How to Tender for Contracts in the UK: 8 Tips for Bidding Success

Learning how to tender for contracts in the UK may seem challenging may seem challenging, especially when it’s your first time. However, the process is easier than you think, once you understand the process and its requirements.

Before Brexit, UK public procurement notices were published through the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). The UK now uses the Find a Tender portal, also known as the Find a Tender service (FTS), as its central digital platform for regulated procurement notices under the Procurement Act 2023. Public sector buyers include central government departments, local authorities, educational establishments and NHS trusts.

When a potential contract is subject to a formal competitive tendering process, the tender is likely to follow stringent requirements. Many companies, especially those used to competing only in the private sector, are daunted by the whole process. However, the strict rules, processes and terminology of public sector bids can work in your favour. Once you get past the initial barriers of unfamiliarity, you’ve got the keys to securing fantastic new opportunities for your business.

Meeting the tender requirements is important, but how you present your bid matters even more. Evaluators need to see that your company communicates clearly, pays attention to detail and delivers high-quality work. Small mistakes and inconsistencies weaken that impression, especially when several people contribute to the same document. This is where PerfectIt comes in.

PerfectIt is professional proofreading and consistency-checking software for Microsoft Word that helps you catch inconsistencies in spelling, terminology, abbreviations, numbering and punctuation. By helping your team maintain one consistent style across the bid, PerfectIt makes it easier to present a polished, credible proposal.

Here are nine tips to help you prepare stronger UK public sector bids and use PerfectIt to ensure consistency throughout your submission.

1. Choose the Right Bid

Public sector contracts can be large and competitive. You will not win them by playing a numbers game. This is why it’s best to focus on bids that match your capabilities and give you a realistic chance of winning.

So, keep track of all opportunities and evaluate them as they come in, to ensure you select the ones that are the ‘best fit’ for you.

You can search for public sector contract opportunities on Find a Tender. Before the Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, Contracts Finder was used to publish lower-value public sector opportunities in England, while Find a Tender covered higher-value contracts.

Under the new rules, applicable below-threshold notices for new procurements are also published on Find a Tender. That said, Contracts Finder remains available for researching historical opportunities and contracts published under the previous regulations.

2. Commit to the Process

Learning how to tender for contracts successfully requires an understanding of public procurement rules, the documents you need to submit and the processes buyers use to assess bids.

Research suggests that 20% of submissions fail on compliance issues. Make sure you invest in the learning and set-up required to do this effectively.

In particular, you need to:

• know what documentation, certifications and accreditations you need to show

• ensure that all your policies and procedures are fully compliant

• know how to understand the selection and award criteria

• learn key rules and put together a compliance matrix

3. Become Familiar with Common Evaluation Themes

Public sector bids are scored against criteria specified in the tender documents.

Depending on the industry and contract, these typically include areas such as environment, health and safety, equality, inclusion and diversity, and technical credentials.

Develop a library of model answers for these recurring topics so you can deliver the highest quality bids as quickly as possible.

4. Study the Evaluation Criteria

Public sector tender opportunities include an extensive specification and evaluation criteria explaining how your submission will be assessed.

So, when preparing a tender for a UK public service contract, review these carefully and score potential answers for each question against the criteria given.

The weighting assigned to quality and price varies by contract. For example, a tender might allocate 60% of the marks to quality and 40% to price. Check the tender documents for the actual weighting and focus on scoring as highly as possible against the stated quality criteria.

5. Follow the Required Writing Style

UK public sector tenders do not follow one universal writing style guide, so check the tender documents for the buyer's specific writing and formatting requirements.

If you need guidance on UK spelling, punctuation and terminology, the GOV.UK A to Z style guide is a useful reference, although it is intended for content published on GOV.UK rather than tender submissions specifically.

Your bid represents your company, so consistency matters. Use clear language, concise sentences and consistent formatting to help evaluators understand your proposal.

When several people contribute to a bid, keeping everything consistent takes extra work. One contributor might capitalise a term differently, another might use a different spelling, and someone else might format numbers another way.

Using a consistency-checking software like PerfectIt’s Microsoft Word add-in helps you catch these inconsistencies, so your fial submission reads as one cohesive document.

6. Use Sensitive Language

You should do this anyway. But it is especially important when preparing public sector bids. Don’t use gendered terms like “chairman” or outdated language such as “wheelchair-bound”.

Evidence your commitment to diversity and make your responses more credible by ensuring that you write in language that is as inclusive, conscious and unbiased as possible.

7. Eliminate Typos and Terminology Errors

At best, mistakes make you look sloppy and raise questions about your commitment to quality and attention to detail. At worst, one unfortunate mistake could cost you the contract.

Lots of mistakes and inconsistencies can easily slip into a submission, especially when multiple contributors are involved. Common errors include numbers written as a mix of words and digits, undefined acronyms, inconsistent terminology, spellings that are wrong for context, and inconsistent punctuation.

Use PerfectIt to check your proposal for spelling, style, and formatting inconsistencies before submitting it. This way, you can speak with one voice, earn trust with your evaluators, and boost your chances of winning the contract.

8. Master Your TLAs

Three-letter acronyms (TLAs) are everywhere in public sector documents. So you need to get to know all the various acronyms used in your industry and in public procurement.

However, it’s important that when you prepare your proposal you don’t assume your reader has that knowledge. Remember that not everyone reading your submission will be familiar with these terms, so produce a full list of definitions and define every acronym the first time you use it.

PerfectIt helps you check for undefined acronyms, inconsistent abbreviations, and abbreviations used before they’re defined or defined more than once. It can also generate an acronym table automatically, making it easier to keep your proposal clear and consistent before submission.

Ready, Set, Bid!

Knowing how to tender for contracts in the UK takes preparation, from finding suitable opportunities and understanding procurement rules to submitting a clear, consistent bid. Even people who have been working within the system for a long time can find it a challenge. Getting to grips with the rules and terminology involves effort.

However, the rules are in place to ensure a level playing field, which means that once you have mastered them, you have a fair chance of success. There is no shortcut to achieving this mastery, but there are steps you can take to make it easier.

In addition to training, research, and building up a library of model responses, you can use PerfectIt to give you an advantage. PerfectIt can check your whole document for inconsistencies. You can use it to check for sensitive language, definition of acronyms, preferred spellings and terminology, numbering and punctuation conventions, and US versus UK spellings.

PerfectIt cuts the time on many of the challenges above, giving you the confidence to focus on the more strategic and procedural aspects of bidding for public sector contracts.

Proofread your next bid document for free with our free 14-day trial.

FAQs

How do you find a tender for contracts in the UK?

Search the Find a Tender service (FTS) portal for public sector opportunities across the UK. For contracts advertised by public bodies in England, you can also use Contracts Finder. For opportunities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, check their respective public procurement websites.

Where can you find UK private contracts for tender?

Private companies advertise contracts on their websites, supplier portals and third-party tender platforms. Check these sources for opportunities in your industry, along with each company's bidding requirements and deadlines.

How do you tender for contracts?

Start by finding a contract that matches your services. Read the tender notice and documents to check eligibility requirements, deadlines and evaluation criteria. Then prepare your response, provide the requested evidence and follow the submission instructions carefully.

What is the UK tender Process?

The UK public sector tender process begins when a buyer publishes a tender notice outlining the contract requirements and how suppliers can apply. Suppliers submit their bids, and the buyer assesses them against the published criteria before selecting the winning tender.

Under the Procurement Act 2023, buyers can use an open procedure, where any interested supplier can submit a tender in a single stage, or a competitive flexible procedure, which can include shortlisting, multiple bidding rounds, negotiations or demonstrations. The tender notice explains the steps suppliers must follow.

What changed in the Procurement Act 2023?

The Procurement Act 2023 took effect on 24 February 2025 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It introduced the competitive flexible procedure, allowing buyers to design tender stages around their needs. It also introduced open frameworks that allow new suppliers to join at set points, a central digital platform through Find a Tender, and new transparency requirements, including publishing more information about contract awards and performance. Scotland continues to use its own public procurement rules.