Last verified: October 2026
A groundworks contractor in Leeds wants more public work. They have registered on three portals, get twenty alerts a day for cleaning contracts and IT frameworks, and still found out about the school extension down the road from a competitor.
UK construction tenders are spread across free government portals, regional portals run by groups of councils, and paid services that track private projects from planning onwards. This guide compares 17 UK tender websites: what each covers, what it costs in October 2026, and which kind of contractor it suits. The free public portals come first, then the paid lead services, then a comparison table and tips for winning more of what you find.
UK Tender Websites Compared
Prices exclude VAT unless stated. “Quote” means the provider does not publish a price.
| Website | Free or paid | Price | Sector | Construction coverage |
| Find a Tender | Free | £0 | Public, UK-wide | All works |
| Contracts Finder | Free | £0 | Public, England | All works |
| Public Contracts Scotland | Free | £0 | Public, Scotland | All works |
| Sell2Wales | Free | £0 | Public, Wales | All works |
| eTendersNI and eSourcing NI | Free | £0 | Public, Northern Ireland | All works |
| BidStats | Free | £0 to search | Public (aggregator) | Construction section |
| The Construction Index | Free | £0 | Public notices | Construction only |
| Supply2Gov | Free and paid | Free for one area; UK £80 a month or £499 a year | Public | Construction category |
| Regional portals | Free | £0 | Public, by region | All works |
| Constructionline | Paid | Bronze from £219 a year plus joining fee | Public and private | Construction only |
| Glenigan | Paid | Quote (reported £5,000 to £10,000 a year) | Public and private | Construction only |
| Barbour ABI | Paid | Quote (Barbour cites about £7,500 a year average) | Public and private | Construction only |
| Tenders Direct | Paid | From £1,359 a year | Public | Construction category |
| Contracts Advance | Paid | £1,399 to £2,999 a year | Public | General |
| construction-tenders.co.uk | Paid | £60 a month | Public and private, UK and Ireland | Construction only |
| Tracker Intelligence | Paid | Quote | Public, plus private add-on | Construction category |
| Tussell | Paid | Quote | Public (market intelligence) | General |
Free Government and Public Tender Portals
Public bodies have to advertise most contracts, so the free portals are where to start. Registration is free on all of them, and you should never have to pay to see a public opportunity.
1. Find a Tender
Find a Tender is the UK government’s main procurement portal and, since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, its central digital platform. New procurements by UK public bodies are published here, above and below threshold, except below-threshold notices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which stay on the devolved portals. It carries the whole lifecycle, from pipeline notices through tender and award to contract performance, so you can see work coming before it is tendered. Filter by CPV code 45 for construction works.
Price: Free.
Best for: Every contractor bidding for public work in the UK.
2. Contracts Finder
Contracts Finder was England’s main portal for lower-value public contracts. New procurements now go on Find a Tender, but Contracts Finder still holds procurements started under the old rules, and gov.uk still lists it for English contracts over £12,000. Its archive of past awards is useful for seeing who wins what in your area.
Price: Free.
Best for: Contractors in England, until the legacy procurements run out.
3. Public Contracts Scotland
Public Contracts Scotland is the Scottish public sector’s portal, used by councils, health boards, housing associations and the Scottish Government for contracts of all sizes.
Price: Free.
Best for: Contractors working in Scotland.
4. Sell2Wales
Sell2Wales is the Welsh equivalent, with notices from Welsh councils, the NHS in Wales and other public bodies, including lower-value works.
Price: Free.
Best for: Contractors working in Wales.
5. eTendersNI and eSourcing NI
eTendersNI and eSourcing NI are Northern Ireland’s two public procurement portals. You can browse without an account, but you need to register to download documents and bid.
Price: Free.
Best for: Contractors working in Northern Ireland.
6. BidStats
BidStats pulls notices from Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and other public sources into one searchable site, with a dedicated construction section. You can search without registering, and subscribers get alerts.
Price: Free to search; alert subscriptions are not priced publicly.
Best for: Contractors who want one place to search public notices.
7. The Construction Index
The Construction Index is a construction news site with a free tenders section listing public construction notices, so there is no filtering out cleaning and IT contracts.
Price: Free.
Best for: Smaller contractors who want construction-only public notices.
8. Supply2Gov
Supply2Gov lists public tenders and supply chain opportunities with a construction category. One local area is free for good, and paid plans widen the search area.
Price: Free for one local area; one country £25 a month or £270 a year; UK £80 a month or £499 a year; UK and Ireland £95 a month or £899 a year.
Best for: Local contractors who want a free alert for their own patch.
9. Regional portals
Regional portals cover the councils, housing associations and public bodies that run their own tenders. The main ones are ProContract, The Chest (North West), London Tenders Portal, NEPO (North East), YORtender (Yorkshire and Humber) and In-tend. Many lower-value works contracts are run through these, so register on the ones your local councils use.
Price: Free.
Best for: Contractors targeting council and housing association work in their region.
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Paid Construction Tender and Lead Services
Private developers, retailers and housebuilders do not have to advertise. Paid services track these projects from planning application to contract award, and most also repackage public notices with better filtering.
10. Constructionline
Constructionline is the UK’s largest construction prequalification scheme, and membership puts you in front of buyers who use it to find suppliers. Its Marketplace lists opportunities from those buyers. Constructionline bought Builders’ Conference in October 2025 and now sells its main contractor tender leads as Market Intelligence.
Price: Bronze membership from £219 a year on the lowest turnover band, plus a joining fee in year one; higher tiers are priced by turnover. Market Intelligence is quote only.
Best for: Subcontractors and smaller contractors who need prequalification anyway.
11. Glenigan
Glenigan tracks UK construction projects from planning through tender to award, public and private, with contact details for the people involved. It is one of the two big names in UK construction project data.
Price: Quote only. Third-party reports put it at £5,000 to £10,000 a year on a 12-month term.
Best for: Contractors with a business development function chasing private work.
12. Barbour ABI
Barbour ABI is the other big UK construction project database, covering planning, tender and contract award stages, with analytics on who is winning work.
Price: Quote only. Barbour’s own ROI page cites an average annual subscription of around £7,500.
Best for: Larger contractors and suppliers who want project data and market analysis.
13. Tenders Direct
Tenders Direct is a paid alerts service for public tenders, with a construction category and a team that tags notices to your profile.
Price: From £1,359 a year.
Best for: Contractors who want public notices filtered for them.
14. Contracts Advance
Contracts Advance is a public tender search and alerts service with three tiers that add pipeline and buyer insight as you go up.
Price: Search £1,399, Discover £2,099, Explore £2,999 a year.
Best for: Firms bidding across several public sectors, not only construction.
15. construction-tenders.co.uk
construction-tenders.co.uk collects public and private construction tenders across the UK and Ireland into one paid feed on a rolling monthly subscription.
Price: £60 a month, no long contract.
Best for: Smaller contractors who want a construction-only feed without an annual commitment.
16. Tracker Intelligence
Tracker Intelligence is a public tender tracking service for the UK and Ireland, with a construction category and an add-on for commercial projects.
Price: Quote only.
Best for: Firms with a bid team tracking public frameworks.
17. Tussell
Tussell is public sector market intelligence: contracts, spend and framework data, with tender alerts on top. It is generic rather than construction-focused and, by its own description, costs more than basic tender monitoring tools.
Price: Quote only.
Best for: Larger firms planning public sector bids months ahead.
Won the tender? Keep the margin you priced.
Planyard turns your tender into a live budget, tracks every order and valuation, and syncs with Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. 14-day free trial.
How to Get More from Tender Websites
- Set up saved searches by CPV code and region instead of keywords, so you see construction works near you and not every contract that mentions “building”
- Register on Find a Tender and your devolved portal first, then add the regional portals your nearest councils and housing associations use
- Watch pipeline and planned procurement notices on Find a Tender, which show work months before it is tendered
- Use award notices and Contracts Finder’s archive to see who wins work in your area and at what value
- Check whether a framework is the real route in. A lot of public construction work is let through frameworks, so getting on the right one can matter more than watching individual tenders
- Keep your prequalification documents (insurance, accreditations, accounts, health and safety) current, so you can respond inside the deadline
Once you find a tender worth bidding for, the work is in pricing it. Our guides to the tendering process and bills of quantities cover the steps, and the tender comparison template helps when you send packages out to your own subcontractors.
Where Planyard Fits
Planyard is not a tender website. It helps once you have won: your tender becomes the project budget, subcontract packages go out for pricing and come back into one comparison, and every order, valuation and variation is tracked against the budget so you can see the margin as the job runs. Approved costs sync to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. If you are looking for software to manage subcontractor tenders rather than websites to find work, see our guide to construction tender software.
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