How to Register as a Supplier on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder

International businesses searching for UK government contracts will quickly encounter Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. They may then be directed to a buyer’s e-sourcing portal, a national procurement website or a separate framework application.

It is easy to assume that creating one account completes the entire supplier registration process. In practice, the platforms serve different purposes, and the final tender may need to be submitted somewhere else.

Find a Tender is now the Central Digital Platform for UK public procurement. It allows suppliers to register their organisation, store commonly requested information and share that information with public-sector buyers.

Contracts Finder remains a useful opportunity and market-research service. Its account supports saved searches and alerts, but it does not replace your Find a Tender supplier profile.

Find a Tender and Contracts Finder: What Is the Difference?

The platforms overlap in some areas, but they are not interchangeable.

The enhanced Find a Tender service became the Central Digital Platform on 24 February 2025. It brings supplier registration, reusable organisation information and procurement notices together within one service.

Contracts Finder lets users search for current opportunities, planned procurement activity and previously awarded contracts. Suppliers do not need an account to search or apply, although registration enables email updates and saved searches.

Our introduction to public sector tenders explains how these platforms fit into the wider process of finding, assessing and responding to UK contract opportunities.

Start With Find a Tender

Find a Tender should normally be an international supplier’s first registration priority.

The platform enables your organisation to:

• Obtain a unique supplier identifier
• Store commonly requested business information
• Maintain financial and ownership details
• Share supplier information with selected buyers
• Search procurement notices
• Save searches
• Receive opportunity notifications
• Review awarded contracts and commercial arrangements

The platform is free. Suppliers should not have to pay simply to view UK public procurement opportunities.

Businesses that created a Find a Tender account before the Central Digital Platform launched still need to register through the enhanced service and enter their organisation information. Using the same email address should bring previous saved searches into the new account.

What Information Should You Prepare?

Gather the necessary information before beginning the registration process. This reduces the risk of creating an incomplete organisation profile or having to stop while several colleagues locate documents.

Individual Account Information

The person registering the organisation will need:

• An individual work email address
• Access to that email account
• A mobile telephone or authentication application
• Authority to enter and manage company information

Avoid using a general inbox where possible. An address such as sales@company.com may be shared by several people, making account security and future administration more difficult.

Organisation Information

Prepare:

• Exact legal name
• Registered address
• Companies House number or overseas equivalent
• Charity or other official registration number, where applicable
• VAT number, where applicable
• Legal form
• Country of registration
• SME status
• Relevant qualifications and trade associations

Find a Tender accepts non-UK addresses. Where an organisation does not have a relevant registration number, the platform can generate a unique identifier during registration.

Reusable Supplier Information

You may also need:

• Recent financial accounts
• Details of connected persons
• Information about people or organisations with significant control
• Mandatory and discretionary exclusion information
• Accreditations and qualifications

This information can be updated and reused across multiple bids, although individual buyers may request additional procurement-specific evidence.

Step 1: Choose Your First Administrator

Every supplier should nominate one person to register the organisation initially.

This person becomes the administrator and can:

• Enter and update organisation information
• Add other users
• Approve access
• Manage supplier declarations
• Control how information is shared

The current Find a Tender system supports administrator, editor and viewer permissions. Administrators have full access, editors can update information and generate share codes, while viewers have more limited read and download access.

Add at least one additional suitable user after registration. Relying on one administrator can create problems if that person leaves, loses access or is unavailable near a tender deadline.

Step 2: Create a GOV.UK One Login

The first administrator must create or use an existing GOV.UK One Login.

The process involves:

1. Entering an individual work email address
2. Verifying the email with a security code
3. Creating a password
4. Setting up multi-factor authentication
5. Signing into Find a Tender

Security codes can be received through a text message or authentication application.

It is important to distinguish between the two levels of registration:

• GOV.UK One Login identifies the individual user.
• Find a Tender registration identifies the supplier organisation.

Creating One Login does not, by itself, register the company as a supplier.

Step 3: Register the Supplier Organisation

After signing in, select the option to register an organisation.

You will be asked whether you are registering as a buyer or supplier. Select Supplier.

The service will then request the organisation’s registration number and address. Where the business has a Companies House number, some company information may be populated automatically.

International suppliers should:

• Select the correct country
• Use the exact registered legal name
• Enter the registered address rather than a trading address
• Use an official overseas registry number where available
• Register the legal entity that will submit and sign the tender

This last point is particularly important for international groups with several subsidiaries. Experience, financial information and accreditations held by the parent company may not automatically satisfy requirements applying to the bidding entity.

Check whether the organisation has already been registered before creating a new record. Duplicate profiles can make it unclear which identifier and supplier information should be used.

Step 4: Record Your Unique Identifier

After registering the organisation, you will be able to view its unique identifier.

This is commonly called the Public Procurement Organisation Number, or PPON. The PPON connects information about the organisation across procurement records and notices.

Record it in your central bidding information alongside:

• Registered company name
• Company or overseas registry number
• VAT number
• Registered address
• Main administrator
• Portal account details

A PPON is not an accreditation, approved-supplier status or guarantee that your company can bid for every contract. It identifies the organisation within the UK procurement data system.

You will still need to meet the participation conditions and regulatory requirements for each opportunity.

Step 5: Complete the Supplier Information

Registering the organisation is not the end of the Find a Tender process.

Complete the reusable supplier-information sections covering:

• Basic organisation information
• Economic and financial standing
• Connected persons
• Exclusion grounds
• Qualifications and accreditations

Find a Tender does not verify this information before you share it. Your organisation is responsible for its accuracy, and each contracting authority completes the due diligence relevant to its procurement.

Review the stored information whenever:

• New accounts become available
• Directors or controlling parties change
• An accreditation expires
• Your registered address changes
• Your legal structure changes
• Relevant exclusion information needs updating

Incorrect or out-of-date information can create delays or raise concerns during the buyer’s checks.

Step 6: Declare and Share Your Information

Once the supplier information is complete, an authorised user must declare that it is accurate.

You can then share it with a contracting authority by:

• Generating a share code
• Downloading a file containing the supplier information

The tender documents should state which method the buyer expects.

You might need to paste the share code into the buyer’s e-sourcing platform, upload the downloaded file or send it through another specified route. Your full supplier information is not automatically available to every organisation searching Find a Tender. It is shared with the contracting authorities you select.

Generate the information required for the specific procurement rather than relying on an old downloaded record.

Set Up Find a Tender Searches and Alerts

Once registered, use Find a Tender to search procurement notices and create notifications.

Searches can be organised around:

• Products or services
• Contract location
• Buyer
• Contract value
• Procurement stage
• Common Procurement Vocabulary codes
• Frameworks
• Dynamic markets

The service includes information about active opportunities, future pipelines, awarded contracts and commercial tools. Its current summarised search brings related notices together to provide a clearer picture of a procurement’s status.

At RFPVerse, we recommend creating several focused searches instead of one broad alert. A single alert for a term such as “consulting” may produce hundreds of irrelevant results, while searches based on specialist services, buyers and locations are easier to review consistently.

Our guide to monitoring public sector opportunities explains how to combine portal alerts with pipeline notices, buyer research and planned procurement activity.

How Do You Register on Contracts Finder?

A Contracts Finder account is optional.

You can search for opportunities, review awards and follow application instructions without signing in. Creating an account is mainly useful when you want to save searches and receive email updates.

Contracts Finder uses the Supplier Registration Service for its accounts. This is separate from the current Find a Tender Central Digital Platform, so your GOV.UK One Login and Find a Tender profile do not automatically provide access.

The registration process begins by selecting Register, choosing Supplier as the organisation type and entering the requested user and organisation details. Existing Supplier Registration Service users can sign into Contracts Finder with the same account details.

After registering, create focused searches based on:

• Keywords
• Location
• Contract value
• Procurement stage
• Industry or CPV code
• SME suitability

Contracts Finder can also be used without signing in for general opportunity and award research.

When Is Contracts Finder Useful?

Contracts Finder can help international suppliers:

• Find current opportunities
• Review future procurement plans
• Research previous contracts
• Identify regular public-sector buyers
• Examine historic contract values
• Find previous winning suppliers
• Understand regional demand
• Monitor smaller opportunities

The official service covers government and agency contracts worth more than £12,000 including VAT and directs users to Find a Tender for higher-value UK procurements.

Previous award notices can be particularly useful when planning market entry. They may help you identify established suppliers, likely contract periods and buyers that purchase your service regularly.

Do not assume the details of an old award will remain unchanged when the contract is retendered. Use historic information as research rather than a substitute for the new specification.

Registration Is Not the Same as Submission

Find a Tender or Contracts Finder may advertise an opportunity without hosting the final response.

The notice might direct you to a separate e-sourcing system where you must:

• Express interest
• Access the tender pack
• Submit clarification questions
• Receive buyer messages
• Complete online questionnaires
• Upload the tender
• Receive the result

Find a Tender guidance confirms that suppliers must complete bids in the form and manner specified by the contracting authority. The buyer also decides how the supplier’s share code or downloaded information should be submitted.

Register on the buyer’s portal as soon as you identify a relevant opportunity. Do not wait until the submission day to test your access or discover that another user controls the company’s existing account.

Our guide to UK tender portals explains why businesses may need accounts on several public-sector e-sourcing systems.

Remember the National Procurement Portals

Contracts Finder is not the only procurement website international suppliers may need to monitor.

The main national services include:

• Public Contracts Scotland for Scottish public bodies
• Sell2Wales for Welsh opportunities
• eSourcing NI and eTendersNI for Northern Ireland

Contracts Finder directs suppliers to these separate services when they are seeking opportunities in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Find a Tender remains relevant to regulated UK procurement notices, but your monitoring strategy should reflect the countries, buyers and sectors you intend to target.

Registration Does Not Put You on a Framework

Creating a Find a Tender organisation profile does not appoint your company to a framework, dynamic market or approved-supplier arrangement.

To join a commercial arrangement, you normally need to:

1. Find the relevant opportunity.
2. Review its participation requirements.
3. Submit the requested information.
4. Complete the evaluation process.
5. Receive confirmation of appointment or admission.

Our guide to framework agreements explains the difference between registering on a procurement platform, securing a framework position and winning a contract through a call-off.

Framework appointment may give you access to future opportunities, but it does not usually guarantee revenue.

Common Supplier Registration Mistakes

Avoid:

• Creating One Login but not registering the organisation
• Leaving the supplier-information sections incomplete
• Registering the wrong legal entity
• Creating duplicate company records
• Giving only one employee account access
• Allowing financial or ownership information to become outdated
• Treating a PPON as proof of eligibility
• Assuming one login works across every portal
• Confusing Contracts Finder registration with Find a Tender
• Finding a notice but missing the separate submission platform
• Using broad alerts that generate too many irrelevant results
• Assuming platform registration creates framework membership

Supplier Registration Checklist

Before pursuing your first UK opportunity:

1. Nominate a Find a Tender administrator.
2. Create GOV.UK One Login.
3. Register the correct legal organisation.
4. Record the company’s PPON.
5. Complete the supplier-information sections.
6. Add another authorised user.
7. Create focused Find a Tender alerts.
8. Register on Contracts Finder where useful.
9. Identify relevant national and buyer portals.
10. Review all stored information regularly.

Start Finding the Right UK Opportunities

Registration is only the first step. International suppliers also need to identify suitable buyers, understand the participation requirements and present evidence in a format that supports the UK evaluation process.

RFPVerse helps overseas businesses navigate UK procurement platforms, assess opportunities and prepare competitive public-sector submissions. We can help you understand the tender documents, coordinate contributors and build a clear plan for entering the market.

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

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