🏛️ GOV UK Contracts Finder Scraper

Scrape contract opportunities from the UK Government's Contracts Finder. Search by keywords, location, regions, value range, CPV codes, and more.

💰 Pay Per Event Pricing

This Actor uses Pay Per Event (PPE) pricing - you only pay for what you use!

Billing Events

Event	When Charged	Description
no-result	Per search with no results	Charged when a search returns zero contracts
proxy-group-usage	Once per run	Charged when using proxy groups (RESIDENTIAL, GOOGLE_SERP, etc.)
proxy-usage	Once per run	Charged when using standard datacenter proxy (no groups)
proxy-record-surcharge	Per contract scraped	Additional charge per record when proxy is enabled

What Does This Scraper Do?

The UK Government's Contracts Finder is the official portal where public sector organisations advertise contract opportunities. This scraper helps you:

• Find contracts matching your keywords and criteria
• Filter by location - nationwide, by region, or within a radius of a postcode
• Filter by notice type - Early Engagement, Future Opportunities, Active Tenders, or Awarded Contracts
• Filter by value range - set minimum and maximum contract values
• Filter by industry - use CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes
• Get full details - scrape complete contract information including buyer details, documents, and suppliers

✨ What Information Can You Get?

Data Type	What It Means
Contract Details	Title, reference, description, status, procurement stage
Value	Estimated or awarded contract value
Dates	Published date, closing date, contract start/end dates
Location	Where the contract work will be performed
Buyer	Organisation name, address, and contact details
Suppliers	Awarded supplier details (for awarded contracts)
Documents	Links to tender documents and attachments
CPV Codes	Industry classification codes with descriptions
SME/VCSE	Whether suitable for small businesses or voluntary sector

🚀 How To Use It

1. Enter your search keywords (e.g., "IT services", "construction", "cleaning")
2. Optionally filter by location, notice type, value range, or dates
3. Run the scraper and get structured contract data

⚙️ Input Options

Search Criteria

Field	What It Does	Default
keywords	Search keywords to find contracts	-
locationType	How to filter by location: All Locations, By Region, or By Postcode	All Locations
postcode	UK postcode to search near (when using "By Postcode")	-
postcodeDistance	Distance from postcode (5-50 miles)	20 miles
regions	Regions to filter by (when using "By Region")	-

Notice Types

Field	What It Does	Default
includeEarlyEngagement	Include Early Engagement notices	✅ Yes
includeFutureOpportunity	Include Future Opportunity notices	✅ Yes
includeOpportunity	Include active tender Opportunity notices	✅ Yes
includeAwarded	Include Awarded contract notices	❌ No

Status Filters

Field	What It Does	Default
includeOpenOnly	Only include open opportunities (exclude closed)	✅ Yes
suitableForSME	Filter for SME-suitable contracts	❌ No
suitableForVCSE	Filter for VCSE-suitable contracts	❌ No

Value Range

Field	What It Does	Default
valueFrom	Minimum contract value in GBP	-
valueTo	Maximum contract value in GBP	-

Industry Classification

Field	What It Does	Default
cpvCodes	CPV codes to filter by (e.g., ['72000000'] for IT services)	-

Date Filters

Field	What It Does	Default
publishedFrom	Filter notices published from this date (DD/MM/YYYY)	-
publishedTo	Filter notices published until this date (DD/MM/YYYY)	-
closingFrom	Filter by closing date from (DD/MM/YYYY)	-
closingTo	Filter by closing date until (DD/MM/YYYY)	-
approachToMarketFrom	Filter by approach to market date from (DD/MM/YYYY) - for future opportunities	-
approachToMarketTo	Filter by approach to market date until (DD/MM/YYYY) - for future opportunities	-
awardedFrom	Filter by contract awarded date from (DD/MM/YYYY)	-
awardedTo	Filter by contract awarded date until (DD/MM/YYYY)	-

Scraping Options

Field	What It Does	Default
maxResults	Maximum contracts to scrape (0 = unlimited)	100
scrapeDetails	Navigate to each contract page for full details	✅ Yes

Performance & Rate Limiting

Field	What It Does	Default
maxRequestsPerCrawl	Max pages the scraper can visit (0 = unlimited)	0
maxConcurrency	Number of parallel browser sessions (1-3 recommended)	3
requestDelaySeconds	Delay between requests in seconds	1
proxyConfiguration	Proxy settings for avoiding IP blocks	No proxy

🛡️ Reliability Features

Smart Timeout

The scraper automatically calculates an appropriate timeout based on your settings:

maxResults	scrapeDetails	Timeout
50	Yes	~13 minutes
100	Yes	~22 minutes
500	Yes	~88 minutes
Unlimited	Yes	6 hours

This ensures the scraper has enough time to complete without timing out prematurely.

State Persistence

The scraper maintains progress state across restarts and migrations:

• Progress is saved after each contract is scraped
• Survives timeouts - if the handler times out, progress is preserved
• Survives migrations - if the Actor moves to a new server, it resumes from where it left off
• Respects maxResults - even after a restart, the scraper stops at your configured limit

This means you won't lose progress or scrape duplicates if the run is interrupted!

📊 Output Schema

Here's the data structure you'll get for each contract:

Basic Contract Info

{
  "title": "IT Support Services Contract",
  "noticeIdentifier": "2024/S 001-012345",
  "reference": "REF-2024-001",
  "noticeStatus": "Open",
  "procurementStage": "Tender",
  "description": "Provision of IT support services for government department...",
  "url": "https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/abc123...",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-12-14T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Value & Dates

{
  "value": "£500,000 - £1,000,000",
  "publishedDate": "01/12/2024",
  "closingDate": "15/01/2025",
  "contractStartDate": "01/04/2025",
  "contractEndDate": "31/03/2028"
}

Location & Classification

{
  "location": "London",
  "contractType": "Services",
  "procedureType": "Open",
  "cpvCodes": ["72000000"],
  "cpvDescriptions": ["IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support"],
  "isSuitableForSME": true,
  "isSuitableForVCSE": false
}

Buyer Information

{
  "buyer": {
    "name": "Department for Example",
    "address": "1 Government Road, London, SW1A 1AA",
    "contactName": "John Smith",
    "contactEmail": "procurement@example.gov.uk",
    "contactPhone": "020 1234 5678"
  }
}

Suppliers (for Awarded Contracts)

{
  "awardedDate": "01/02/2025",
  "awardedValue": "£750,000",
  "suppliers": [
    {
      "name": "Example IT Solutions Ltd",
      "address": "123 Tech Street, Manchester, M1 1AA",
      "isConsortium": false,
      "isSME": true
    }
  ]
}

Documents

{
  "documents": [
    {
      "title": "Tender Specification",
      "url": "https://..."
    },
    {
      "title": "Terms and Conditions",
      "url": "https://..."
    }
  ]
}

🎯 Perfect For

• Businesses looking for government contract opportunities
• SMEs wanting to find suitable public sector work
• Researchers analysing public procurement trends
• Bid managers tracking upcoming opportunities
• Market analysts monitoring government spending

📚 Learn More

• Contracts Finder Website
• Apify Platform Docs
• Crawlee Documentation
• Join the Apify Discord

⚖️ Legal Disclaimer & Responsible Use

This scraper accesses publicly available data from Contracts Finder, a UK government service. Before using this scraper, please be aware of the following:

Terms of Use

• Crown Copyright: Data from Contracts Finder is Crown Copyright and available under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Rate Limiting: This scraper is configured with sensible defaults (maxConcurrency: 3, requestDelaySeconds: 1). Making too many requests may result in temporary access restrictions.

Your Responsibilities

• ✅ Use the data in accordance with the Open Government Licence
• ✅ Attribute the data source appropriately when publishing
• ✅ Respect rate limits and avoid overwhelming the service
• ❌ Do not use for purposes that violate Terms of Service
• ❌ Do not use the data for harassment, spam, or illegal purposes

Official APIs

The UK Government provides official APIs which may be more appropriate for high-volume or commercial use.

This scraper is provided "as is" without warranty. Users are solely responsible for ensuring their use complies with all applicable laws and terms of service.

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Made with ❤️ for anyone who needs UK government contract data!