Research reports
Original data on the tender market
We read every UK and EU public tender so you don’t have to. These reports turn twenty years of that data into the picture you need before you decide where to bid.
All reports
21 reports
Partner map
Which tools help SMEs find subcontracting opportunities: UK highways maintenance
The free tools that find subcontracting work on UK government contracts, applied to highways: who holds each council's maintenance contract, and when it ends.
10 min read
Who is winning
Which competitors are winning UK public sector recruitment contracts
The seven suppliers winning the most UK public sector recruitment contracts from 2023 to 2025, ranked by award count, and who each one actually wins from.
8 min read
Incumbent check
How to identify the incumbent supplier on a UK public sector contract: waste and cleaning
23 UK waste and cleaning contracts of £5m or more, each held by one supplier, end April to October 2027. How to identify the incumbent and check it.
10 min read
Recompete radar
How to track when UK government contracts are up for renewal: health and social care
107 UK health and social care contracts of £5m or more end between April and October 2027. How to track a renewal for free, and the incumbents to watch.
9 min read
Partner map
How to find a prime contractor to partner with on UK public sector construction work
Eight UK construction primes, where their public work comes from, and how an SME finds one to partner with, free, starting from published award notices.
8 min read
Who is winning
Which competitors are winning UK public sector IT contracts
The eight suppliers winning the most UK public sector IT contracts from 2023 to 2025, ranked by award count, and how to read a ranking before trusting it.
7 min read
Procurement intelligence
Forty-seven UK technology contracts end on 31 March 2027
Of 72 UK public IT contracts over £1m ending in the month around it, 47 end on one day. Named buyers, named incumbents, and why the work starts now.
6 min read
Procurement intelligence
UK contracts reaching end of term in early 2027
Named buyers, incumbents and end dates for UK public contracts finishing between February and March 2027, and why the work to win them starts now.
6 min read
Procurement intelligence
Tenders nobody competed for: almost 1 in 3 EU public contracts gets a single bid
We counted the bids on nearly 580,000 advertised public contracts across 31 European countries. In the EU, 30.8% drew exactly one bid, twice the UK rate. €338bn went to the only company that turned up. This report shows where competition is thinnest, and why that is an opening for SMEs.
17 min read
Procurement intelligence
The Burnham procurement reset: what a new prime minister means for public sector suppliers
What Andy Burnham's arrival in Number 10 signals for public procurement — social value, devolution, insourcing — and the four moves suppliers should make now.
7 min read
Procurement intelligence
UK public sector cyber security market in 2026
Skim's read on the UK public sector cyber security market: how big it is, who wins, the frameworks that matter, and where an SME can realistically break in.
11 min read
Procurement Act 2023 explained
Open frameworks explained: the SME advantage
Open frameworks reopen to new suppliers at set points, so SMEs aren't locked out for years — how they work under the Procurement Act 2023, and how to prepare.
11 min read
Procurement Act 2023 explained
MAT vs MEAT: the Procurement Act 2023 evaluation standard
How the Procurement Act 2023 replaced MEAT with the most advantageous tender (MAT), how UK public contracts are now scored, and what it means for bidders.
10 min read
Procurement intelligence
G-Cloud 15: what's changing and how to get on it
The biggest G-Cloud redesign in a decade, and the first under the Procurement Act 2023. What is changing, the key dates, and what the spend data shows SMEs.
13 min read
Procurement Act 2023 explained
What is a Dynamic Market? A plain-English guide for SMEs
Dynamic Markets replace the DPS under the Procurement Act 2023 with an open supplier list any SME can join at any time. How they work, and how to get on one.
11 min read
Procurement intelligence
UK public sector frameworks: what the data actually says in 2026
A record £60bn ran through UK public sector frameworks in 2025, across 1,856 distinct vehicles. What the 2026 data shows about who wins through frameworks — and where SMEs can still break in.
8 min read
The UK Public Contract Expiry Radar
7,543 UK digital contracts are up for renewal before Britain gets a new prime minister
7,543 UK government digital and IT contracts expire before December 2027. 2,688 lapse in the next six months. Starmer's gone — here is what SME suppliers must do now.
9 min read
Defence procurement intelligence
Two resignations, one crisis: what Healey and Carns walking out means for UK defence companies
Two ministers resigned over the Defence Investment Plan. The contract data shows an MoD procurement freeze — and 788 contracts worth £13.7bn expiring before 2028.
9 min read
Public sector AI & consulting intelligence
The AI consulting trap: what the UK government actually spends on AI
The UK has promised to rewire the state with AI. The contract record shows £147M of visible building in seven years — under 5% of a single year's consulting bill — and a classification system so leaky the National Audit Office says government cannot measure its own spend.
11 min read
The UK Public Contract Expiry Radar
The £649.6bn of public contracts coming up for grabs in 2026 and how to win them
Where SMEs can win as UK public contracts come up for renewal — £649.6bn of contracts expire in the next 24 months, under the most SME-friendly rules in a generation.
8 min read
Put the data behind these reports to work
Find the contracts, buyers and incumbents in your market, then decide where to bid.