United Kingdom tender market report, October 2026
Month to date, updated 22 Oct 2026 · computed by FreeTender from 2,146 notices
- Notices published
- 2,146
- -19% vs September 2026 (month to date)
- Still open
- 2,004
- at the time of this report
- Median bid window
- 29 days
- middle half: 22–35 days
- With a stated value
- 1,662
- 77% of notices
Summary
So far in October 2026, FreeTender recorded 2,146 new procurement notices from buyers in United Kingdom (-19% on September 2026, comparing a part month with a full one). The largest sector was Construction & Infrastructure with 263 notices (12% of the total). Half of all notices gave bidders 29 days or less to respond. Thursday was the busiest publishing day (22% of notices).
Notices by sector
- Construction & Infrastructure263 notices-17%
- Healthcare & Pharma254 notices-22%
- Financial & Professional Services206 notices-18%
- Education & Training187 notices-17%
- Transport & Logistics181 notices-22%
- Water & Environment150 notices+3%
- IT & Telecom110 notices-20%
- Sports, Recreation & Events83 notices-21%
- Facility Management & Cleaning58 notices-19%
- Real Estate & Facilities52 notices-22%
- Energy & Power49 notices-49%
- Defence & Security46 notices+10%
- Manufacturing & Supply45 notices-26%
- Agriculture & Food41 notices-18%
- Forestry & Wildlife27 notices-29%
Change is against September 2026.
How buyers tendered
- Open tender1,309 notices
- rfi614 notices
- Grant / funding call89 notices
- Standing arrangement17 notices
- Request for quotation5 notices
- Contract award3 notices
- Expression of interest3 notices
- Prequalification1 notices
- Invitation to bid1 notices
- Consultancy1 notices
Publishing day
- Monday405 notices
- Tuesday401 notices
- Wednesday390 notices
- Thursday470 notices
- Friday459 notices
- Saturday8 notices
- Sunday13 notices
Most active buyers in United Kingdom
- Post Office Limited29 notices
- Ministry of Defence23 notices
- East Sussex County Council19 notices
- NHS England16 notices
- City & County of Swansea14 notices
- Leicester City Council14 notices
- London Borough of Haringey13 notices
- Defence Equipment and Support12 notices
- NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED11 notices
Stated values
1,662 of 2,146 notices stated an estimated value. Figures are in the currency the buyer used.
| Currency | Priced notices | Median | Largest | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBP | 1,659 | 650 thousand | 36.3 billion | 186.0 billion |
| AED | 1 | 1.0 billion | 1.0 billion | 1.0 billion |
| EUR | 1 | 802 thousand | 802 thousand | 802 thousand |
| THB | 1 | 22.3 million | 22.3 million | 22.3 million |
Largest notices of the month
- Global Travel, Accommodation and Venue Management Services · GBP 36.3 billion · closes 8 Dec 2026
- 001364 – Apprenticeships and Police Training Entry Routes Framework · GBP 20.0 billion · closes —
- Technology Products and Associated Services 3 · GBP 20.0 billion · closes —
- Managing Consultancy and Professional Services 3 (1358) · GBP 15.0 billion · closes —
- GMCA 2201: NW Regional Children's Services Contract · GBP 13.9 billion · closes —
Other months
Method: counts are notices first published in the month, by the buyer's country, across all sources FreeTender reads. Bid window means days from publication to the deadline. Coverage grows as we add sources, so part of any rise can be new coverage rather than new demand. You may quote these figures with a link to this page. The underlying rows are in our open dataset.