Documents and notices
Prior information notice(PIN)
Definition
An advance notice published by a buyer signalling their intention to procure in the future, typically issued months before the formal contract notice to alert the market and allow suppliers to prepare.
A prior information notice (PIN) is early warning. It tells the market that a buyer plans to procure goods, works, or services in the coming months. PINs are not invitations to tender — they are signals that a formal procurement is coming.
PINs serve two purposes. For buyers, they can reduce the minimum tender timescales for the subsequent formal procurement (because the market has already been notified). For suppliers, they provide advance notice to prepare — start gathering case studies, lining up consortium partners, or researching the buyer.
Not all procurements are preceded by a PIN, and not all PINs lead to a procurement. But when they are published, PINs give proactive bidders a significant head start over competitors who only react when the contract notice appears.
Why it matters for bidders
PINs give you a head start. While competitors are reacting to the contract notice, you have already researched the buyer, assessed your fit, and started drafting your response. In competitive procurement, preparation time is a strategic advantage.
How Skim helps
Skim tracks PINs alongside contract notices, linking them together when the formal procurement appears — so you can see the full timeline from early signal to live opportunity, and start your bid preparation before the competition even knows about it.
Related terms
Contract notice
A formal advertisement published on procurement portals announcing that a buyer intends to award a contract, inviting suppliers to express interest or submit tenders.
Award notice
A public notice confirming that a contract has been awarded, naming the winning supplier, the contract value, and the number of tenders received.
Find a Tender(FTS)
The UK's e-notification service that replaced the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for UK procurements after Brexit, used for publishing contract notices above the international procurement thresholds.