The current guide was elaborated under the activities of the TENDERIO project. The TENDERIO project is funded by the COSME programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement No 739966) and aims to increase access to public procurement opportunities for SMEs in the EU.

This guide is addressed to SMEs and to any other economic operator interested in participating in UK public contracts and who wishes to know more about the public procurement procedures in the UK.

Chapter one, introduces the scope and the content of this guide and lays out the concept within which it was developed.

The second chapter focuses on the potential of the EU’s public procurement market, emphasising the performance of European SMEs in the cross-border procurement contracts and briefly presenting the key points of the new EU legislative framework (2014) on public procurement.

The third chapter highlights the current status of public procurement in the UK. In particular, it provides an overview of the public procurement framework in the UK along with a summary of key data regarding the UK market size, as well as data regarding cross-border procurement i.e. the implementation of UK public contracts by companies located in other EU Member States.

Chapter four briefly comments on the national procedures of public procurement in the UK. More specifically, it includes information regarding: – the contracting authorities; – the award procedures; – the eligibility of the potential bidders; – the publication of the contracts notices; – the time limits for the submission of an offer; – the bid submission and bid evaluation procedures; – the award criteria; – the complaints and the prejudicial objections.

Finally, the fifth chapter lists key points for SMEs that are interested in submitting offers for UK public contracts. The guide concludes with a reference on how the TENDERIO platform could support European SMEs in applying for a public contract abroad.

Use of any knowledge, information or data contained in this document shall be at the user’s sole risk. Neither the Tenderio Consortium nor any of its members, their officers, employees or agents accept shall be liable or responsible, in negligence or otherwise, for any loss, damage or expense whatever sustained by any person as a result of the use, in any manner or form, of any knowledge, information or data contained in this document, or due to any inaccuracy, omission or error therein contained.
The European Commission shall not in any way be liable or responsible for the use of any such knowledge, information or data, or of the consequences thereof.

This document does not represent the opinion of the European Union and the European Union is not responsible for any use that might be made of it.

Download the guide here.