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How to get council contracts in the UK

Find council opportunities on the free official portals (Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, and Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales or eSourcing NI and eTendersNI in the devolved nations), sign in so you can save searches and get email notifications, watch for preliminary market engagement and pipeline notices so you hear about work before it is tendered, check council contract registers for contracts about to end, and then respond to each tender by the deadline in its notice.

Councils buy cleaning, grass cutting, building repairs, catering, security, waste collection and printing from outside suppliers, and most of that work is advertised. This guide covers the free routes in, in the order a small supplier usually needs them.

Updated 20 October 2026. Official sources checked 20 October 2026.

Step by step: the free official route

  1. Get a GOV.UK One Login and register on Find a Tender

    You need a GOV.UK One Login to sign in to Find a Tender. With an account you can register a supplier organisation, save search criteria and sign up for notifications by email. Since 24 February 2025, above- and below-threshold notices about new UK procurements are published there, except below-threshold procurements in Scotland.

  2. Set up Contracts Finder for lower-value council work in England

    Contracts Finder covers contracts in England worth over £12,000 including VAT with central government, and information on below-threshold contracts over £30,000 including VAT with councils and other bodies outside central government. You can search and apply without an account; an account adds email updates and saved searches.

  3. Watch for early-warning notices

    Under the Procurement Act 2023 a buyer can publish a preliminary market engagement notice to invite suppliers to take part in engagement before a tender, or to say that engagement has taken place. Large buyers that expect to spend more than £100 million in a financial year must also publish a pipeline notice listing contracts over £2 million planned for the next 18 months. Both show you what is coming.

  4. Find the council contracts that are about to end

    Councils in England must publish details of every contract worth over £5,000, with the supplier, value and start, end and review dates, under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015. Contracts nearing their end are the next tenders. See how to find out when a council contract ends.

  5. Pick the tenders you can win and read the notice carefully

    Each notice gives the deadline, the documents and how to respond. On Find a Tender, notices can say whether the contract is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the Act's guidance asks buyers to have regard to the barriers SMEs may face. Search by your trade: for example cleaning tenders or grounds maintenance tenders.

What the free tools do, and what they leave to you

Everything above is free. The time cost is in checking several portals, sorting real opportunities from unrelated notices that share a keyword, and keeping track of which existing contracts end when, because alerts only cover newly published notices.

Where Contracts Radar saves time

Contracts Radar sends one email (daily, weekly or monthly) with the public-sector tenders open now for your trade, buyers preparing to tender, and contracts ending in the next 6 to 12 months (or any window up to 24 months ahead), with the buyer, the current contractor, the value and a link to the official notice. It costs £19 a month after a 14-day free trial, and there is a free weekly top-3 digest. Trades include commercial cleaning, building maintenance, grounds maintenance, catering, security, waste and recycling and signage and printing.

See Contracts Radar See a free sample

Questions people ask

Do I need to register to bid for council contracts?

You can search and apply for contracts on Contracts Finder without an account. To register a supplier organisation on Find a Tender, save searches or get email notifications, you need to sign in with a GOV.UK One Login.

How do I get council cleaning contracts?

Search Find a Tender and Contracts Finder for cleaning in your area, save the searches with email notifications, and check council contract registers for cleaning contracts that end soon. Our cleaning tenders guide has the details.

How do I get council grass cutting or mowing contracts?

Search for grounds maintenance and grass cutting, and by CPV code 77310000 (planting and maintenance services of green areas), on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Include parish and town councils and schools. See our grounds maintenance tenders guide.

Which council contracts have to be advertised?

Information on below-threshold contracts with councils and other bodies outside central government is published when they are worth over £30,000 including VAT (£12,000 for central government), on Contracts Finder in England or the devolved portals. Higher-value procurements are on Find a Tender.

Are council contracts open to small businesses?

Yes. Find a Tender notices can flag a contract as particularly suitable for SMEs, and the Procurement Act 2023 guidance asks buyers to have regard to the barriers SMEs may face.

Official sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Information only: not legal, financial or professional advice. Always check the official source before you act.

More free guides

How to find out when a council or public sector contract endsWhere to find public sector cleaning tenders in the UKGrounds maintenance tenders in the UK: where to find themHow to set up Find a Tender and Contracts Finder alertsAll free guides from Brightbench