How to register for government contracts

Where to register

Start with the national portals. Find a Tender for higher-value UK-wide notices, Contracts Finder for English and UK-wide contracts including a large volume of lower-value work, Public Contracts Scotland if you can deliver in Scotland, and Sell2Wales for Welsh public bodies. Registration is free on all of them and gives you saved searches and email alerts as well as access to documents.

Under the Procurement Act 2023 regime, suppliers also register core company information on the Central Digital Platform, which is designed so that basic details are supplied once and reused across procurements rather than retyped into every questionnaire.

Then register on the e-tendering systems used by the buyers you actually want to work with. Individual councils, NHS trusts, universities and housing associations often run their own portals or use shared platforms, and their quotation-band opportunities are frequently issued only to registered suppliers. This step is what puts you on invitation lists.

What you need to hand when you register

Company registration number and registered address, VAT number, trading name and any previous names, main contact details, and the CPV or category codes describing what you supply. Choose those codes carefully but not too narrowly: they drive the alerts you receive, and over-precise selections cause you to miss relevant notices.

You will usually also be asked for turnover figures for the last two or three years, employee numbers, your standard industrial classification, and geographic coverage. Have your latest filed accounts to hand, since selection questionnaires often test financial standing against contract value.

Insurance and financial standing

Public buyers specify minimum insurance levels for the contract, and you must either hold them or confirm you will put them in place before contract start. Employers' liability is a legal requirement if you have staff, and public liability, professional indemnity where you give advice or design, and product liability where relevant are commonly specified. Levels vary by contract, so read the tender rather than assuming your current cover suffices.

Financial standing is usually assessed from filed accounts, sometimes with a credit score threshold or a rule that a single contract should not exceed a proportion of your annual turnover. If your accounts are weak or your company is young, expect requests for management accounts, a parent company guarantee or a bond, and consider bidding at values proportionate to your size.

Certifications and policies that unlock more bids

For works and site-based services, an SSIP-recognised health and safety accreditation such as CHAS, SafeContractor or Constructionline is close to essential, and buyers will also want your accident and RIDDOR record. For digital and data services, Cyber Essentials is frequently a minimum and Cyber Essentials Plus or ISO 27001 is often preferred. ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management both appear regularly as either a requirement or a scored advantage.

Written policies are asked for constantly, and having current, signed, dated versions saves days across a bidding year: health and safety, quality, environmental and carbon reduction, equality and diversity, modern slavery, safeguarding where you work with vulnerable people, data protection, business continuity, and anti-bribery. They should be specific to your business and reviewed, not downloaded templates with another firm's name in the footer.

A carbon reduction plan is increasingly requested outright, particularly on central government and NHS contracts above defined values, so treat it as part of the standard pack rather than an afterthought.

Build a company profile and reference bank

Assemble a single document containing your company overview, structure and key personnel with CVs, three to five reference contracts with client type, value, dates and outcomes, KPI performance figures, staff training and turnover statistics, and your accreditation certificates with expiry dates. Most selection questionnaires draw from precisely this pool, and maintaining it turns a two-day task into a two-hour one.

In 123 Tenders you can hold this information once as a procurement profile, which is then used to produce a Match Score for a notice and to inform Bid Pack drafts. Whatever tool you use, keep a diary of expiry dates, since lapsed insurance or an out-of-date accreditation is one of the most avoidable ways to fail a selection stage.

Once registered and bid-ready, the routine is straightforward: monitor the notices, qualify honestly, and put your writing effort into the small number of contracts you can genuinely evidence.