Explainer · UK public procurement

How to find out who won a public tender (UK)

Look for the award notices on Find a Tender: under the Procurement Act 2023 a contracting authority publishes a contract award notice (UK6) after it decides the award and before the contract is signed, which names the supplier and the contract value, and a contract details notice (UK7) after the contract is signed. Awards of procurements started before 24 February 2025 under the earlier regulations are published on Contracts Finder. To search awards by supplier, buyer, CPV code or value from code, the Olympus UK Public Procurement API indexes award notices from both services.

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The notices that name the winner

Award notices under the Procurement Act 2023
NoticeWhenWhat it tells you
UK6 contract award notice"Published after making an award decision and before a contract is signed"; it starts the standstill period of at least 8 working days where one appliesInformation about the supplier awarded the contract, and the contract value
UK7 contract details notice"Published after a contract has been signed, both above and below threshold"; within 30 days of signature above threshold (120 days for light-touch contracts)That the contract has been entered into
  • Find a Tender: search notices for the contract award (UK6) and contract details (UK7) notices of the procurement; each notice names the buyer.
  • Contracts Finder: for procurements started before 24 February 2025 under the Public Contracts Regulations, search awarded contracts there.
  • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: below-threshold contracts in Scotland are published on Public Contracts Scotland; Find a Tender's search page also lists Sell2Wales and eTendersNI as sources for below-threshold contracts.

Every award to one company

The official services are organised by notice. To list every award to one company, the Olympus UK Public Procurement API searches awards by supplier name prefix or Companies House number, and GET /v1/uk-procurement/suppliers/{company_number} summarises a supplier's awards, from 1 October 2025. Values are as published: many awards carry no value, and framework awards can list many suppliers with one total.

Questions

What is a contract award notice?

Under the Procurement Act 2023, the notice (UK6) a contracting authority publishes after deciding to award a contract and before signing it. It names the supplier and gives the contract value, and starts the standstill period where one applies.

Are contract awards public in the UK?

Yes. Award notices are published on Find a Tender (and, for procurements started under the earlier regulations, on Contracts Finder), and Find a Tender notice data is available under the Open Government Licence.

Sources