# UK Public Tenders & Contract Awards (Find a Tender) (`best_actors/uk-public-tenders`) Actor

Open UK government tenders and contract awards from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Filter by keyword, CPV code, region and value. Buyer contacts, deadlines, and winning suppliers with Companies House numbers.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/best_actors/uk-public-tenders.md
- **Developed by:** [Lewis O'Rorke](https://apify.com/best_actors) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$5.00 / 1,000 notices

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Public Tenders & Contract Awards (Find a Tender)

**Every new UK public sector tender and contract award, filtered to what you
care about. Official data from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder: titles,
values, deadlines, buyer contacts, and for awards, who won and how to reach them.**

The UK public sector spends around £400 billion a year with suppliers. Since
the Procurement Act 2023 came in (February 2025), almost every new opportunity
is published on **Find a Tender**. This Actor reads it for you, alongside
Contracts Finder, and returns a clean list you can filter, export or feed into
your CRM.

***

### At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| **You give it** | Open tenders or contract awards, plus optional keywords, regions, category codes and value range |
| **You get** | One row per notice: title, value, deadline, buyer contact; for awards, every winner with Companies House number, email and phone |
| **Price** | $0.005 per notice (you only pay for results) |
| **Data source** | Find a Tender and Contracts Finder (official UK government services) |
| **Speed** | A week of notices in about 3 minutes |

***

### Two modes

| Mode | What you get | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| **Open tenders** | Live opportunities you can bid for, with value, deadline, category and buyer contact | Suppliers, bid writers, consultants |
| **Contract awards** | Contracts just awarded: who won, for how much, by which buyer, with the winner's Companies House number, email, phone and website | Sales teams, subcontractors, lenders, recruiters, market researchers |

Contract winners are some of the best B2B leads there are: they have just won
new work and often need staff, kit, subcontractors, insurance and finance.

***

### What you get for each notice

| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| `title`, `description` | What is being bought |
| `value` / `award_value` | Estimated or awarded value (£) |
| `deadline` | When bids close (open tenders) |
| `published` | When the notice was published or updated |
| `region` | UK region of delivery |
| `cpv_codes`, `cpv_description` | Official category codes and their meaning |
| `procedure`, `category` | e.g. Open procedure; goods, services or works |
| `buyer_name`, `buyer_email`, `buyer_phone`, `buyer_town`, `buyer_postcode` | The buying organisation and its contact |
| `supplier_names`, `suppliers` | Awards: each winner with `companies_house_number`, `email`, `phone`, `website`, `is_sme`, `town`, `postcode` |
| `award_date` | When the contract was awarded |
| `url` | Link to the full notice |
| `source` | Find a Tender or Contracts Finder |

***

### How to use it

1. **Pick a mode:** open tenders or contract awards.
2. **Add keywords** like `cleaning`, `software`, `catering` or `roofing`. Whole
   words only, so `IT` won't match "with". Leave empty to get everything.
3. **Narrow it down (optional):** regions, CPV code prefixes (e.g. `72` for IT
   services, `90910` for cleaning, `45` for construction), a value range, words
   to exclude, or a buyer name such as `NHS` or `Council`.
4. **Choose how far back to look:** 1 to 90 days. Run it daily with 1 day, or
   on a schedule, to get alerts.

#### Example: cleaning tenders in the South

```json
{
  "mode": "tenders",
  "keywords": ["cleaning", "grounds maintenance"],
  "regions": ["London", "South East", "South West"],
  "days": 7
}
```

#### Example: IT contracts won in the last month, over £100k

```json
{
  "mode": "awards",
  "cpvCodes": ["72"],
  "minValue": 100000,
  "days": 30
}
```

#### Get your results

Click **Start**. Rows appear in the **Output** tab as they're found. Export them
as Excel, CSV or JSON, or send them straight to Google Sheets, a CRM or Slack
with Apify integrations (Zapier, Make, n8n, webhooks) or the API.

***

### Daily tender alerts

Schedule the Actor to run every morning with `days: 1` and connect it to email,
Slack, Google Sheets or your CRM with Apify integrations. You'll see every new
matching tender the day it's published.

***

### Sample output

One row from a real run, trimmed to the main fields. Every field is described above.

```json
{
  "notice_type": "contract award",
  "title": "Cleaning Tender 3 Lots Notice",
  "buyer_name": "Southdown Housing Association",
  "buyer_email": "purchasing.tenders@southdown.org",
  "region": "South East",
  "award_value": 164932.32,
  "award_date": "2026-11-02T00:00:00+00:00",
  "supplier_names": "aAFD Services Ltd, Denma Cleaning Services Ltd",
  "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/103918-2026"
}
```

***

### One-click examples

Open one of these ready-made tasks, check the inputs, and click **Start**. Each is a good starting point you can change.

- [Cleaning contracts open for bids (last 7 days)](https://apify.com/best_actors/uk-public-tenders/uk-cleaning-tenders)
- [IT contracts awarded over £100k (last 30 days)](https://apify.com/best_actors/uk-public-tenders/uk-it-contract-awards)
- [Construction tenders in London and the South East](https://apify.com/best_actors/uk-public-tenders/london-construction-tenders)
- [UK tenders under £100k for small businesses](https://apify.com/best_actors/uk-public-tenders/uk-small-business-tenders)

***

### Pricing

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Notice | $0.005 |

For example, 200 notices cost $1.00.

You pay per notice returned. Nothing is charged for bad input, for notices that
don't match your filters, or if a government source is down. Set
`maxResults` to cap the cost of a run.

***

### Data sources and licence

- [Find a Tender](https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/) (Cabinet Office)
- [Contracts Finder](https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/) (Crown Commercial Service)

Both are published under the
[Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Find a Tender limits how fast it can be read. On long look-backs the Actor
may pause for a couple of minutes when asked to; that's normal and nothing
extra is charged.

***

### FAQ

**Does it cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?**
Yes. Find a Tender covers the whole UK for notices above the procurement
thresholds and, since February 2025, many below them too.

**Why are some values empty?**
Buyers don't always publish a value. Use `minValue` only if you're happy to
drop notices without one.

**Can I get the tender documents?**
Each row links to the full notice, which links to the buyer's tender portal
where documents are held.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Open tenders you can bid for, or contract awards (who won, for how much: great sales leads).

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Any of these words or phrases in the title, description or category. Leave empty for everything.

## `days` (type: `integer`):

How far back to look, 1 to 90 days.

## `regions` (type: `array`):

Only notices delivered in these regions. Leave empty for the whole UK.

## `cpvCodes` (type: `array`):

Optional. Category codes or their first digits, e.g. 72 (IT services), 90910 (cleaning), 77314 (grounds maintenance), 45 (construction).

## `minValue` (type: `integer`):

Skip notices below this value (contract value for tenders, award value for awards).

## `maxValue` (type: `integer`):

Skip notices above this value. Good for finding contracts a small business can win.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Drop notices mentioning any of these.

## `buyerContains` (type: `string`):

Optional, e.g. "NHS", "Council" or "Academy".

## `includeContractsFinder` (type: `boolean`):

Adds older-regime and low-value English notices that are not on Find a Tender.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many notices (newest first). You are charged per notice.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "tenders",
  "keywords": [
    "cleaning",
    "grounds maintenance"
  ],
  "days": 7,
  "includeContractsFinder": true,
  "maxResults": 500
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `tenders` (type: `string`):

No description

## `awards` (type: `string`):

No description

## `all` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "cleaning",
        "grounds maintenance"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("best_actors/uk-public-tenders").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "keywords": [
        "cleaning",
        "grounds maintenance",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("best_actors/uk-public-tenders").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "cleaning",
    "grounds maintenance"
  ]
}' |
apify call best_actors/uk-public-tenders --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,best_actors/uk-public-tenders"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/rJerMgaKFEDo6fpEj/builds/deI1BUUj2bTSzm0qB/openapi.json