The Brexit transition period concluded on 1 January 2021. This means the UK is no longer a member of the EU, and is now a member of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).
Key public procurement developments to be aware of:
- For any procurement started, and not completed before 31 December 2020, procurement regulations that were in place under the EU will still apply until the contract has been awarded.
- From 1 January 2021, the new e-tender service ‘Find a Tender’ will replace the Official Journal of the European Union in the UK for above threshold tenders.
- The existing UK government portals – Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI – will remain in operation and will be unchanged.
- While there will be no immediate changes to procurement policies, from 1 January 2021 the government will have the power to introduce new or temporary legislation.
How does Brexit affect finding new tenders?
Tenders Direct customers are unaffected by the introduction of Find a Tender Service. Our team of Sourcing Specialists upload high value notices published through the Find a Tender service, directly to Tenders Direct. Low value tenders will also be available as normal.
If you do not currently use a tender alert service, the introduction of the Find a Tender Service means you have another portal to check for opportunities – taking you more time to find contracts that are suitable for you.
Thanks to our unique Peer Review Process, our team are able to source, review and classify all notices from Find a Tender. This process allows us to categorise notices based on the keywords you search for, creating an easy to search database. With full coverage of all UK and ROI tenders, as well as applicable EU notices, Tenders Direct offers the UK’s most accurate tender alert service.
Your Questions
- Are thresholds going to change?
The EU thresholds introduced on 1 January 2020 will remain in place until 1 January 2022. Future thresholds will be determined by the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) – which the UK has been a member of since 1 January 2021.
- How will it be regulated to ensure all notices that are meant to be published on FTS are published on there?
No regulations have been introduced that we are currently aware of. This will work very much in the same way as Contracts Finder – notices ‘should’ be published to it. We will continue to use our Peer Review Process to ensure no tenders are missed, no matter where they are published.
- Will the Find a Tender service display contracts published prior to 1 January 2021?
Find a Tender had a blank slate on the 1 January, meaning only notices published from that date forward will be visible. Tenders Direct will however still have details of all existing notices originally published on the OJEU.
- Will Tenders Direct still publish tenders from all sources?
Yes, Tenders Direct Will continue to provide full coverage. This means tenders from all official UK and ROI portals (this includes Contracts Finder and Find a Tender), all low-value notices from other sources, as well as high-value opportunities from the OJEU.
- Will UK suppliers still be able to bid for OJEU tenders?
Yes, UK suppliers will be able to continue bidding for applicable OJEU contracts.
- Will we still be able to receive OJEU tenders notifications through Tenders Direct?
Yes, we will keep you informed of OJEU notices through both our alerts and tender search tool.
- Will there be an option to opt out of OJEU tenders?
Yes, you will be able to opt out by selecting ‘UK only’ in your profile.
Is there anything I should be aware of?
For the time being, procurement policies will remain closely aligned with the rules in place before Brexit. However, with no requirements to comply with EU directives for public procurement, the UK Government has scope to introduce changes.
Changes introduced post Brexit:
Listen to our Brexit and Find a Tender discussion
In our free on demand webinar, we take a closer look at what Brexit and the introduction of Find a Tender mean for you as a supplier.
The topics covered in our free on demand webinar are:
• Procurement after Brexit and Find a Tender Service
• What it means for public sector organisations and private companies
• What will happen with above-threshold procurement (OJEU)
• How to best prepare for the year ahead
• Useful tips, tools, and best practice learned from working in the public sector and tendering
To view this content, please follow the link and complete the form to request access to our Tendering after Brexit – What is Find a Tender? webinar
Further reading
The Policy Procurement Note: Introduction of Find a Tender explains the introduction of Find a Tender in greater detail.
For details about other changes introduced as a result of Brexit, please view the UK Transition page on Gov.uk
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