloud-only provider, that single line disqualifies your bid.
Sometimes, the disqualifier is in the tender documents. Other times it’s in a supporting budget paper, meeting minute, or IT strategy document. Knowing where to look can be the difference between a wasted bid and a strategic win.
This is where tools like Stotles can help. With AI-powered tender summaries and document searches, suppliers can identify key requirements instantly. You can filter tenders based on fit, review red flags early, and make clearer bid or no-bid decisions. The goal isn’t just to find more tenders. It’s to spend time on the right ones.
In the image below, you can see a Bid/No Bid Report generated by Stotles for an example tender. After ingesting the tender documents published by the buyer, Stotles automatically generates a report outlining the scope of work, budget, contract duration, route to market, etc.
Each of these figures enables a supplier to decide whether to submit a bid much faster.
If you’ve made it this far, you understand that winning a public sector tender takes more than spotting a live opportunity. It starts earlier , with understanding how tenders work, qualifying the right ones, and building a strategy that gives you a real chance of success.
Every step matters. From identifying patterns in buyer behaviour to understanding the budget behind a contract to finding the decision-maker before the tender even goes live. These are the tasks that set great suppliers apart.
That’s where Stotles fits in. We bring everything together in one workspace to help you move faster, qualify smarter, and spend more time on the tenders that matter. No more hunting across portals or losing time on bids that were never winnable to begin with.
Whether you're building your first bid team or scaling your public sector growth engine, Stotles gives you the visibility and tools to compete with confidence.
If you're ready to take the next step, sign up for free or request a demo and see how it works for your team.
