Procurement news for ambitious SMEs

Since February 2026, local authorities in England can reserve below threshold contracts for local businesses, SMEs and VCSEs. It's a significant change and most of the market hasn't caught on.

From 29 July 2026, contracting authorities must publish performance data on the government's central platform, including whether suppliers are delivering on their social value commitments.

PPN 025 requires central government to prioritise UK suppliers in shipbuilding, steel, AI and energy infrastructure. It's the clearest signal yet that procurement is about more than the lowest price.

The Procurement Act 2023 introduced a mandatory assessment summary that unsuccessful suppliers must now receive. Here's what you're entitled to see and how to use it.

The updated social value model has been mandatory for above threshold central government contracts since October 2025. We look at how buyers are applying it in practice.

Departments published their first annual progress reports against their SME spend targets this spring. We break down who's ahead, who's behind, and what that means for bidders.

The biggest time-waster in tendering isn't writing a weak response, it's writing a strong one to a contract you were never going to win. Here's how to avoid it.

Most Advantageous Tender replaced Most Economically Advantageous Tender in February 2025. It's more than a rebrand, here's what changed and why it helps smaller suppliers.

Two portals, different thresholds, different purposes. If you're new to public sector bidding, here's where to start looking and how to set up alerts that actually work.