Software Development Contracts and Tenders

Software development procurement covers bespoke and custom builds, application development, maintenance and support, low-code platform work, mobile and web applications, data pipelines and analytics tools, and DevOps and cloud engineering. Buyers also tender agile development teams by the day and long-running application development and maintenance contracts.

Stotles brings together software development tenders and contracts from 100+ portals into one search, so you do not have to check each portal separately, and you can set alerts for new opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

If you want to search the government portals directly, Find a Tender carries higher-value contracts across the UK and Contracts Finder carries lower-value contracts in England. Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ireland's eTenders covers Irish public bodies, and many councils, NHS bodies and housing associations publish on their own e-tendering portals such as ProContract. Much public sector software development is called off from technology frameworks, including G-Cloud and YPO's software application solutions framework, so those opportunities reach only suppliers already listed.

Software development tenders are scored on the approach to delivery, the skills and experience of the team, security and quality assurance, and price. Many government buyers expect agile delivery in line with the Government Digital Service's service standard, so bids show how you will run discovery, build in iterations and hand over to the buyer's own team.

Buyers handling personal data check data protection and information security arrangements at selection stage, and government work often needs staff who can pass security clearance. Tenders usually set minimum insurance cover, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar contracts. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

Frequently through frameworks and multi-supplier arrangements, with buyers running further competitions or direct awards between listed suppliers for each build. Large departments let long application development, maintenance and support contracts, while smaller bodies tender one-off builds or a team on a daily rate.

G-Cloud, run by Crown Commercial Service, is a regular route for application development and support. Central government departments and agencies, among them HM Revenue & Customs and the Vehicle Certification Agency, call off from it, sometimes by running a further competition among listed services to down-select.

Digital Outcomes and Specialists, also from Crown Commercial Service, covers digital, data and technology teams and specialists. Buyers such as the British Business Bank use it to bring in developers to support an existing application.

Central government departments and agencies buy most of it, with regulators, research bodies and universities also tendering development. Housing associations, councils and Irish public bodies buy it for their own digital services.

Watch application development and maintenance contract expiry dates, digital strategies and preliminary market engagement notices, which show development work coming due ahead of a notice. On Stotles you can track those signals and the buyers behind them, then follow a notice from pre-tender through to award.

The core codes are 72212517 (IT software development services), 72200000 (Software programming and consultancy services) and 72000000 (IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support). Software packages carry 48000000 (Software package and information systems).