Translation Tenders and Contracts

Document translation, face-to-face and telephone interpreting, and British Sign Language interpreting are the recurring categories. Buyers include local authorities running multilingual resident services, NHS trusts booking clinical interpreting, and police forces commissioning language support for victims and witnesses.

Stotles brings together translation 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. Translation and interpreting is mostly called off from regional and national language services frameworks, and neighbouring NHS trusts often buy face to face interpreting jointly.

Interpreters are usually expected to hold recognised qualifications and registration, such as NRPSI for public service interpreting or NRCPD for sign language, and must handle personal data under UK data protection law. Tenders usually set minimum insurance cover, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar services at selection stage. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

Local authorities, NHS trusts, police forces and central government departments are regular buyers. Local authorities and NHS trusts most often run recurring dynamic purchasing systems, since demand for interpreting is ongoing rather than one-off. Central government tenders tend to run as larger multi-lot frameworks covering translation, transcription and sign language interpreting together.

Read corporate strategies, service reviews, commissioning plans and expiry dates for existing contracts, which show translation 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.

Translation notices carry 79530000 (Translation services) and 79540000 (Interpretation services).