# UK Public Tenders: Find a Tender + Contracts Finder (`frank0309/uk-public-tenders`) Actor

Search UK public sector tenders and contract awards from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder in one run. Filter by keyword, CPV code, value, deadline and SME suitability. Buyer, value, deadline, CPV, awarded suppliers and notice links. Alert mode returns only new notices. No API key needed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/frank0309/uk-public-tenders.md
- **Developed by:** [Jiakai Zhang](https://apify.com/frank0309) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 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: Find a Tender + Contracts Finder

Search UK public sector tenders and contract awards from both official UK government services in one run:

- **[Find a Tender](https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk)**: higher-value procurements across the UK, including notices under the Procurement Act 2023.
- **[Contracts Finder](https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk)**: lower-value opportunities and awards, mostly in England.

Neither service lets you search its API by keyword. This Actor reads every notice published in your chosen window, filters it for you, and returns clean, structured results.

- **Filter by what you sell.** Keywords or phrases, CPV codes (parent codes include sub-codes), minimum value, open-for-tenders only, SME suitability.
- **Tenders, awards or pipeline.** Choose opportunities, contract awards (with the winning suppliers and award values) or planning notices.
- **Ready to act on.** Buyer and location, value, CPV, procedure, tender deadline, contract dates, lots, and a link to the notice.
- **Alert mode.** Schedule it daily to get only new notices that match.
- **No API key.** Uses the official OCDS APIs of both services.

### Who uses it

- **Suppliers to the UK public sector**, including SMEs looking for winnable lower-value contracts on Contracts Finder.
- **Bid teams and bid-writing consultants** monitoring their CPV codes.
- **Sales and market-intelligence teams** tracking which buyers are spending and who is winning.
- **AI agents** that qualify opportunities automatically.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `keywords` | Words or phrases to find in the title or description (any match, case-insensitive). |
| `cpvCodes` | CPV codes, e.g. `72000000` (IT services). Parent codes include their sub-codes. |
| `sources` | `findATender`, `contractsFinder`, or both (default). |
| `stages` | `tender` (opportunities, default), `award` (winners), `planning` (pipeline). |
| `daysBack` | How many days of notices to read (default 7). |
| `openForTendersOnly` | Skip notices whose tender deadline has passed. |
| `minValue` | Minimum estimated value in GBP. |
| `smeSuitableOnly` | Drop notices that Contracts Finder marks as unsuitable for SMEs. |
| `onlyNewSinceLastRun` | Alert mode: return only notices that earlier runs with the same filters have not returned. |
| `maxItems` | How many notices to save. |
| `maxScannedPerSource` | Safety limit on notices read per source (default 10,000). |

Example: open IT and cyber opportunities from the last week:

```json
{
  "keywords": ["software", "IT support", "cyber"],
  "daysBack": 7,
  "openForTendersOnly": true,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": true,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "noticeId": "104444-2026",
  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-07971d",
  "source": "Find a Tender",
  "stage": "tender",
  "title": "EMMS Cyber Security SME Support Programme",
  "description": "Industrial Cyber Security pilot programme aimed at improving cyber resilience readiness within SME manufacturing businesses.",
  "buyerName": "Lincolnshire County Council",
  "buyerLocality": "Lincoln",
  "buyerPostalCode": "LN1 1YL",
  "value": 65000,
  "currency": "GBP",
  "cpvCode": "72800000",
  "cpvDescription": "Computer audit and testing services",
  "mainCategory": "services",
  "procurementMethod": "Open procedure",
  "publishedDate": "2026-11-03T18:50:26Z",
  "tenderDeadline": "2026-11-18T09:00:00Z",
  "suitableForSme": null,
  "awards": [],
  "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/104444-2026"
}
```

For award notices, `awards` lists the winning suppliers with the award value and date.

### Good to know

- **Run time.** Find a Tender publishes around 400 notices a day and both services rate-limit their APIs. A 7-day scan usually takes a few minutes, and longer when the services ask clients to slow down. You are only charged for notices saved, not for notices read.
- **Duplicates across services.** Some higher-value English notices appear on both services, with different IDs.
- **Also see** [EU Tenders (TED)](https://apify.com/frank0309/eu-ted-tenders) for EU tenders and [SAM.gov Contract Opportunities](https://apify.com/frank0309/sam-gov-opportunities) for U.S. federal tenders.

### More tools from this developer

**Government contracts, grants and regulation:**

- [SAM.gov Contract Opportunities: Search & New-Notice Alerts](https://apify.com/frank0309/sam-gov-opportunities)
- [Federal Contract Awards (USAspending): Who Won What](https://apify.com/frank0309/usaspending-contract-awards)
- [Grants.gov Federal Grants: Search & New-Grant Alerts](https://apify.com/frank0309/grants-gov-opportunities)
- [EU Tenders (TED): Public Procurement Search & Alerts](https://apify.com/frank0309/eu-ted-tenders)
- [Federal Register Rules & Notices: Search & New-Rule Alerts](https://apify.com/frank0309/federal-register-documents)

Also available: job postings from company career pages, developer and ai ecosystem data, research, health and safety data. See [all tools](https://apify.com/frank0309).

# Actor input Schema

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

Notices whose title or description contains any of these words or phrases (case-insensitive). Leave empty for all.

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

CPV codes, e.g. 72000000 (IT services) or 45000000 (construction). A parent code also matches its sub-codes.

## `sources` (type: `array`):

Find a Tender carries higher-value notices across the UK; Contracts Finder carries lower-value notices, mostly in England. Defaults to both.

## `stages` (type: `array`):

Tender = open opportunities; Award = contracts awarded (with suppliers); Planning = early market engagement and pipeline notices. Defaults to tender.

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

How far back to look. Both services publish a few hundred notices a day, so longer windows take longer to scan.

## `openForTendersOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Skip notices whose tender deadline has passed.

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

Skip notices with a smaller (or no) estimated value.

## `smeSuitableOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Contracts Finder marks each notice as suitable or not for small businesses; notices without this flag are kept.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Return only notices that earlier runs with the same filters have not returned. Schedule the Actor daily to get a feed of new UK tenders. The first run returns everything that matches.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after saving this many notices.

## `maxScannedPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit on how many notices are read from each source before filtering. Find a Tender publishes about 400 notices a day. You are only charged for notices saved.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "software"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "findATender",
    "contractsFinder"
  ],
  "stages": [
    "tender"
  ],
  "daysBack": 7,
  "openForTendersOnly": false,
  "smeSuitableOnly": false,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "maxScannedPerSource": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `notices` (type: `string`):

All notices saved by this run.

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Title, buyer, source, stage, value, CPV, dates and link for each notice.

# 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": [
        "software"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("frank0309/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": ["software"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("frank0309/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": [
    "software"
  ]
}' |
apify call frank0309/uk-public-tenders --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,frank0309/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/7dP9nyD9ktuY0HBny/builds/2m72dvB4oLGqwlAzO/openapi.json