These are the questions that come up again and again from small firms looking at public-sector work for the first time — pulled from what buyers, procurement advisers and small-business guidance actually say, not marketing copy.
No — and this changed for the better. Under the Procurement Act 2023 (in force from 2025), contracting authorities can no longer require you to hold insurance before a contract is awarded; they can ask what you'd put in place if you win, but you shouldn't be forced to pay for cover speculatively. Insurers commonly offer "subject to award" quotes for exactly this reason. Buyers still specify minimum levels (often £5m public liability for council works) — check those, but don't buy anything until you've actually won.
Buyers check financial standing is proportionate to the contract, not that you're a big company. A frequently used rule of thumb is turnover roughly double the annual contract value, but the Act requires this to scale with contract size — a £30k roofing job should not demand £500k turnover. If a below-threshold notice asks for something that looks disproportionate, that's a fair clarification question to raise with the buyer during the tender period.
Outsourced bid-writing rates published by UK consultancies in 2026 run roughly £500–£900 for a straightforward sub-£100k tender, up to £1,000–£2,000 for more complex ones, or £110+/hour if paid by time. For the small-works contracts most trade firms go for, that's usually more than the job justifies — which is exactly why the selection-questionnaire section is designed to be reusable: answer it properly once, and most of the effort on your next bid is just the price and a short method statement specific to that job.
Yes, and it's a right, not a favour. Under the Procurement Act 2023, contracting authorities must give unsuccessful bidders a debrief on request — your scores against each criterion, the reasons for the decision, and how the winning bid compared to yours. Always ask. Treat every debrief as specific feedback for the next bid, not just a formality.
Contracts Finder covers below-threshold notices (roughly under £5.3m for works) — where small-firm-sized jobs live. Find a Tender covers the larger above-threshold procurements. If you're a 1–20 person trade firm, Contracts Finder is where your work is; see our plain-English Contracts Finder guide for how to use it well.
Honestly: it depends on hit rate and payment terms, not the size of the opportunity. Public buyers must pay within 30 days by statute, which is often better than private commercial terms, and small-works contracts are sized so a modest local firm can genuinely win them — award notices show it happening every week. It is not a guaranteed win, and we won't tell you otherwise; the realistic path is bidding selectively on jobs that fit your size, learning from every debrief, and building a reference base over several bids rather than expecting the first one to land.
No — and be wary of anyone who says they can. BidCrier's job is to make sure you see the right notice early enough to bid, in plain English, for your trade and area. Winning is still down to your price, your references and your method statement. We'd rather be honest about that than oversell it.
Next step: see today's real, open contracts for your trade — cleaning, security, construction & trades — or join the waitlist to get them by email.
Sources: Procurement Act 2023 guidance (GOV.UK), published UK bid-writing cost surveys, Contracts Finder OGL v3.0 data, as of July 2026. General information, not legal or procurement advice.
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