UK supplier guide
Tender alerts UK:
set up free alerts, then decide what to pay for
Official UK tender alerts are free. Set up saved searches on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder first, then pay only for what they do not do for you.
Search current UK tenders free →Checked against primary sources6 sources linked below
- Save the official searches
- Include early notices
- Open the original notice
- Decide bid or no-bid
Official alerts are free
Save searches on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder before paying anyone.Alert on early notices too
Planned and engagement notices give time to prepare.Pay for evidence, not access
A paid service should name its sources and show why each notice matched.
How do you get free tender alerts in the UK?
Create an account on Find a Tender, save a search and choose how often to be emailed. Contracts Finder and the devolved portals offer the same.
- Before you start01
Use the current documents
Check the primary publication and later changes before using the sequence below. - Check 202
Create a GOV.UK One Login
Find a Tender uses One Login. With an account you can save searches and sign up for email notifications. - Check 303
Filter the search
Choose notice type (for example tender notices), contract location and the SME suitability filter, as the Cabinet Office walkthrough shows. - Check 404
Save it and set the frequency
Select “save search”, name it and choose how often the notification email is sent. - Follow through05
Repeat on the other services you need
Contracts Finder offers email updates with an account; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own portals with their own alerts.
An editorial order of work, not a buyer's fixed timetable. The current notice and documents determine participation and submission.
What do keyword tender alerts miss?
Notices that use different words, early-stage notices you did not filter for, and work that is never advertised publicly.
Gaps to know
Vocabulary
Buyers describe the same service in different words; a narrow keyword misses them.Early notices
Pipeline, planned and engagement notices come before the tender. Filter for them deliberately.
- Buyers describe the same service in different words; a narrow keyword misses them.
- Pipeline, planned and engagement notices come before the tender. Filter for them deliberately.
- Below £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (others), no tender notice is required.
- Work offered only to suppliers already on a framework needs no public tender notice.
How do you turn tender alerts into decisions rather than noise?
Set up the free official alerts first, then make each alert lead to a recorded decision.
- Start with the source01
Save the official searches
Use saved searches on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, plus any devolved portal you need. - Define the scope02
Include early notices
Alert on planned and market engagement notices as well as tenders. - Read the evidence03
Open the original notice
Check stage, lot, value basis, deadline and later corrections. - Make the decision04
Decide bid or no-bid
Compare the notice with the evidence and capacity the team can prove. - Name the next action05
Name the next action
Give the alert an owner and date, and review what the searches missed.
A supplier’s review sequence, based on the primary sources below. It is not a measured outcome or a prescribed buyer timetable.
Which notice types should your alert include?
Tender notices to bid now, and planned or engagement notices to prepare before the tender opens.
| Notice | Why you want an alert |
|---|---|
| Pipeline notice | A qualifying buyer’s forward look at contracts it expects to procure. |
| Planned procurement notice | Advance warning; a qualifying one can shorten the later tendering period. |
| Preliminary market engagement | The buyer wants supplier input before fixing the requirement: a chance to shape it. |
| Tender notice | The invitation to bid or to request to participate. Read the deadline in the notice. |
| Contract award and details notices | Who won and at what value: useful for knowing competitors and renewal dates. |
What should a paid tender alert service add?
Coverage you cannot get free, matching beyond keywords, and a reason for each match you can check.
A paid alert service is on trial
Worth paying for
Sources the official services do not cover in one place, such as the devolved portals or buyers’ own portals, named in writing.
Matching that finds notices described in other words, with the sentence that triggered the match.
Less time spent reading irrelevant notices.
Not worth paying for
“Access” to notices that are free on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder.
Claims of “every tender” without a named source list and exclusions.
A match score with no evidence behind it. How to test an AI tender search →
How much is reading alerts costing your team?
Price the review and bid time with your own figures before buying another feed.
This calculates the cost of preparing one bid from your inputs. It does not estimate savings from any alert service.
Your bid effort
Starting figures are an illustration, not a measured average or a saving promised by RFP Quest.
£4,000 and 80 team hours each month if you prepare every bid.
Use the estimate to decide how much work to authorise before drafting starts.
It excludes software fees and external costs.
- This bid£2,000
- Other bids this month£2,000
What should happen after an alert arrives?
Open the original notice, check the stage and fit, and record a bid or no-bid decision with an owner.
- Before you start01
Use the current documents
Check the primary publication and later changes before using the sequence below. - Check 202
Open the original notice
Check the stage, lot, value basis and exact deadline, and any later corrections. - Check 303
Check fit against your evidence
Conditions of participation, certifications and capacity you can prove. - Check 404
Record the decision
Bid or decline, with reasons and an owner. What a bid record should keep → - Follow through05
Name the next action
Give the alert an owner and date, and review what the searches missed.
An editorial order of work, not a buyer's fixed timetable. The current notice and documents determine participation and submission.
An alert is useful when someone owns what happens next.
Official alerts are free
Save searches on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder before paying anyone.Alert on early notices too
Planned and engagement notices give time to prepare.Pay for evidence, not access
A paid service should name its sources and show why each notice matched.
No account needed. Test your alert keywords here and see what they would have caught.
What else should you know about Tender alerts?
Check these points before committing your team’s time.
Are UK tender alerts free?
How do I set up Find a Tender alerts?
Do I need alerts from Contracts Finder as well as Find a Tender?
Does RFP Quest send tender alerts?
Why didn't my alert catch a contract a competitor won?
Where can you check the evidence?
Read the primary publication and the buyer’s current documents before acting.
| Source | What it supports |
|---|---|
| Find a Tender ↗ | Saved searches and notification emails with GOV.UK One Login, read 18 October 2026. |
| How to use the Central Digital Platform · Cabinet Office ↗ | Walkthrough of search filters and saved-search alerts. |
| Contracts Finder · GOV.UK ↗ | Email updates and saved searches with an account; devolved portals listed. |
| Find a Tender · notice types and sequences ↗ | Which notices exist and when they are published. |
| Guidance: below-threshold contracts · Cabinet Office ↗ | Thresholds and when no tender notice is required. |
| Procurement Act 2023, section 87 ↗ | Notifiable below-threshold contracts. |
Which guide answers your next question?
Follow the part of the bid you need to work on next.
