Three headline findings
- 3,983 new tender opportunities were published on Find a Tender in Q3 2026, up 7% on the previous quarter (3,714). 2,149 of them (54%) were in construction, fit-out, facilities management, fire safety, M&E, landscaping or supply.
- Most opportunities are not mega-contracts: the median stated value was £415k, and 63% of opportunities that stated a value were under £1m. 63% came from councils, NHS bodies, schools, housing and other sub-central buyers.
- 539 new frameworks went to market, led by the Government Commercial Agency's £50.0bn Supply of Energy and Decarbonisation Service framework, plus £8.0bn SCAPE construction works and £8.0bn National Highways maintenance frameworks.
New opportunities by month
Procurements whose first tender notice was published in each month of the quarter.
Opportunities by sector
2,149 of the 3,983 new opportunities fell in at least one of the seven sectors below. Construction and supply lead by volume; facilities management has the highest typical contract size.
| Sector | New opportunities | Median value | Combined stated value | Frameworks | Pipeline notices | Contract details notices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 1,290 | £350k | £110.5bn | 168 | 527 | 848 |
| Supply and goods | 1,027 | £450k | £110.2bn | 193 | 667 | 805 |
| Mechanical and electrical | 305 | £500k | £83.1bn | 46 | 168 | 371 |
| Fit-out | 220 | £300k | £7.6bn | 23 | 56 | 272 |
| Landscaping and grounds | 133 | £200k | £3.8bn | 22 | 46 | 81 |
| Facilities management | 104 | £2.0m | £64.6bn | 21 | 91 | 87 |
| Fire safety | 87 | £391k | £5.6bn | 15 | 41 | 148 |
Opportunities by stated value
63% of opportunities that stated a value were under £1m, and 934 were under £138k. Smaller and growing businesses have plenty to go for.
Opportunities by region
London buyers and London delivery locations led, but every English region and Wales saw over 400 new opportunities. A notice delivered in several regions counts in each.
Opportunities by buyer type
63% of new opportunities came from sub-central buyers such as councils, NHS bodies, schools, universities and housing providers.
Largest new frameworks in our sectors
539 new opportunities were frameworks (14%). These are the ten largest by stated value whose CPV codes fall in construction, fit-out, FM, fire safety, M&E, landscaping or supply. Framework values are ceilings shared across many suppliers and years.
| Framework | Buyer | Stated value |
|---|---|---|
| Supply of Energy and Decarbonisation Service | Government Commercial Agency | £50.0bn |
| SCAPE Construction Works and Services Framework | Scape Procure Limited (trading as SCAPE) | £8.0bn |
| Maintenance and Response 2 Framework | National Highways | £8.0bn |
| FW Construction – Civils, Buildings, OHL and UGC Framework – Multi Site 1231 | SCOTTISH HYDRO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION PLC | £7.4bn |
| Consultancy and Professional Services | Government Commercial Agency | £5.0bn |
| Protect Framework (Compliance Services) | Hyde Housing Association | £2.7bn |
| PfH Materials Supply Framework | Procurement for Housing | £1.5bn |
| SCP015 - SCAPE Regional Construction Works and Services Framework | Scape Procure Limited (trading as SCAPE) | £1.2bn |
| Heating, Electrical, Mechanical and Decarbonisation Framework | EASTERN PROCUREMENT LIMITED | £1.1bn |
| Framework for Workforce Technology Systems 2 | Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust | £1.0bn |
Awards and direct awards
In the same quarter, 3,630 procurements published a contract award notice, 10,738 published a contract details notice and 1,199 published a transparency notice for a direct award. A further 2,119 published preliminary market engagement notices and 240 published planned procurement notices, which are early signs of tenders still to come.
Policy changes to know about
PPN 026: a new Social Value Model (5 August 2026)
The Cabinet Office published a new Social Value Model for central government, focused on good British jobs, skills and opportunities. It applies to covered procurements of £1m or more (including VAT) under the Procurement Act 2023, with a minimum 10% weighting from £1m to under £5m and 20% at £5m and above, and at least one social value KPI on contracts of £5m or more. It applies to procurements that start on or after 1 January 2027, with guidance due in autumn 2026. Read it on GOV.UK.
PPN 022 update: UK steel transparency (13 July 2026)
From 1 October 2026, for projects involving steel worth £10m or more, or needing more than 500 tonnes of steel, in-scope buyers should state in the Contract Details Notice whether UK-produced steel is used by the prime contractor or supply chain, with a reason if not. Read it on GOV.UK.
CMA report: public procurement in the national interest (8 September 2026)
The Competition and Markets Authority set out five recommendations for national, regional and local government, starting with making the prevention, detection and deterrence of bid rigging an explicit priority in the National Procurement Policy Statement. Read it on GOV.UK.
Sources and method
Period: 1 July to 30 September 2026 (UK time). Data: the Find a Tender service's open (OCDS) data, taken from the Open Contracting Partnership's Data Registry copy of the 2026 file, retrieved 3 October 2026. Under the Procurement Act 2023, new UK procurements publish both above- and below-threshold notices on Find a Tender (except below-threshold notices in Scotland, which use Public Contracts Scotland, so Scotland is under-represented).
New opportunities are procurements whose first tender notice (notice type UK4) was published in the quarter; re-published or amended tender notices are not counted twice. The previous quarter uses the same rule. Pipeline means preliminary market engagement (UK2) or planned procurement (UK3) notices. Contract awards and contract details are counts of UK6 and UK7 notices; direct awards are UK5 transparency notices.
Values are the estimated values stated by buyers, excluding VAT, often covering several years and every lot or framework supplier, so a large figure is a ceiling rather than the value one supplier will win. Medians use only notices that state a value.
Sectors are assigned automatically from CPV codes and title keywords, using the same rules as West Gate's tender search, so one notice can count in several sectors. Regions come from the NUTS delivery locations in each notice (or the buyer's address when none is given); a notice covering several regions counts in each. Buyer type is the buyer's own classification on the central digital platform.
Contracts Finder was checked but not added to the counts: 8,768 Contracts Finder records were updated in the quarter and 93% of them were completed (awarded) procurements, mostly older ones started before the Procurement Act, so adding them would mix in pre-Act activity and risk double counting. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Always check the official notice before bidding.
- Find a Tender service (Cabinet Office), OCDS data
- OCP Data Registry: United Kingdom, Find a Tender Service (2026 file, retrieved 3 October 2026)
- OCP Data Registry: United Kingdom, Contracts Finder (retrieved 5 October 2026)
- PPN 026: a new Social Value Model (5 August 2026)
- PPN 022 update: UK steel transparency (13 July 2026)
- CMA report: public procurement in the national interest (8 September 2026)