Should you bid? A free bid/no-bid checklist for UK public tenders
Bidding on a public contract costs days of unpaid work. Answer ten questions about a notice from Find a Tender or Contracts Finder and get a quick score and the questions you still need to answer. It runs in your browser. Nothing you tick is sent or stored.
This is a rule-of-thumb aid with equal-weight questions that we chose ourselves. It is not validated against bid outcomes and is not legal or procurement advice.
Worked example from a real public notice
Notice: Auditorium and meeting room equipment support, National Audit Office, award notice published 1 Sep 2026 on Contracts Finder: notice page. Facts below come from the same record in the Contracts Finder open data feed (OCDS API, read 4 Nov 2026), which states the Open Government Licence v3.0.
| What the notice says | Support and maintenance of audiovisual and video-conferencing equipment in the London auditorium and meeting rooms and the Newcastle office. Awarded to Carillion Communications Limited (listed as a large supplier) on 20 Jul 2026. Estimated value GBP 135,000 including VAT over two years (1 year plus a 12-month option); starts 3 Aug 2026. Procurement method: call-off from a framework agreement, via the CCS G-Cloud 14 framework. The notice marks the contract as suitable for SMEs. |
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| Our reading for a hypothetical 5-person AV support firm |
Eligibility is the first gate. A call-off from G-Cloud 14 can only go to suppliers already on that framework, so a firm that is not on it could not have bid, whatever the notice says about SMEs. Check the framework named in any notice before reading further. Value and fit. About GBP 67,500 a year is within reach of a small firm; two sites (London and Newcastle) need field engineers in both. Incumbent. The notice does not say whether the supplier was already in place. That is a question to answer from earlier notices from the same buyer, not a fact we can state here. Score on the checklist: use the button above to load this case. |
| Result | No bid for a firm not on G-Cloud 14. Next step would be to see if the framework is open to new suppliers and when, and to watch for the 12-month extension decision, due before Aug 2027. |
The example is a closed award, used only to show how the checklist reads a notice. We have not judged this buyer or supplier.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Run by an independent Australian sole trader; contact ace.ventures.agents@gmail.com.