Practical guides for finding and winning UK government contracts.
Every major channel for finding public sector design and digital tenders — FTS, Contracts Finder, NHS, council portals, and CCS frameworks explained.
Regulation updateThe Act went live in February 2025 and rewired UK public procurement. Here's what actually changed — and what your agency needs to do now.
StrategyFrameworks or open market — most agencies default to one without properly weighing the trade-offs. Here's the honest breakdown.
Bid writingMost agencies lose bids not because their work is bad, but because they write for peers instead of evaluators. Here's how to structure a response that wins.
StrategyG-Cloud, Dynamic Purchasing Systems, and open tender — the three main routes to UK public sector contracts. Here's how each works and what it means for your BD strategy.
Procurement guideSince the Procurement Act 2023, buyers must publish pipeline notices for planned procurements. Here's how design agencies can use them to spot opportunities months early.
Business caseA realistic calculation of what missing public sector tenders costs a UK design agency — and why systematic monitoring is worth it at almost any agency size.
Framework guideWhat the DOS7 framework covers, how to get on it, and why monitoring the Digital Marketplace daily is what separates agencies that win from agencies that miss out.
Regulation updateThe biggest overhaul of UK public procurement in thirty years. Here's what actually changed — new notice types, faster standstills, and what your agency needs to do now.
Framework guideG-Cloud 14 gives buyers a direct route to award you contracts without a full tender. Here's the step-by-step registration process — and what most agencies miss after they're on the framework.
StrategyBuilding a reliable public sector pipeline means picking the right verticals, building credible evidence, getting on the right frameworks, and staying visible before procurement starts.
Framework guideHow UK design and digital agencies can use Crown Commercial Service frameworks — CCS TS3, DOS7, MCF3, and G-Cloud — to access public sector procurement and monitor opportunities daily.
Procurement guideNHS procurement is fragmented across dozens of organisations, routes, and portals. This guide explains the landscape so your agency can start finding and bidding on NHS design work.
Procurement guide374 local authorities, multiple frameworks, regional consortia — local government is a huge market for design agencies. Here's how monitoring, frameworks, and relationships actually work.
Bid writingSocial value is a mandatory, scored criterion in most UK public sector contracts — worth up to 20% of your bid score. Here's how design agencies can prepare, commit, and score well.
Procurement guideManual monitoring catches maybe 40–60% of relevant opportunities. This guide covers every tender alert option available to UK design agencies — and how to build an approach that doesn't rely on human memory.
Bid writingProcurement evaluators score responses against strict criteria, not creative portfolios. Here's what evaluators actually want — and how to write responses that win.
Procurement guideUniversities, FE colleges, MATs, and schools spend hundreds of millions on digital services each year. Here's how to find and win education sector contracts — including CPC, YPO, PSBAR accessibility, and the new below-threshold pipeline.
StrategySubcontracting is an overlooked route into public sector work for smaller design agencies. Here's how to find primes, position your capability, and build a repeatable subcontracting pipeline.
StrategyStarting from zero? This step-by-step guide covers how to build a public sector BD pipeline from scratch — from market knowledge and monitoring to prospect lists, bid discipline, and keeping it moving.
StrategyAlready doing public sector work? Here's how to build a systematic pipeline — from daily monitoring and qualification frameworks to relationship development and bid production — that compounds over time.
Procurement guideHousing associations are a major — and underserved — buyer of design and digital services. Here's how they procure, where tenders appear, and how your agency can position to win.
Procurement guideCentral government is the UK's biggest buyer of digital design. Here's how GDS, CDDO, HMRC, and DOS7 work — and what buyers actually look for when evaluating agencies.
Procurement guideScotland runs its own procurement system — separate portal, separate regulations, and design work that never appears on UK-wide systems. Here's how PCS, Quick Quotes, DTS, and Scottish frameworks work.
Procurement guideWales has its own portal (Sell2Wales), Welsh language requirements, and the Well-being of Future Generations Act adding extra scoring criteria. Here's how to find and win Welsh public sector design work.
Procurement guideNorthern Ireland runs its own procurement system — eTendersNI, NICS frameworks, CPD, and BSO-PaLS for health contracts. Here's how to find and win Northern Ireland public sector design work.
Bid writingGet it too high and you lose on price. Get it too low and you win work that destroys your margin. Here's how to price competitively without racing to the bottom.
Bid writingBefore you write a single word, run every tender through this eight-question go/no-go checklist. Save 20–80 hours of senior time by bidding only on tenders you can win.
Bid writingPPN 06/20 made social value a mandatory, scored criterion worth up to 20% of your bid. Here's what the Social Value Model covers, how scoring works, and how design agencies can write responses that actually win marks.
Procurement guideFTS is the UK's above-threshold procurement portal — and most design agencies don't monitor it. Here's what FTS is, how it differs from Contracts Finder, what notices to watch, and how to stop missing high-value contracts.
Bid writingMEAT, quality/price splits, scoring scales, and what evaluators actually want. Understanding the mechanics of bid evaluation before you write a single word is the most underleveraged advantage in public procurement.