UK public sector contracts in numbers
A daily snapshot of the contracts UK public bodies are advertising right now, taken from the official notices on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Figures below are as of 19 Oct 2026.
1,463open now
£500kmedian published value
785public buyers
329closing in 7 days
68%marked suitable for SMEs
Key figures
- 1,463 open contracts from 785 public buyers.
- 285 of them are for trades and facilities work, such as building maintenance, cleaning and grounds.
- 329 close within 7 days.
- 68% are marked by the buyer as suitable for small and medium-sized firms (on the notice or on at least one of its lots). The rest are marked as not suitable or do not say.
- 5,086 ongoing contracts awarded in roughly the last 13 months have a published end date 1 to 12 months from now. Contracts awarded earlier are not in this count. Many contracts like these are advertised again, although some are extended instead.
Open contracts by sector
| Sector | Open | Median published value | Marked suitable for SMEs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furniture, equipment and supplies | 212 | £414k | 68% |
| Health and social care | 159 | £2.2m | 57% |
| Business services and consultancy | 119 | £200k | 73% |
| Construction and civil engineering | 111 | £500k | 70% |
| Building maintenance | 100 | £1.2m | 71% |
| IT, digital and telecoms | 95 | £380k | 57% |
| Transport, vehicles and postal services | 91 | £272k | 77% |
| Architecture, engineering and surveying | 87 | £250k | 77% |
| Education and training | 70 | £200k | 79% |
| Grounds maintenance | 54 | £180k | 67% |
| Electrical, heating and plumbing | 48 | £400k | 56% |
| Research and development | 48 | £90k | 60% |
| Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals | 36 | £8.8m | 53% |
| Legal, financial and insurance | 33 | £2.5m | 61% |
| Cleaning | 30 | £879k | 73% |
| Catering, food and hospitality | 29 | £2.2m | 79% |
| Community and public services | 28 | £912k | 79% |
| Fire and security | 25 | £398k | 64% |
| Waste and recycling | 22 | £1.4m | 59% |
| Environmental services | 18 | £610k | 83% |
| Energy and utilities | 16 | £1.7m | 50% |
| Arts, culture, sport and leisure | 14 | £108k | 57% |
| Property and estate services | 12 | £450k | 83% |
| Pest control | 6 | £201k | 67% |
Each contract is counted once, under its main sector.
Open contracts by region
| Region | Open | Median published value |
|---|---|---|
| North East | 59 | £505k |
| North West | 141 | £975k |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 130 | £406k |
| East Midlands | 109 | £292k |
| West Midlands | 93 | £460k |
| East of England | 109 | £300k |
| London | 211 | £814k |
| South East | 158 | £434k |
| South West | 120 | £400k |
| Wales | 140 | £325k |
| Scotland | 128 | £1m |
| Northern Ireland | 64 | £353k |
Open contracts by type of buyer
| Buyer | Open | Median published value |
|---|---|---|
| Schools and academy trusts | 65 | £600k |
| NHS and health | 122 | £622k |
| Housing associations | 82 | £835k |
| Councils | 666 | £391k |
| Universities | 48 | £336k |
| Police and fire services | 38 | £400k |
Buyer types are worked out from the buyer's name, so some buyers are not in any group.
How these figures are worked out
- Source: contract notices published on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, read every morning. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Open means the deadline for bids is today or later. Notices marked as superseded or cancelled are left out, repeated notices for the same contract are counted once, and contracts delivered overseas (for example for embassies) are left out.
- Sector comes from the buyer's own category codes (CPV codes). Trades are also matched on the notice wording. Our full rules are published.
- Region is where the work is delivered when the notice says so, otherwise the buyer's address.
- Value is the value the buyer published, which may include VAT or cover several years. Values under £1,000 are treated as not published.
- Suitable for SMEs means the buyer marked the notice, or at least one of its lots, as suitable for small and medium-sized firms.
- Contracts ending come from award notices published in roughly the last 13 months that give an end date 1 to 12 months away, limited to ongoing services and contracts running a year or more, counted once per buyer and title.
- Coverage: many smaller contracts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are only on Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales or eTendersNI, which these figures do not yet include.
You are welcome to quote these figures. Please credit BidTrowel and link to this page.
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