Introduction

On April 23, 2024, the UK government announced a 6-month notice period for the "planned go-live date" of the 2023 Procurement Act, set for October 28th, 2024. This extensive legislation, spanning over 138 pages, aims to revolutionise the UK’s £300b annual procurement industry by enhancing efficiency, transparency, and flexibility.

The new Procurement Act introduces 13 new notices to enhance visibility and transparency for suppliers.

Spanning from pipeline publications to contract terminations, these new notices cover the full length of the contract lifecycle and will give suppliers better insights into opportunities emerging along the procurement process.

Below, we highlight the top two strategies suppliers can implement to proactively identify opportunities with these new notice types. In this blog, we introduce two expert speakers:  Martin Medforth, who has over 25 years of government procurement leadership, including roles at the Home Office, BEIS, and Bank of England, and Gemma Waring, procurement and bidding expert.

1. Leverage pipeline notices to secure future government contracts

This notice will provide up to 18 months' advance of upcoming contracts, allowing you to proactively prepare for future bidding opportunities rather than simply react to open contracts.

Historically, these pipeline opportunities have only been published by the largest central government organisations, typically siloed on spreadsheets and disconnected from the main tendering process.

In initial documentation, the Act mandated that every authority with an annual spend over £100m must publish pipeline notices over £2m on the government’s new digital platform.

With further guidance issued suggesting that all buyers should adopt publication of pipelines as best practice, the Act will lead to this pipeline information becoming far more transparent and visible across the entire public sector.

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2. Unlock competitive insights from Procurement Act notices

Once the Act goes live, suppliers should actively seek out new notices that disclose additional competitor information not available under current-regulations. Below, we detail two new notice types that will enable you to do this:

1. Pre-market engagement notices:

Initially, the newly mandated preliminary market engagement notices will necessitate publication whenever a buyer and a supplier engage in any form of pre-market discussion.

This increased transparency allows you to identify and assess your competitors early in the bidding process and may present opportunities to secure quick wins against them.

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2.Supplier KPI performance:

Additionally, supplier KPI performance will be publicly available on contracts valued over £5m and reveal a qualitative rating for performance - disclosing whether supplier is “Good”, “Approaching Target” or “Requires Improvement”, "Inadequate" or "Other".

This visibility provides a strategic advantage; suppliers can pinpoint areas where buyers may be dissatisfied with incumbent suppliers, and identify opportunities where you could potentially offer better value or service.

Conclusion

To succeed in the new era of procurement, suppliers need a clear line of sight on relevant opportunities emerging across new transparency notices and contracts. To understand the full impact of the Procurement Act on the way you identify and sell to public sector buyers, download our full white paper using the link below.

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