Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender: what's the difference?

The UK government publishes public-sector contracts on two national portals — and knowing which one to watch is the first step to winning work.

Contracts Finder

Contracts Finder covers contracts in England worth over £12,000 (including VAT) with central government, and over £30,000 with the wider public sector. This is where most SME-friendly opportunities appear: council maintenance works, school catering, NHS trust supplies and local frameworks.

Find a Tender (FTS)

Find a Tender is the UK-wide service for higher-value procurements — broadly above £139,688 for goods and services, and considerably higher for works. Since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force in February 2025, FTS covers the full contract lifecycle: pipeline notices, tender notices, awards and terminations.

Which should you watch?

• Small and growing suppliers — Contracts Finder first: lower thresholds, more winnable lots.
• Established firms — both. The large frameworks and multi-year contracts live on FTS.
• Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland — also check Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI; devolved buyers publish locally.

The catch: five portals, one missed deadline

Genuine coverage means checking five official portals every day. That is exactly what Daily Tenders does — we aggregate Contracts Finder, Find a Tender and the devolved portals into one searchable feed, match notices to your categories and regions, and email you every morning. Search them all now — a sample is open to everyone, and a subscription unlocks every result plus the morning alert.