Search every UK public sector buyer

Any organisation spending public money on goods, works or services. Four main groups anchor this hub: central government departments and their agencies, local councils, the NHS (trusts, ICBs and commissioning bodies) and universities. Emergency services, arm's length bodies like National Highways and Network Rail, and the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also publish tenders.

Gross spending on public sector procurement was £434 billion in 2024/25 across the UK, up 5% on the previous year in nominal terms. That covers everything from stationery to major infrastructure and accounts for roughly a third of all public spending.

Roughly 80% of tendered spend flows through central government and its agencies, and 20% through local government. Councils are the smaller share by value but publish a high volume of individual notices, particularly for construction, social care and highways.

Total departmental budgets and procurement spend are different things. On total expenditure, Work and Pensions was the highest spending department with £297.9 billion in 2024/25, but most of that is benefits and pensions rather than procurement.

On procurement specifically, the Ministry of Defence is the largest single buyer: estimated MOD expenditure on equipment was £27.4 billion in 2024/25, and the Department had the highest capital expenditure across government in 2024/25. The Department of Health and Social Care follows through NHS spend, and saw the largest nominal increase in spending across all government departments in 2024/25.

Notice volume tells a different story to spend. On Stotles, the Ministry of Defence leads with over 24,000 notices, followed by DEFRA, NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU, UK Research and Innovation and the London Borough of Haringey. Councils dominate the long tail because they publish frequent, lower-value notices for services, works and supplies.

NHS trusts are individual providers running hospitals and community services. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) coordinate commissioning across a region and hold significant capital budgets. Universities buy at scale for research, estates and IT, and typically procure through sector frameworks like SUPC and NEUPC.

Buyers publish on national portals (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder in England, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales, eTenders in Northern Ireland and Ireland) and often on their own e-procurement systems. Stotles aggregates notices from 100+ portals so suppliers can search every buyer in one place.

Under the Procurement Act 2023, buyers signal upcoming work through Planned Procurement Notices, Pipeline Notices and Preliminary Market Engagement Notices. These give suppliers a window to shape requirements, meet the commercial team and prepare a bid before the formal tender lands.

Search any buyer on Stotles to see live tenders, past awards, spend patterns and key contacts. Filter by buyer type, location or CPV code to focus on the buyers most relevant to what you sell.