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Do business with us

We want to create significant opportunities for small businesses, social enterprise and voluntary and community organisations in Leicester.

We do business with and procure from many organisations; from large infrastructure works to care contracts, from multinationals to local charities. The range of our responsibilities is vast and the range of what we buy and who we buy from reflects this. We spend more than £350 million annually on supplies, works and services, using over 4,000 different suppliers.

Within this, we wish to ensure that our procurement opportunities are open to small and micro local enterprises and voluntary and community sector organisations as it appreciates the very important role they play in the local economy. Tender submissions from these organisations are particularly welcomed.

Why work with us?

There are a number of benefits to working with us

  • Considerable public sector spend
  • Good payers and proper arrangements
  • Keen to work with a broad range of suppliers
  • Chance to get involved in exciting projects that you will not find elsewhere
  • Subject to public procurement legislation.

What we buy (supplies, works and services)

Registration to this portal is free and covers a wide area and not just Leicester. Other East Midlands Authorities also use this and its sister portals, of which there are about five. When you register with one portal, you will automatically be alerted to any opportunities on any of the other portals, especially if you indicate keywords as saved data.

  • On the East Midlands Tenders Portal (see quick links above) via ProContract.

Again this is free to register on (see the “REGISTER” link at the top of this page) and you can state your preferred opportunity areas of interest (categories) along with geographical locations (regions).

We strongly recommend that you monitor and use these.

In addition to the opportunities (contracts) advertised via East Midlands Tenders (see above), we have developed a procurement plan which seeks to capture contracts that are anticipated to be procured in the next two years, including to replace existing contracts, to develop services, or for planned capital projects. This provides potential bidding opportunities to look out for (see Open Data website).

Inclusion of a contract in the plan does not necessarily mean that the procurement will go ahead. As with all expenditure, anticipated contracts will be subject to ongoing challenge as to whether they are required, and whether/how they should be procured. This review process may impact on the anticipated value and/or duration of contract.

How we buy

We work within a regulatory framework provided by UK law, central government initiatives and our own rules when buying supplies, works and services.

For details on the Council’s rules, please refer to our constitution, where Part 4G captures the Contract Procedure Rules (see quick links above).

In addition to advertised opportunities and contracts, we may also access or use internal or external Frameworks. Some examples of external Framework providers include: ESPO; Midlands Highways Alliance (MHA); Crown Commercial Service (CCS); SCAPE, EEM, YPO.

Public Contracts Regulations 2015 – tendering thresholds

We advertise on the Find a Tender service where the value inc VAT exceeds:

  • £214,904 for supplies contracts
  • £214,904 for services contracts
  • £663,540 for ‘Schedule 3’ services contracts (as per the Public Contracts Regulations 2015)
  • £5,372,609 for works contracts

For more details on Find a Tender (FTS) and to search for public sector notices captured there, please visit the FTS website (see quick links above). Or otherwise for lower value contract (above £30,000), the same action can be completed on Contracts Finder (see quick links above).

Definitions

  • Works - the carrying out of building or engineering works
  • Supplies - supply of any goods or materials
  • Services - the provision of any services (including research, professional or consultancy services)
  • ‘Schedule 3’ Services – Social and other specific Services covered by Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

How to contact us

For any further help and guidance, please use the below contact details to contact us:

Procurement Services: