Our most recent blog, How NHS funding can be leveraged to build public sector pipeline, examined findings from a healthcare market report that dives deep into allocations for the national health service. This write-up highlighted key areas companies selling into the public sector should consider when tracking tenders tied to the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). 

While NHS budget growth is a key metric for teams building a pipeline for public sector sales, contracting ICS budgets can uncover hidden opportunities. This blog showcases an alternative outlook and demonstrates the value of contract expiry data for areas experiencing budget decline.

To start sourcing opportunities for your public sector sales strategies, sign up for free with Stotles today.

NHS budget cuts: What this means for suppliers

While some Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) announced budget growth, including NHS North Central London ICB (£153.5 million), NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB (£113.9 million), and NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly ICB (£55.2 million), others are facing significant cuts. This has quite a large impact on the public sector landscape, and suppliers need to be aware of these budget changes so that they can adjust their sales strategy accordingly. 

Key ICSs with the largest budget cuts in 2024/25 include:

For suppliers, these cuts mean that speculative or unconfirmed projects may be harder to find, and there will likely be a shift towards focusing on essential, confirmed projects that are still receiving funding.

Uncovering opportunities: Strategies for areas with reduced funding

Regions with reduced budgets will prioritise essential upgrades and critical maintenance as laid out in each ICB’s Capital Resource Plan. For example, South East London’s ICB, which has seen a large cut of £119.7 million, has three key areas SMEs should be aware of:

• Facilities management should suppliers monitor backlog maintenance and compliance needs, specifically around fire safety and essential refurbishment. Based on the ICB’s roadmap, the budget will service critical maintenance needs at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, including fire safety upgrades and routine compliance maintenance. 
• Investments are being made in endoscopy services at King’s College Hospital and for elective surgery capacity at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, meaning that suppliers in healthcare infrastructure and refurbishment can still engage with multi-year contracts for these projects.
• In addition, King’s College Hospital will receive £1.8 million in funding for its electronic patient record (EPR) system, presenting opportunities for IT suppliers focused on digital health solutions.

Use contract expiry data to source opportunities in a difficult environment: Next steps for suppliers

Shown below, suppliers can quickly identify valuable opportunities on the Stotles platform by tracking a robust database of contract expiries across underfunded ICBs to build a healthy public sector sales pipeline. Benefits include being informed of potential renewals using contract expiries as a future buying signal for projects that require re-procurement, and gaining the edge on competitors by understanding how particular buyers have historically procured solutions with specific suppliers.

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Here’s how:

1. Leverage Stotles’ Documents feature: Stotles’ Documents feature enables a quick search through the catalogue of public sector documents stored all in one place in an easy-to-use portal and highlights snippets relevant to the user based on their Signal settings.
2. Identify expiring contracts: Even in regions with reduced budgets, expiring contracts for IT systems, infrastructure maintenance, and healthcare services need renewal most of the time. By tracking these expiring contracts, suppliers can position themselves for re-tendering opportunities or new bids effectively.
3. Build relationships before contracts expire: Using Stotles, suppliers can search and proactively engage with NHS procurement teams before contracts expire, positioning themselves as valuable partner ready to meet the needs of the next phase of projects.

To start sourcing opportunities for your public sector sales strategies, sign up for free with Stotles today.

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