How SMEs Can Find and Win Public Sector Contracts Under the UK's New Procurement Act

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, replacing four separate sets of EU-derived regulations with a single, unified framework. The government says it will open up nearly £400 billion of annual public spending to more small and medium-sized businesses. But what does that actually mean in practice, and how should SMEs approach the public sector market under the new rules?

Here is our practical guide to the routes to market that matter most for smaller suppliers, and how to make the most of them.

Find what is out there (and know where to look)

The government's Find a Tender service is the official publication channel for above-threshold opportunities, and registering there is essential. But it is only part of the picture.

Not everything is on Find a Tender. Below-threshold contracts, which are often the most winnable opportunities for SMEs, may be published on local authority portals, devolved platforms, or sector-specific systems. Many contracting authorities still use their own procurement portals alongside Find a Tender, and opportunities can easily slip through the cracks if you are only watching one channel.

Planning notices and contract award data are equally valuable but often overlooked. A planning notice tells you that a project is in the pipeline before any formal procurement begins. A contract award notice tells you who won, what they won, and what it was worth, giving you intelligence on your competitors, pricing benchmarks, and which authorities are actively spending in your sector. This kind of upstream and downstream data turns reactive bid-chasing into strategic market development.

This is where Open Opportunities can help. We aggregate procurement data from over 800 sources, not just Find a Tender, covering tenders, contract awards, and planning notices in a single platform. Instead of monitoring dozens of portals and hoping you do not miss something, you get a comprehensive view of the market. Our search is built specifically for procurement, so you can find relevant opportunities using the language your business actually uses rather than trying to guess the CPV codes or keywords a contracting authority happened to choose.

Pick the right route to market for your size

Not all procurement routes are equal for SMEs. Here is how to prioritise.

Below-threshold contracts: start here

These are the bread and butter for smaller suppliers. The procedures are lighter, the competition is typically less intense, and the contracts are sized for SMEs. The Act has made them more accessible because there is now a duty to consider SMEs, and the transparency requirements mean more of these contracts are being published than ever before. Contracting authorities must now publish below-threshold tender notices for contracts above £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (sub-central authorities such as local councils, NHS trusts and universities).

The challenge is that these opportunities are scattered across hundreds of different publication channels. Open Opportunities pulls these together from across the UK, so you can search once rather than checking dozens of local portals individually.

Do not chase big above-threshold tenders until you have built a track record on smaller work. Winning a few below-threshold contracts gives you the performance evidence you need for larger bids later.

Open frameworks: your route into bigger work

Open frameworks are a new concept under the Act. Unlike traditional closed frameworks, which locked out new suppliers for up to four years, open frameworks must reopen periodically to allow new entrants to join. They can run for up to eight years, but must reopen at least once in the first three years and cannot go more than five years without reopening.

This is your best route into the above-threshold world. The key is knowing when frameworks in your sector are due to reopen. The government's Register of Commercial Tools should eventually help with this, but in the short term you need to be actively tracking framework lifecycles. Open Opportunities' contract data can help here: by analysing when existing frameworks were awarded and what their terms are, you can anticipate reopening windows and prepare your bid before the notice even drops.

When a framework reopens, existing suppliers may carry over automatically, but the authority still has to run a competitive process, and that is your window.

Dynamic markets: get on the list, then be selective

Dynamic markets replace the old Dynamic Purchasing Systems. They are always open to new members, which sounds ideal for SMEs. In practice, the membership conditions can be more demanding than under the old DPS regime, fees may apply when you win work, and the competitive flexible procedure for each call-off can be resource-intensive.

That said, if there is a dynamic market in your sector, get on it. Being on the list is better than not being on it. The cost of applying for membership is relatively low compared to bidding for a full tender, and you can be selective about which call-off competitions you actually pursue.

One thing to note: dynamic markets only operate with full membership conditions for above-threshold contracts. For below-threshold work, membership conditions generally cannot be imposed, which limits their usefulness at the smaller end.

Direct above-threshold tenders: be highly selective

These are the most expensive to bid for, the most competitive, and SMEs have the lowest win rates. The competitive flexible procedure means tenders can involve multiple stages, demonstrations, and negotiations, all of which cost time and money.

Only pursue direct above-threshold tenders if the contract is genuinely in your sweet spot and you have the capacity to resource a proper bid.

How to improve your chances of winning

Finding opportunities is only half the problem. Winning requires a practical approach.

Build market intelligence before you bid

The best-prepared SMEs do not start their research when a tender notice lands. They already know which authorities buy what they sell, who currently holds the contracts, what those contracts are worth, and when they are due for renewal.

Open Opportunities gives you access to contract award data and planning notices alongside live tenders. That means you can identify target authorities, understand their spending patterns, and track upcoming projects from the planning stage onwards. By the time the formal tender appears, you are not starting from scratch.

Engage early

Pre-market engagement is now formally encouraged under the Act. Contracting authorities can publish preliminary market engagement notices before they go out to tender. If you see one, engage with it. This is your chance to shape the procurement before the specification is locked down.

Many SMEs assume pre-market engagement is performative. It is not. Authorities are under more pressure to demonstrate they have engaged the market, and your input could genuinely influence how the contract is structured, what lots are created, and what the evaluation criteria look like.

Use lotting to your advantage

The Act encourages authorities to break contracts into smaller lots, and there is a duty to have regard to SME accessibility. Smaller, more tailored lots are far more winnable for SMEs than monolithic contracts designed for large integrators.

If you see a large contract that has not been lotted and you think it should be, raise it during pre-market engagement. Authorities have to justify decisions not to lot.

Make social value count

Larger suppliers often struggle to demonstrate genuine local social value. If you are a local business employing local people, training apprentices, or supporting community initiatives, that is a real differentiator under the new National Procurement Policy Statement. Central government departments are now required to set three-year SME spend targets, and social value is embedded more deeply in evaluation criteria.

Make sure your bid articulates this clearly. Do not assume evaluators will infer it.

Consider the supply chain route

The 30-day payment mandate now flows down the entire supply chain, which means subcontracting under a larger prime contractor is more viable than it used to be. Getting on the supply chains of the big framework holders, rather than trying to compete with them directly, is a legitimate and often more realistic route to public sector revenue.

Contract award data is invaluable here. Knowing which primes hold the frameworks in your sector, and what they have been awarded, tells you exactly who to approach about subcontracting opportunities.

What to watch out for

Do not spread yourself too thin

The biggest mistake SMEs make is bidding for everything. Each bid costs real money in staff time, and if you are putting in mediocre bids across ten opportunities you will likely lose all ten. Better to identify three or four that genuinely fit your capabilities and invest proper effort in those.

Good market intelligence helps with this. If you can see the full picture of what is coming through the pipeline, including planning notices and framework renewal cycles, you can plan your bid calendar strategically rather than reacting to whatever lands in your inbox.

Protect your reputation

The Act introduces a public debarment list. Suppliers who persistently underperform or breach contracts can be excluded from future public sector work across the board. For an SME, ending up on that list would be devastating. Only take on contracts you can genuinely deliver.

Build your evidence base

The Act requires key performance indicators on contracts over a certain value, and this data will be published. Good performance data becomes powerful evidence for future bids. Start building that track record deliberately from your very first public sector contract.

The honest picture

The Procurement Act has genuinely improved things for SMEs compared to the old regime, particularly on transparency, payment terms, and framework access. But the fundamental challenge has not changed: bidding for public sector work is expensive relative to an SME's resources, and the procurement process, even when simplified, still favours organisations with dedicated bid teams.

The most practical strategy is to be highly selective. Focus on contracts where you have a genuine edge. Build incrementally from below-threshold work upwards. Use open frameworks and dynamic markets to get onto pre-approved lists, then pick your battles carefully when call-offs come through.

The opportunities are there. The question is whether you have the intelligence to find the right ones and the discipline to pursue them.

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Open Opportunities aggregates government tender, contract, and planning data from over 800 sources across 160+ countries. Our platform helps suppliers find relevant public sector opportunities, track procurement pipelines, and build the market intelligence they need to win. Find out more.