Tendering in the UK after Brexit

Nov 29, 2019

Until the end of 2020, the United Kingdom shall continue to publish tenders on the EU-wide website ‘the Official Journal of the European Union’ (OJEU).

According to Government advice, from 1st January 2021 all UK public sector procurement notices shall be required to publish tenders on a UK only version of OJEU, called ‘Find a Tender (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-sector-procurement-after-a-no-deal-brexit).

As from 2021 therefore, Public Sector tendering in the UK shall continue as normal. The difference between OJEU and Find a Tender is that EU tenders can be applied for by all member states, whereas as from 1st January 2021, only UK businesses will be able to tender for contracts published on Find a Tender.

Currently, for large valued tenders, or highly specialised requirements, international tenderers would be relevant if a specific requirement isn’t widely available in the home country. For smaller valued tenders (generally sub-£10million) where the service required is readily available domestically, although tenderers from any EU member state can apply, they tend to largely attract only domestic tenderers.

As a major member and one of the largest contributors to the EU, the UK Government had negotiated a large proportion of the protections into the OJEU public sector procurement rules. These incorporated guiding against the risk of collusive behaviour of an Authority toward either a current incumbent or a prospective new supplier. It follows that as from the start of 2021, those same protections shall be inherent in the UK’s country-wide procurement rules.

As a specialist tender management service provider, Tenderwin continually researches the public sector procurement operating environment, so that our clients are able to make clear decisions, based on current legislation. The degree to which we advise clients extends to navigating them through the legislation during the tendering process, to ensure their position is as strong as possible.

If you would like to discuss your next tendering project, contact Daniel Bouvet on (07990) 524513 or email Daniel here.