The Procurement Act 2023: Explained for Non-UK Suppliers

International suppliers familiar with RFPs, government portals and competitive tenders may find that the UK system uses different terminology and procedures.

The Procurement Act 2023 changed how public bodies advertise opportunities, collect supplier information, structure competitions and report contract awards. It also introduced new commercial tools, a central debarment process and greater transparency during contract delivery.

These changes did not close the UK public sector to overseas businesses. However, international suppliers need to understand which rules apply, how their organisation should be registered and what each procurement stage requires.

When Did the Procurement Act 2023 Take Effect?

The main provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, alongside the Procurement Regulations 2024. Procurements started under the previous regulations generally continue under those earlier rules. International suppliers may therefore encounter both systems, particularly when bidding for contracts or framework opportunities that began before February 2025.

The Act is the principal procurement regime for covered public contracts in:

• England
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

Its application to devolved Scottish procurement is more limited. Many Scottish public bodies continue to procure under separate Scottish legislation and advertise opportunities through Public Contracts Scotland.

Our introduction to public sector procurement in the UK explains the wider tender process and the types of authorities that purchase goods, services and works. Always check the legislation identified in the tender notice rather than assuming that every UK opportunity follows the same rules.

What Was the Act Designed to Change?

The new regime was intended to make public procurement more flexible and transparent while improving access to commercial information. For suppliers, the most visible changes include:

• The enhanced Find a Tender service
• Reusable supplier information
• A broader system of procurement notices
• Two main competitive tendering procedures
• Open frameworks
• Dynamic markets
• Assessment summaries
• A central debarment list
• Greater publication of contract performance information

Find a Tender now supports notices covering the procurement and contract-management lifecycle, from planned future opportunities through to award, performance and termination. This does not mean every tender is simpler. Buyers have greater freedom to design procedures around their requirements, making it especially important to read each timetable and set of instructions carefully.

Can Non-UK Suppliers Still Bid?

Yes. Overseas suppliers can continue to participate in UK public procurement, subject to the requirements of the individual competition. The level of legal protection available may depend on whether the organisation is a treaty-state supplier.

Treaty-State Suppliers

A treaty-state supplier is entitled to the benefit of an international agreement listed in Schedule 9 of the Procurement Act. Where the agreement covers the procurement, the contracting authority must not discriminate against that supplier because it is associated with the treaty state rather than the UK. Covered treaty-state suppliers also receive access to the Act’s statutory remedies.

Coverage can depend on:

• The supplier’s country
• The public body conducting the procurement
• The contract value
• The sector
• The goods, services or works being purchased
• Exclusions within the relevant international agreement

A supplier can therefore qualify as a treaty-state supplier for one procurement but not another. Our guides for Indian bidders and US bidders examine wider market-entry considerations for businesses from those countries.

Other Overseas Suppliers

The UK generally supports open competition and official guidance encourages buyers to accept tenders from both UK and overseas organisations. However, the Act permits contracting authorities in certain circumstances to exclude a non-treaty supplier from a competitive flexible procedure or disregard its tender. Buyers are advised to consider this carefully and should establish whether the supplier and proposed requirement are genuinely outside treaty coverage.

Treaty status does not remove contract-specific requirements. Overseas suppliers may still need suitable insurance, professional licences, security controls, local resources or regulatory authorisation.

Registering on the Central Digital Platform

The enhanced Find a Tender service operates as the UK’s Central Digital Platform for public procurement. It enables suppliers to:

• Register their legal organisation
• Receive a unique organisation identifier
• Store commonly requested business information
• Maintain financial and ownership details
• Share information with selected buyers
• Search procurement notices
• Create saved searches and alerts

The aim is to reduce repeated requests for the same core supplier information across different procurements. Suppliers remain responsible for ensuring their information is accurate and current.

The information is not openly visible to every Find a Tender user. The supplier chooses which contracting authorities receive it, normally through a share code or downloaded record. International businesses should register the legal entity that will:

• Submit the tender
• Provide the financial information
• Rely on the stated experience
• Sign the contract
• Invoice the buyer
• Accept contractual liability

Find a Tender registration does not necessarily provide access to the buyer’s submission portal. Many authorities use a separate e-sourcing system for documents, clarifications and tender uploads.

Understanding the New Notice System

The Act introduced notices covering more stages of procurement and contract delivery. International suppliers are most likely to encounter:

Find a Tender currently supports 17 notice types, although not every notice is used in every procurement. For international businesses, this creates useful research opportunities. Pipeline notices can reveal future demand, while award and performance notices can support buyer, competitor and market analysis.

Open and Competitive Flexible Procedures

The Act provides two main competitive tendering procedures. Both begin with publication of a tender notice.

Open Procedure

The open procedure allows any interested supplier to submit a tender. It generally operates as a single-stage competition. The buyer receives the tenders, assesses them against the published requirements and selects the most advantageous offer.

The authority may assess participation conditions before, alongside or after evaluating the tender, provided this takes place before contract award.

Competitive Flexible Procedure

The competitive flexible procedure allows the buyer to design a multi-stage process around the contract. It may include:

• A request-to-participate stage
• Supplier shortlisting
• Dialogue
• Negotiation
• Several tender rounds
• Demonstrations
• Site visits
• Presentations
• Best-and-final offers

The tender notice must explain how the process will operate, including any criteria used to reduce the number of suppliers progressing to a later stage.

Overseas bidders should not assume that every competitive flexible procedure follows a familiar restricted or negotiated format. Review:

• Every submission stage
• The documents required at each point
• Whether negotiation is permitted
• How shortlisting will work
• Which stages are scored
• Whether the final tender can differ from earlier proposals

Conditions of Participation and Award Criteria

These are separate assessments and should be treated differently in the bid plan.

Conditions of Participation Assess the Supplier

Conditions of participation can assess whether the organisation has the:

• Legal capacity
• Financial capacity
• Technical ability

needed to perform the contract.

They may cover:

• Financial standing
• Relevant experience
• Technical resources
• Professional qualifications
• Required insurance
• Quality standards
• Cyber-security controls
• Access to suitable employees or equipment

The requirements must be proportionate to the nature, complexity and cost of the contract.

Award Criteria Assess the Tender

Award criteria assess the offer being proposed. They may cover:

• Service quality
• Technical approach
• Price
• Mobilisation
• Contract management
• Risk
• Sustainability
• Social value

A supplier may submit an impressive technical proposal but remain ineligible if it cannot meet a mandatory participation condition. Do not use strong proposal writing to disguise missing qualifications, financial capacity or evidence.

What Does Most Advantageous Tender Mean?

The Procurement Act uses the term most advantageous tender, often shortened to MAT. This does not automatically mean the:

• Cheapest tender
• Largest supplier
• Highest technical score
• UK-based bidder

The winning tender is the submission that performs best under the buyer’s published award criteria and assessment methodology. Price may carry significant weight, but the buyer can also consider quality, technical performance and wider social, economic or environmental benefits where these are relevant to the contract.

International suppliers should review:

• Criterion weightings
• Scoring descriptions
• Pass-or-fail requirements
• Price formulas
• Minimum score thresholds
• Presentation or demonstration scores

The assessment method should shape how bid-writing time and evidence are allocated.

Frameworks, Open Frameworks and Dynamic Markets

The Act introduced or updated several commercial arrangements.

Framework Agreements

A framework is a contract that establishes the terms under which future contracts can be awarded to one or more appointed suppliers. Our guide to framework agreements explains the distinction between joining an agreement and winning an individual call-off contract.

Open Frameworks

An open framework is a scheme involving successive frameworks established on substantially the same terms. It reopens at defined points, allowing:

• New suppliers to compete for appointment
• Existing suppliers to seek a place on the next framework
• The supplier group to be refreshed during the wider scheme

An open framework is not necessarily open for applications continuously. The tender documents should explain the reopening timetable and process.

Dynamic Markets

A dynamic market is a list of suppliers that have met defined membership conditions and are eligible to participate in future procurements.

Dynamic markets must remain open to new supplier applications while they are active. Membership does not itself award a contract or guarantee an invitation to every opportunity.

Exclusions and the Debarment List

The Act strengthened the rules allowing or requiring buyers to exclude suppliers that present specified risks. Exclusion grounds may relate to:

• Criminal offences
• Tax misconduct
• Competition-law infringements
• Professional misconduct
• Poor public-contract performance
• National-security concerns
• Conduct involving connected or associated persons

The Act also introduced a central debarment mechanism. A Minister can place a supplier on the published debarment list where the relevant mandatory or discretionary exclusion ground applies. Contracting authorities must check the list when conducting covered procurements and before deciding to award a contract.

International suppliers should review the position of:

• The bidding legal entity
• Directors and controlling parties
• Parent companies
• Associated organisations
• Key subcontractors

Where an exclusion issue exists, the supplier may be able to provide evidence of remedial action in appropriate circumstances. Specialist advice may be required where the issue could affect eligibility.

Assessment Summaries and Contract Awards

The post-evaluation process has also changed.

Assessment Summary

Before publishing a contract award notice following a competitive procedure, the buyer must generally provide an assessment summary to each supplier that submitted an assessed tender. It should help the bidder understand:

• How its tender scored
• Why the scores were awarded
• How the successful or relevant winning tender performed

The successful supplier’s information may be redacted where necessary to protect confidential material.

Contract Award Notice

The buyer then publishes a contract award notice stating its intention to enter into the contract. Our guide to contract awards explains how this notice differs from the final signed agreement and the later contract details notice.

Standstill Period

Publication of the contract award notice normally starts the mandatory standstill period. The standard minimum period is eight working days, beginning with the day the notice is published. During this period, the contracting authority cannot enter into the contract.

The standstill period enables suppliers to raise concerns or consider a legal challenge before the contract is signed. Exceptions apply to certain procurement and award routes.

Transparency Continues During Delivery

The new transparency requirements do not end when the contract is awarded. For many public contracts valued above £5 million, contracting authorities must set and publish at least three key performance indicators, subject to specified exceptions.

They may also need to publish contract-performance notices showing how the supplier is performing against the most material KPIs. The permitted ratings include good, approaching target, requires improvement and inadequate.

This matters when preparing the tender. Commitments concerning:

• Service levels
• Delivery times
• Mobilisation
• Staffing
• Social value
• Sustainability
• Customer outcomes

may become measurable contractual obligations and contribute to published performance information. The tender should therefore describe a service that the organisation can realistically resource, price and deliver.

What Should Non-UK Suppliers Do Differently?

International businesses preparing for the current UK regime should:

1. Identify the applicable jurisdiction and legislation.
2. Check whether treaty-state protection covers the procurement.
3. Register the correct legal entity on Find a Tender.
4. Keep financial, ownership and exclusion information current.
5. Monitor pipeline notices as well as active tenders.
6. Separate participation conditions from scored award criteria.
7. Map every stage of a competitive flexible procedure.
8. Confirm whether the opportunity awards a direct contract, framework position or dynamic-market membership.
9. Review exclusion risks across the organisation and delivery chain.
10. Prepare for assessment summaries, standstill and ongoing performance publication.

Navigate the Current UK Procurement Regime

The Procurement Act 2023 changed the language, platforms and procedures used in UK public procurement, but it continues to provide substantial opportunities for international suppliers.

Successful overseas bidders need to identify which rules apply, register the correct organisation and align every submission with the buyer’s published procedure and evaluation methodology.

RFPVerse helps international businesses interpret UK procurement documents, assess market access and prepare compliant, competitive tender responses.

Speak to RFPVerse about preparing for your next UK public-sector opportunity.