Who Won the Tender? Here is how to find out.
Firstly, finding public sector tenders to bid on is pretty easy, use this guide. You then carefully qualify and choose the right tender to go for.
After you have put all the effort into a bid, finding out that you’ve lost is frustrating. Always ask for a debrief. Hopefully you will be told who won and how you fared against the competition.
You might not get this. Or maybe you did not participate in the bid but still want to know who won the tender.
Who Won the Tender?
This only works for public sector contracts that were advertised on one of the tender websites but it is very simple to find out who won a tender:
- Log onto the relevant website where the opportunity was advertised
e.g. Contracts Finder, South East Business Portal, TED etc.
- Search for contracts awarded
You can see which company(s) won the tender.
Estimated contract value
Contract duration (e.g. 2 + 2 years) so you know when it is likely to be re-tendered.
Add this competitor information to your tender conversion / hit rate records. If you see that particular competitors are always winning certain types of contracts, take action: Either change your tender content and/or offering to be more competitive, or stop bidding (until you are ready to compete).
You can use this information to contact the winner and ask if you can supply them. This is particularly relevant if you provide a specialist service and the tender awarded is multi-faceted. For example, you run a roofing company, the contract is for all building services and was awarded to a big building firm.
Do you want to improve your tendering success? Contact us.
Sadly, there is no such system for the private sector and it doesn’t work on small non-advertised public sector purchases – you need to rely on old fashioned sales and research.
How Else Can You Use This?
You may also find some useful (and often hard to get) contact names on the contract documents that might help you with future relationship building. You will, as a minimum, know the the tender is next due out. And so be able to start preparation well in advance.
You can also use this to do some very useful market research. By searching old awards, you can build up data on:
- What type of contracts are being tendered and their value – helpful when assessing the market potential for your business
- Which firms are winning – know the competition (see above)
Anyone else have any other useful tips on finding out who won the tender?
I am a small upcoming domiciliary care agency,struggling to get up on the market .Why are the government regulations making it difficult for me to come up and grow.
To find out who won a tender, check the procurement portal where the tender was posted, as winning bids are often announced publicly. You can also contact the contracting authority directly for information. Additionally, requesting a debrief can provide insights into the evaluation process and the successful bidder, helping you improve future submissions.