MARKET ANALYSIS

From 14 to 15: The G-Cloud supplier playbook

Written

November 4, 2025

Dallán Ryan

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In this report

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Introduction

The Invitation to Tender for G-Cloud 15 went live on Thursday, 23 October 2025 and announced that G-Cloud 15 will replace not only G-Cloud 14, but also fold the next edition of Cloud Compute 2 into it.

The folding of the Cloud Compute framework into G-Cloud reinforces the Government's ‘cloud first’ stance. The public sector cloud market was estimated to be worth £6 billion in 2024, with annual spend for Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) G-Cloud reaching almost £3 billion in FY2024/25 alone.

For technology suppliers, G‑Cloud is one of the most important routes to market for cloud hosting, software and support, with almost £15 billion spent across its 14 iterations.

This guide aims to help suppliers.

Understand the changes to G-Cloud 15: Get on top of the recent updates so you don’t have to play catch-up.
Qualify your G‑Cloud 15 bid: Size the opportunity using year‑on‑year procurement data and framework insights that spotlight Lots, participants, and notices.
Capitalise on G-Cloud 14 before it expires: Tactics for finishing G-Cloud 14 strong and drafting the most impactful bid submission before October 2026.

This report uses CCS published spend data and call‑off contracts collected by Stotles. Unless stated otherwise, data is current to 30 October 2025.

Stotles Tip

Submissions for G-Cloud 15 close on 30 January 2026, meaning the top suppliers are already planning their next move. Don’t fall behind, register for our webinar on 27 November for tactical advice on finishing G14 strong and preparing for G15.

Make sure you're best prepared

Why G‑Cloud should be a key channel in public sector sales mix

Since 2016, G-Cloud has experienced, on average, a 16% year-on-year growth in public sector spending going through it and is considered a table-stakes sales channel for technology suppliers selling into the UK public sector.

As of 30 October 2025, the evidenced spend for G-Cloud is tracking behind previous years, however, there are 5 months in this financial year, and its busiest period, for suppliers to capitalise.

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The benefits of listing on G-Cloud include:

Speed and compliance. You list once, meet clear standards, and sell through a trusted catalogue that buyers can use quickly.
Demand visibility. Buyers search the platform first for cloud services. You can position early and shape requirements.
Lower friction. Clear pricing and assurance shorten the path from interest to call‑off.

While getting onto G-Cloud increases visibility and access to buyers, only 23% of suppliers were awarded a call-off contract on G-Cloud 13.

This means it’s not good enough today to just get onto the framework; suppliers have to be proactive and use proven strategies to position themselves for success. This includes:

Being the first to move on opportunities by identifying buying signals in strategy papers, public comments, and news to start the conversation early.
Targeting known G-Cloud buyers that regularly procure through the framework.
Mapping your competitor landscape using listings, frameworks, and renewals. Engage buyers 3 to 6 months pre-expiry.
Partnering with value-added resellers or complementary suppliers to fill gaps and cut overhead.

Skip down to section 4 to dive straight into levelling up your current G-Cloud 14 approach and win more business before the next iteration comes into effect.

So what’s changing for G-Cloud 15

With the Procurement Act now live and cloud-first projects central to the government’s long-term strategy, G-Cloud 15 will see updates that suppliers need to get up to speed on before the expected go-live on 17th September 2026.

Below is a view of the G-Cloud 15 framework tender page on the Stotles platform.

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Historically, G-Cloud has not been fully evaluated on quality, technical capability, and price, unlike evaluations conducted for other CCS framework agreements, due to its considerable scale. This is set to change.

While there are several significant changes at a nuanced level, such as the Public Sector Contract (PSC) with modifications to suit the cloud market as well as updates to framework and call-off terms, there are three key updates for suppliers to be aware of now. For a full breakdown, read a CCS-led summary of the changes here.

Update 1: Cloud Compute is being folded into G-Cloud

Cloud Compute 2 (RM6292), the most recent iteration, which went live in 2023, provided buyers with access to hyperscale cloud, covering IaaS, PaaS, and related microservices, with optional FinOps, billing optimisation, and professional support.

Public sector procurement on Cloud Compute totalled £500 million in the 2023/24 period. This procurement route will now be consolidated into G-Cloud upon expiry in November 2026.

Update 2: Credentials being enforced from the get-go

Credentials now apply from day one. All certificates are checked before suppliers appear on the Digital Platform. This includes:

The Technical Ability Certificate (TAC) is now required for every Lot.
Cyber Essentials Plus is mandatory for Lots 1a and 1b, and either Cyber Essentials or CE Plus is optional for Lots 2a, 2b, and 3.
Carbon Reduction Plans also apply to Lots 1a and 1b.

Update 3: Lots and evaluation criteria

The previous 3+1 Lot structure for G-Cloud 14 is evolving into a 5-part framework, meaning more scrutiny from buyers on particular Lots, but also more opportunity for suppliers who are prepared to proactively tailor their offerings to buyer needs.

The table below breaks down each of the new Lots for G-Cloud 15 and the evaluation criteria for each.

G-Cloud 15 Lot	Description	Evaluation weighting
Lot 1a (previously Lot 1)	Core Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) subscription services.	Quality cloud services: 40% Maximising buyer value: 40% Understanding Social value: 10% Price for onboarding: 5% Price discount: 5%
Lot 1b	All Lot 1a services delivered above "Official" security classification.	Quality cloud services: 40% Maximising buyer value: 40% Social value: 10% Price for onboarding: 5% Price discount: 5%
Lot 2a	Cloud-delivered platform and infrastructure software (e.g., databases, integration, observability, security platforms) purchased as a service.	Price: 80% Social value: 10% User support - SaaS: 2.5% Asset protection - SaaS: 2.5% Penetration testing - SaaS: 2.5% Data sanitisation: 2.5%
Lot 2b	Business and clinical applications delivered over the internet (CRMs, ERPs, EPRs, line-of-business apps).	Price: 80% Social value: 10% User support - SaaS: 2.5% Asset protection - SaaS: 2.5% Penetration testing - SaaS: 2.5% Data sanitisation: 2.5%
Lot 3	All cloud-specific professional services for a clearly defined period. This includes advisory, design, migration, optimisation, security, FinOps and ongoing run/operate services across multi-cloud estates.	Price: 80% Social value: 10% User Support - Cloud Support: 2.5% Asset protection - SaaS: 2.5% Penetration testing - SaaS: 2.5% Data sanitisation: 2.5%

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Generating your most impactful submission to G-Cloud 15

Seasoned suppliers are clear on what works. This includes cutting out the marketing language, not recycling G-Cloud 14, and filtering out the noise for buyers. If it’s not transparent, compliant and buyable, remove it.

This includes putting every cost on the table or getting into the weeds on your security with specifics like encryption, data residency, and remediation SLAs when necessary.

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Make your listings discoverable and buyable

Design for how buyers search and decide. Start with keywords, name with intent, then structure content so a buyer can scan, compare, and act.

Build a keyword map for each lot and adding buyer terms to titles, summaries, and feature lists.

Using an Outcome + Product + Audience. Example: “Bed Management Analytics for Acute Trusts.”

In the service definition, follow a fixed order: scope, users, onboarding, configuration, integrations, security, data location, SLAs, support, and exit. When it comes to the time for buyers to review options, this makes comparison easy.

Bake synonyms into the service definition. For Lot 2b, think “Electronic Patient Record,” “ICS data sharing,” “Cyber Essentials Plus,” “NHS login,” “FHIR API,” “role-based access.”

Pricing that buyers can review quickly

Publish a buyer-ready price model that mirrors your invoicing. This should show unit prices, tiers and any minimum terms for buyers when they are reviewing different offerings.

It’s also recommended to have some worked examples for different buyer sizes.

Assurance and compliance

Give buyers confidence that you are safe to award by documenting how you run and secure the service, providing proof of your certifications, and demonstrating a clean internal sign-off.

Publish templated sections for service levels, incident response, RPO and RTO, change windows, maintenance approach, CVE handling, and patch cadence.

Confirm your CE or CE Plus status, ISO 27001, data location and residency, data processing addendum, accessibility statement, DPIA template, and Carbon Reduction Plan where required.

Assign an owner per section and use a two-step review. First, check compliance against the ITT. Second, check clarity with someone outside the bid team.

Evidence and impact

Prove outcomes buyers can trust. Show results with data, credible voices, and references they can check.

Use two or three concise case studies with clear metrics, stakeholder quotes, and a named reference. Frame each as a start point, an intervention, and a measured impact. Include the roles involved and link to publicly available resources where possible.

Pick two or three themes you can evidence when it comes to areas like social value. Avoid broad pledges without numbers, timelines, or owners.

Operational readiness for call-offs

Read a standard call-off pack ahead of time. This includes a refined statement of requirements template, a pricing schedule, a data protection schedule, a security schedule, an implementation plan, and an exit plan.

You will move faster when a buyer engages and is aware of each step in the process.

Turning future change into present opportunity

With changes just around the corner, it’s essential to make the most of what you know and the tools you have access to today.

This section highlights four data-led tactics for squeezing the last juice of G-Cloud 14 before these new updates come into effect.

Prioritise the whales and ringfence the rest

The top 10 buyers account for about £715.98m in G-Cloud spend since November 2024. This amounts to 70% of the total flow of money being spent.

Looking at total G-Cloud spend, Central Government departments like the Home Office, HMRC and DWP lead the pack. Outside the list of core central buyers, Barts Health NHS Trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Transport for London appear regularly.

Stotles’ recommendations:

Build a “Big 10” list of buyers and for each buyer, map out the key decision-makers, live projects, incumbents and renewal windows.
Score each account based on its relevance to your offerings, if there will be a renewal within 3 to 12 months, spending trends, and incumbent vulnerability.
Allocate 60 to 70% of pursuit time to this list and park the long tail unless a clear trigger appears.

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Work the decision windows, not just the expiry dates

Based on feedback from suppliers who have won public sector business, there are three clocks driving action in every account. There are budget moments, programme milestones, and contract anniversaries.

An analysis of historic awards for G-Cloud shows that the greatest spending occurs when budgets renew at the turn of the financial year and near the end of the normal calendar year.

Stotles’ recommendations:

Track all key decision windows on the organisation level and engage proactively with decision-makers 3 to 6 months before each.
Use historic procurement insights to time outreach around historic call‑off peaks.

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Treat contract expiries as strong buyer signals

Many buyers will award contracts on G-Cloud and then, when it’s time to re-tender, will continue to use the framework, thus presenting opportunities for competition. We identified evidence that specific buyers, such as MoD, MoJ and DWP, consistently will use G-Cloud for reprocurement of technology.

Looking at this trend, we expect 40 significant contracts, worth about £60.5m, to renew on G‑Cloud 14 or 15. These are primed opportunities for suppliers to make sure they are in contention as they come up to expiry.

Stotles’ recommendation:

The most successful suppliers maintain a live feed of contracts that are coming up to expiry within 3 to 12 months.
Using past G-Cloud awards, as well as buyer and supplier insights, building a G-Cloud strategy can be proactive rather than reactive, rather than relying solely on live tenders.

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Example contracts expiring

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Contract Name	Buyer Name	Supplier Name	Value	Expiry Date
Microsoft 365 Enterprise Agreement and Co Pilot Licence	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)	Trustmarque Solutions	£19.58m	30 Sep 2028
Microsoft Unified Support	NHS England	Microsoft	£14.5m	30 Apr 2028
ESMCP MCX Dispatcher and related services	Home Office	Leonardo MW	£11.3m	09 Jul 2030

Understand the supplier landscape

SMEs make up about 90% of suppliers on G‑Cloud, yet about 65 % of spend over the last five years goes to larger enterprises. Since November 2024, the top 10 suppliers have accounted for about 75% of spend.

While value-added resellers like Softcat and Computercenter account for a large portion of G-Cloud spend, AWS saw over 30% of framework flow go to them in this window, with a handful of large awards driving the spike. This includes the Scottish Government’s Cloud Platform Service worth £65m.

Stotles’ recommendation:

If you face value-added resellers and system integrators, partner wherever it lowers the barrier to award and makes sense in a very competitive market. Offer overlays that your partners do not go in-depth on, such as cyber assurance or migration readiness. Where you go solo, win on speed and risk reduction.

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Stotles Tip

Use Stotles to research upcoming G-Cloud contract expiries in your space to forecast where there are opportunities for you to take over a contract or create a new opportunity entirely.

Get started today

Take the next steps with Stotles

You have one year to convert intent on G-Cloud 14 while you prepare a high-scoring G-Cloud 15 bid. Use the Stotles platform to turn strategy into pipeline, and pipeline into wins.

This week. Build your strategy.

Use Stotles to turn public signals into a clear plan.

Scan strategy papers, board minutes, policies, and programme updates. Flag the accounts that match your offer.
Open Buyer and Supplier Profiles to see historic procurement across those accounts. Spot incumbents, spend patterns, and routes to award.
Use Framework Insights to size each opportunity on G-Cloud. Confirm lots, route, and likely timing.

Next 2 to 4 weeks. Build pipeline.

Work from targets to conversations that convert.

Create Target Buyer Lists. Add them to Tender Tracker and receive live updates when new notices or related activity appears.
Identify the right contacts faster. Use the contact graph to find decision makers and influencers.
Craft outreach that gets noticed. Pull signals, prior spend, and incumbent context into short, relevant messages.
Track expiration dates of relevant contracts. Use the expiry view to time outreach and pre-position G-Cloud catalogue offers.

By the end of the quarter. Win bids.

Streamline bids and focus effort where you can win.

Run AI-driven qualification. Stotles AI reads tender documents in seconds so you can make fast bid or no-bid calls.
Open the Bid Hub. Organise documents, tasks, clarifications, and approvals in one place.
Bring buyer insight into every answer. Use historic procurement and buyer context to ground your solution, pricing, and social value.
Reuse what works. Build from previous submissions and artefacts to speed drafting without losing quality.