Public sector tenders in the East Midlands

If you’re looking for East Midlands tenders, you will meet EastMidsTenders sooner or later. Nottinghamshire County Council points suppliers to it. We have not assessed the portal itself: check its own pages for how to register and which buyers use it. It is not the only route, though. New opportunities under the Procurement Act 2023 are also advertised on Find a Tender, which is where our live list comes from. In the week to 10 Oct 2026, 43 live notices named an East Midlands delivery location (as of 10 Oct 2026).

Where East Midlands buyers publish tenders

EastMidsTenders. Nottinghamshire County Council says it lists all tenders over £25,000 there and that registration is free. Newark and Sherwood District Council has a tendering for contracts page; check it for which system the council uses. Lincolnshire County Council uses a different system, Panacea, so check its page before you register. We have not assessed EastMidsTenders itself: check its own pages for registration, notifications and which buyers publish there.

ProContract. Blaby District Council publishes a ProContract bidder guide; check the guide itself for what it covers. ProContract also has an opportunities list. We have not assessed ProContract itself: check its own pages for which buyers publish there.

NHS bodies. Don’t assume the council portal covers them. East Midlands Ambulance Service sets out how it advertises opportunities on its doing business page, so read it, and ask any NHS buyer how it advertises smaller purchases.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland. We haven’t verified their portals. The notice names where to respond, so read that before registering.

Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Since 24 February 2025 no new procurements can start under the old rules (the Public Contracts Regulations 2015), and new below-threshold opportunities must be advertised on Find a Tender (PPN 019, para 8). Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements that started under the old rules (PPN 019, para 7). We list those two only. Quotes run solely on EastMidsTenders or a buyer’s own system won’t appear here. For a wider comparison, see every UK tender portal, listed.

Who buys in the East Midlands

County councils (Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire are named above) and district councils such as Blaby and Newark and Sherwood are the visible repeat buyers. NHS bodies such as the ambulance service, universities and housing associations also publish. The live list on this page shows who is advertising now.

Before you rely on any portal’s alerts, check on its own pages which buyers publish there: a portal used by many buyers can carry notices from well beyond your patch. That is useful if you travel, and noise if you don’t.

Local support for small suppliers

The East Midlands Growth Hub has a guide called Identifying new tender opportunities. It quotes its own thresholds, so check any figure against gov.uk before you rely on it. In England you can also call the Business Support Service on 0800 998 1098, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm (gov.uk), which can point you to a local growth hub through the growth hub finder.

Winning public contracts in the East Midlands

Set alerts by what you do, then filter by place. Choose the categories you can deliver and ignore anything outside your driving range. The East Midlands sits in the middle of the country, so your radius may cross into the West Midlands, Yorkshire or the East of England. The West Midlands page is a quick way to see who publishes next door.

Don’t copy one council’s threshold onto another. Nottinghamshire puts tenders over £25,000 on EastMidsTenders. That is one council’s own practice. The national rule is in the Procurement Act 2023 guidance: a below-threshold contract is “notifiable” at £12,000 or more for central government bodies (NHS trusts included) and £30,000 or more for other authorities, including VAT, and the buyer must then publish a below-threshold tender notice (section 87), unless it invites only a closed group (gov.uk).

Use the SME duty. The same guidance says buyers must consider the barriers small firms face before inviting tenders for a below-threshold contract. If a requirement looks out of proportion to the contract, ask the buyer before the deadline whether it can be reduced.

Small NHS jobs may never reach a national list. NHS bodies publish in their own ways, so if you want NHS work, ask the buyer how small purchases are advertised, as well as watching the live list on this page.

Bid for the lot that fits. For above-threshold contracts, the buyer must consider before publishing a tender notice whether the work could be split into lots; if it thinks lots would be appropriate but doesn’t use them, it must give reasons (section 18). If a notice is one big contract, ask whether lots were considered; if it’s split, bid for the lot that matches your size and patch.

Watch who wins. After signing a notifiable below-threshold contract (£12,000 or more for central government, £30,000 or more for others, including VAT), the buyer must publish a contract details notice (section 87), usually within 30 days for central government bodies and 90 days for others (gov.uk guidance). Read them on Find a Tender. They show who won the smaller contracts, so you can see which buyers use new suppliers.

Ask for the pack early. Only 29 of the 470 live notices in the week to 10 Oct 2026 (about 6%) stated insurance requirements in the notice itself (as of 10 Oct 2026). Check the public liability level and any health and safety accreditation in the pack before you commit bid time. Our tender eligibility checker is coming soon. Until then, tell us your trade and postcode to join the free weekly list of live tenders, starting soon.