UK Public Sector Contracts — £1,000,000 – £5,000,000
Major UK public sector contracts — substantive scored evaluation, framework competitions, dedicated bid teams typically required.
For: Established suppliers and primes with dedicated bid functions targeting major public sector work.
The £1m–£5m band sits squarely above all UK procurement thresholds. Contracts here typically come through major framework call-offs (CCS, NHS SBS, SCAPE) or open procedures with substantive bid documents — often 80-200 pages of response across selection and award stages. Quality typically counts for 60-80% with formal sub-weighted criteria.
10-16 weeks
Typical evaluation
Typically 60-80%
Quality weighting
5-10
Typical bidders
120-300 hours
Avg bid effort
Live UK contracts £1,000,000 – £5,000,000
A Foyer Provision
Lewisham Unpaid Carers Support Service
FLS - 1730 Bridge Inspections
Cardiff International Sports Village (ISV) Car Park and Development Opportunity
Feasilbility, Funding and Delivery Partner(s)
North Northamptonshire Council Housing Roofing Renewals & Maintenance Contract
UKRI 5830 - High and Low Voltage Maintenance, Inspection, and Testing Contract
T150 - Essential Training for Water Industry Workers
PAN3538 - Domestic Energy Assessment Survey Programme
North Northamptonshire Council Housing Roofing Renewals & Maintenance Contract
Hard Facilities Management Services
Hard FM Services
Utility Regulator - Legal Services Framework Agreement
All Wales Dressings IV & Medical Tapes Tender
Tree Safety Framework - South England Forest District
How to win contracts £1,000,000 – £5,000,000
Win themes from day one
At this contract size, win-themes and storyboarding before drafting any text is essential. Generic "we are committed to quality" responses don't score above the mid-bracket.
Named delivery team
Buyers heavily weight named senior delivery presence. Don't offer "a team to be confirmed" — name the partner/director leading delivery and put their CV in.
Schedule a red-team review
Independent review against the published criteria a week before submission catches 70% of weak responses. Build it into your bid plan.
FAQs
What procurement procedure do £1m-£5m contracts use?
Usually restricted procedure (SQ + ITT) or framework mini-competition. Open procedure is less common at this size due to the volume of bids it attracts.
How much bid effort should I plan?
Realistically 120-300 person-hours across selection and award stages. Bigger if the technical solution requires significant design or pricing modelling.
Do I need to be on a framework for £1m+ contracts?
Not necessarily — direct procurements still appear on Find a Tender Service. But many £1m+ awards now route through CCS, NHS SBS, SCAPE or sector-specific frameworks for speed.
Browse contracts by value
Under £50k
SMEs, sole traders and first-time bidders looking for access…
£50k–£250k
Established UK SMEs and growing suppliers with 1–3 years of …
£250k–£1m
Mid-market suppliers with established public sector bidding …
Over £5m
Primes and consortia bidding for strategic UK public sector …
See also: all live contracts, our closing this week page, or browse by sector.