Contracts Finder, explained in plain English

Contracts Finder is the UK government's free portal where public bodies in England advertise contracts below the "threshold" (and awards for what they bought). It is genuinely useful and genuinely free — and most small firms who try it give up within two weeks. This guide explains why, and how to use it effectively.

The jargon, translated

• Contracting authority / buyer — the council, school, NHS trust or housing association paying for the work.
• CPV code — a numeric category for what's being bought (45… = construction; 909… = cleaning; 797… = security). Notices are classified by these, often imperfectly.
• Open procedure — anyone can bid in one stage. Most small contracts use this.
• Framework — a pre-approved supplier list buyers order from later. Getting on one can mean years of work; missing the window means waiting until it reopens.
• SQ / selection questionnaire — the "are you a real, solvent, insured business" form. Standardised; reusable between bids.
• Award notice — a record of who won. Read these: they tell you what buyers near you buy, how often, and at what prices.
• Tender period / deadline — your bidding window, usually 2–6 weeks for small work.

Why the free alerts frustrate people

Contracts Finder's email alerts match raw keywords across every industry. "Cleaning" matches clean-energy consultations; "security" matches IT security; a roofing firm gets highways notices. The information is all there — the filtering is the hard part. That's the specific gap BidCrier fills: category-and-title matching, value caps so you're not shown £20m frameworks, plain-English summaries, and only your trade and area. Judge for yourself: our construction board shows today's output next to the official links.

Using it well manually (honest advice)

1. Search by your region + broad trade words, then sort by closing date.
2. Ignore anything where the stated value is 10× your comfortable job size.
3. Open the actual notice PDF — titles are often uninformative; descriptions are better.
4. Check award notices for your trade + area quarterly to learn who buys and what winning prices look like.
5. Set a weekly calendar slot — sporadic checking is how deadlines get missed.

Next step: if you'd rather have this done for you daily, join the BidCrier waitlist — or use the boards free: cleaning, security, construction & trades.

Source: Contracts Finder (contractsfinder.service.gov.uk), data reused under OGL v3.0. General information, not procurement advice.

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