Why the source matters more than the tool
A missing result does not prove there is no public work in your field. The buyer may publish on a different portal, the notice may sit outside your filters, or the work may not have been advertised.
A portal count alone tells you little about fit. Check whether the service reads your target buyers, filters notices sensibly and explains gaps or failed source runs.
The explainers
The sources, side by side
| Source | Publisher | What it carries | Value band | Who should watch it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Find a Tender | UK Government | The central digital platform under the Procurement Act 2023. Since 24 February 2025 it carries both above and below threshold notices for new UK procurements, from pipeline through to contract termination | From £12,000 including VAT for central government, £30,000 for others, with no upper limit | A starting point for UK public-sector opportunities |
| Contracts Finder | UK Government | Award records back to 26 February 2015, the tail of procurements that began before February 2025, and supply chain subcontract notices published by suppliers | Above £12,000 including VAT | UK firms doing competitor and incumbent research, and anyone chasing subcontract work |
| Public Contracts Scotland | Scottish Government | Scottish public contracts. The one written-in exception to the Find a Tender rule: Scottish below-threshold notices stay here | Below-threshold Scottish work | Firms bidding for smaller Scottish contracts |
| Sell2Wales | Welsh Government | Welsh public sector opportunities, running alongside Find a Tender rather than replacing it | Mostly lower value | Firms with a Welsh presence or Welsh-language capability |
| eTendersNI and eSourcing NI | Northern Ireland Executive | Northern Ireland public sector opportunities, again alongside Find a Tender | Mostly lower value | Firms bidding in Northern Ireland |
| TED | Publications Office of the European Union | The Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. Above-threshold procurement notices, plus some voluntary below-threshold notices | From €140,000 net of VAT for central government services, upward | Any firm bidding into the EU. New UK procurements use Find a Tender; some older procedures still have TED notices |
| eTenders | Irish Government | Ireland's national portal, relaunched 15 May 2023. Shows all Irish notices going to the Official Journal, plus lower-value national contracts | National advertising from €50,000 for goods and services, net of VAT | UK firms testing cross-border work. Same language, similar buyers |
| BOAMP | French State, through DILA | France's official bulletin of public procurement notices, including below-threshold notices that may not appear on TED | Below and above the EU thresholds | Firms bidding in France, or with French-language capability |
The two rules that explain most of the confusion
Thresholds decide where a contract is published
Above a value line, a contract goes to the international or national journal. Below it, national rules apply and the contract may be advertised locally, or not advertised at all. Smaller contracts in Germany or Italy may therefore be absent from TED. Voluntary publication happens, but TED does not provide complete coverage of below-threshold work.
The lines moved on 1 January 2026 on both sides of the Channel, and they move again in 2028, because the UK and the EU both re-set thresholds every two years to track the WTO Government Procurement Agreement. Any figure quoted without a date range should be treated as stale.
The VAT trap. UK thresholds under the Procurement Act 2023 include VAT. EU thresholds are net of VAT. Comparing a UK figure with an EU figure without adjusting will put a contract on the wrong side of a line.
Publication duties are narrower than people assume
Some below-threshold UK contracts can be awarded without a public invitation to bid. Where that is permitted, the first notice you see may be an award record. A search tool cannot surface an unpublished invitation.
This is worth internalising, because it reframes what a source can do for you. Sources show you the advertised market. Relationships, pre-market engagement notices and pipeline notices are how you reach the rest of it.
What overlaps, and what falls through
- Above-threshold work is published twice. An above-threshold French contract appears on BOAMP and on TED; an Irish one on eTenders and on TED. Watching multiple sources without deduplication means reading the same contract more than once.
- Below-threshold work outside the UK and France is scattered. Germany's federal and state platforms, Italy's regional portals, TenderNed in the Netherlands and the Nordic systems each carry smaller contracts that reach no central journal.
- Buyer profiles carry the documents. A notice often points at a separate e-procurement platform where the tender pack actually lives, usually behind a login. The notice tells you the work exists; the pack tells you whether you qualify.
Where we fit
TenderVerdict reads four of these sources nightly through their official APIs: Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, TED and BOAMP. Rather than forwarding matches, we assess a selection of promising notices against your checked capability profile and explain BID, STRETCH or SKIP. The free offer is an initial brief plus four Monday briefs. Scheduled runs start at 7am UK time (8am in Paris); delivery follows processing. The limits, stated here rather than buried: we do not read non-UK or non-French national portals below the EU thresholds, UK devolved lower-value portals reach us only through what they publish to Find a Tender, and we judge the published notice rather than the tender pack.
Service scope checked on 17 September 2026 against Find a Tender and TED's eForms guidance. Check the linked explainers for thresholds and exceptions.
Common questions
How many portals does a UK agency actually need to watch?
Start with Find a Tender, then add sources for your buyers and geography. Contracts Finder still matters for older procurements, awards and subcontract work. Scottish below-threshold opportunities require Public Contracts Scotland; cross-border work needs additional sources.
Why do tender tools advertise hundreds of sources?
Regional and specialist portals can add useful opportunities. Ask which ones matter to your firm and how the tool handles duplicate notices, filters and missing data.
Are these sources free?
Yes. Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, TED and BOAMP are all free to search, and most offer free email alerts once you register. Nobody needs to pay to see public notices. What costs money is the time spent reading them and deciding.
Do UK and EU thresholds mean the same thing?
No, and the difference catches people out. UK thresholds under the Procurement Act 2023 are stated including VAT. EU thresholds are stated net of VAT. Both are revised every two years because both track the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
Their above-threshold and most below-threshold notices now go to Find a Tender. The exception written into the rules is Scotland, whose below-threshold notices stay on Public Contracts Scotland. Sell2Wales and eTendersNI continue to run alongside.
Which source has the smallest contracts?
The national ones. In the UK the advertising duty starts at 12,000 pounds for central government and 30,000 pounds for everyone else. In France, BOAMP carries work far below the EU thresholds. TED is mainly an above-threshold source, with some voluntary smaller notices.
Do these portals overlap?
Yes, deliberately. An above-threshold French contract appears both nationally and on TED. An Irish one appears on eTenders and on TED. If you watch several sources without deduplication you will read the same contract more than once.
Related
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