This guide is the checklist behind a UK bid: every document and step, grouped by when a tender asks for it, with who can lawfully do each one. For how UK procurement works overall (the Procurement Act, thresholds, procedures, how bids are assessed, getting paid), see How to bid for UK government contracts.
Before you bid
Logins and your supplier record
1. GOV.UK One Login, one per person. Every person who works on your Central Digital Platform (CDP) record signs in with their own One Login: email, password and a second factor.
- Cost and time: free; about 10 minutes.
- Valid: ongoing.
- Who does it: each person for themselves. The terms forbid using someone else’s registered details, so your first Administrator creates theirs and every adviser creates their own with their own work email and phone.
- From abroad: the same; an overseas phone number or an authenticator app works for the second factor.
2. Register the company on the Central Digital Platform. The registration on Find a Tender creates your organisation record and its unique identifier (PPON), which every Procurement Act tender relies on. Since 1 April 2026, winners of even small contracts in England and Northern Ireland need this platform ID. If you registered on the old Find a Tender before February 2025, register again.
- Cost: free.
- Who does it: one of your employees signs in, registers the organisation as a Supplier and becomes its first Administrator. A Companies House number fills in the name and address. Everything can be prepared beforehand, but the Administrator role stays with your company; advisers are added under their own One Login and can be removed at any time.
- From abroad: non-UK addresses are accepted. Without a Companies House number you pick another identifier, and if none fits the platform issues one.
3. Core supplier information. Basic information, qualifications, trade assurances, SME or VCSE status and financial information (your latest accounts), which every buyer receives through your share code. Consortium members and subcontractors you rely on complete it too.
- Valid: keep it current for each tender.
- Who does it: a bid writer can enter it from the documents you supply. The platform doesn’t check any of it, so the accuracy is yours: you hand over the accounts and confirm what was entered.
- From abroad: home-country audited accounts count as audited accounts under section 22(3), translated into English where needed.
4. Exclusions and connected persons (Schedules 6 and 7). A declaration on whether any mandatory or discretionary exclusion ground (fraud, bribery, cartels, tax evasion, insolvency, poor performance and others) applies to your company or its connected persons: directors, people with significant control, parents and predecessors. Self-cleansing evidence goes here too.
- Cost and time: free; a few hours.
- Valid: update it whenever circumstances change.
- Who does it: the connected-persons list can be drafted from Companies House and a questionnaire to each director and PSC. Only you can vouch for convictions, insolvency, ownership and director facts, so every answer needs your written confirmation before it is recorded. Misleading or incomplete information is itself an exclusion ground.
- From abroad: list your foreign directors and significant owners; the same grounds apply.
5. SME, VCSE or public-service-mutual status. The UK has no SME certificate. You declare the status in your CDP basic information from your headcount, turnover and ownership; some below-threshold contracts may be reserved for SMEs and VCSEs. Overseas firms can declare SME status too.
Your company’s identity
6. Identity verification at Companies House (UK companies). Since 18 November 2025 every director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House. Unverified officers block filings, and buyers check the register when they look at connected persons.
- Cost and time: free through GOV.UK One Login, the same day online; Authorised Corporate Service Providers (an accountant or solicitor can be one) charge their own fee.
- Valid: the personal code is reused across company roles.
- Who does it: each director and PSC, personally. Nobody can do it for them.
- From abroad: applies to a UK subsidiary of a foreign group, not to an overseas company bidding directly.
7. Companies House documents. Your incorporation certificate, filed accounts and officers or PSC register are public, and can be downloaded for you instantly at no cost. A certified copy, needed only when a buyer or an overseas authority asks, costs £22 by post (a few days) or £65 same-day. Foreign companies use their home-country equivalent.
Where the tender is run
8. The buyer’s e-tendering portal. Each buyer runs its bids on its own e-sourcing system (Atamis, Jaggaer, In-Tend, ProContract/Proactis, Delta eSourcing or GCA eSourcing), and each needs its own supplier account, into which you paste the CDP share code.
- Cost: free.
- Who does it: your company registers as the primary user or organisation manager, accepts the portal’s user agreement and adds your bid writer as a named Supplier User. Portal terms make credentials personal and treat each registered user as the supplier’s authorised agent; Delta’s terms expressly allow consultants and agents as users.
- From abroad: most portals accept overseas addresses.
9. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Scotland: devolved Scottish authorities sit outside the Procurement Act. Notices go on Public Contracts Scotland and bids through PCS-Tender, two separate registrations with integrated sign-on once both exist. Instead of a share code you answer the Scottish Single Procurement Document, stored in your profile and reused. You create the profile and confirm the exclusion answers; advisers are added through PCS-Tender’s Managing Additional Users.
- Wales: Sell2Wales is free and takes about 20 minutes. You create the Sign On Cymru account in your own name and enter your CDP identifier (PPON) in the Supplier Control Panel. Many Welsh buyers then tender on their own portal. Suppliers from any WTO member state can register.
- Northern Ireland: eTendersNI needs a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet: free, permanent, and available to foreign companies too; D&B may contact you to confirm your details. You create the administrator account; named users can be added for advisers. Above-threshold tenders use your CDP identifiers and share code, and NI buyers may also ask for the downloaded CDP PDF.
10. Frameworks and dynamic markets (where the buyer calls off from one). Admission is itself a tender: CDP share code, then the Government Commercial Agency’s eSourcing (Jaggaer) account, where you add your bid writer as a supplier user. It is free to apply; framework windows are fixed, while dynamic markets accept applications at any time. Closed frameworks run up to 4 years and open frameworks up to 8. You accept the framework terms, and your directors sign or execute the agreement if it is a deed. More in How to get onto UK public sector frameworks.
With your bid
11. Declare and generate the share code. Tick the declaration, enter the declarer’s name, job title and email, and the platform gives you a share code and a downloadable file for the buyer.
- Cost and time: free; minutes.
- Valid: no official expiry was found, but each change to your information needs a new code, so generate a fresh one after any change.
- Who does it: either your bid writer declares under their own name and job title as your authorised agent, after your written sign-off, or one of your officers ticks it. Nobody types a director’s name for them.
12. The tender pack and clarifications. Your bid writer, as a named portal user, opts in, downloads the documents and sends clarification questions before the clarification deadline. You approve any question that reveals your approach. Check the confidentiality clauses first: some tenders, such as those using MoD DEFFORM 47, need the buyer’s written approval before a non-employee sees the documents.
13. The responses you’ll be asked for.
| Response | When it’s asked | Who prepares it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial standing (accounts, management accounts, turnover statements) | Most above-threshold tenders; central government applies the Cabinet Office EFS guidance and FVRA | Your accountant, who also answers the buyer’s ratio and FVRA queries | Release the accounts and authorise the accountant to respond |
| References and case studies (two or three comparable contracts with referee contacts) | Most above-threshold tenders; usually work from the last 3–5 years | Your bid writer, from your material | Confirm every claim is true and get the referees’ consent |
| Social value commitments (PPN 002) | Central-government tenders and many councils | Your bid writer, with your operations team | Approve only commitments you can deliver: they become contract terms or KPIs |
| Payment performance (PPN 018: a 45-day average, or an action plan) | Central-government contracts over £5m a year | Your accountant extracts the payment-days data | Confirm the figures; a director approves any action plan |
| Carbon Reduction Plan (PPN 006) | Central-government contracts over £5m a year, a condition of participation | A sustainability consultant or bid writer, on the Annex A template | Director or board sign-off; publish it on your UK website |
| Modern slavery statement (s.54 Modern Slavery Act 2015) and PPN 009 supply-chain answers | Statutory at turnover of £36m or more; PPN 009 on high-risk procurements such as cotton, PPE or polysilicon | Drafted for you | Board approval and a director’s signature; publish it on your website |
| AI-use answer (PPN 017) | Only where the buyer includes the question | Drafted for you | Approve it in your final sign-off |
| The price | Every tender | — | Set it yourself |
A few details matter. Buyers may not demand audited accounts from a supplier that isn’t required to have them, and must accept alternative evidence. Overstated experience counts as misleading information, an exclusion ground. The Carbon Reduction Plan commits to net zero by 2050 for your UK operations, covers Scope 1, 2 and defined Scope 3 emissions, and must be updated at least annually. The modern slavery statement is annual, can also be listed on the GOV.UK registry, and applies to overseas companies carrying on business in the UK above the same turnover. The AI-use answer is for information only and not scored: AI use is allowed, but buyer-confidential data must not be used to train AI.
14. Form of Tender, if the documents include one. No special certificate is needed: no qualified signature, no signature card. Your director or authorised signatory e-signs the form in their own name with any e-signature tool, and your bid writer uploads it. Overseas companies may sign in any manner their home law permits (Overseas Companies Regulations 2009, reg 4).
15. Submit on the buyer’s portal. Upload the quality, social value and price responses, enter the share code and complete the portal declarations before the deadline. Your bid writer can press submit as your named user and authorised agent, once you have signed off the price, final answers and declarations in writing; companies act through people with their authority (Companies Act 2006, s.43), and the submission is still yours. Bid in English and in pounds unless the tender allows otherwise.
If the tender asks
Insurance: a promise, not a policy. Buyers commonly specify Public Liability and Professional Indemnity cover, but under section 22(3) they may not require it to be in place before award. You confirm you will hold it, and an FCA-authorised broker can supply a letter saying so.
If someone other than a director must sign contracts or deeds. A power of attorney must be executed as a deed (Powers of Attorney Act 1971, s.1). It is rarely needed for tendering, and is mainly used when an overseas company has no UK-based directors. A solicitor drafts it; your company executes it with two authorised signatories, or a director with a witness (Companies Act 2006, s.44). The attorney should be one of your people or a solicitor. For a foreign company, it is executed under home law and may need notarisation and an apostille at home.
Notarisation and apostilles. UK buyers seldom ask for them; they arise mostly for overseas documents. Only a notary, or a solicitor for oaths, can do this, and your signatory appears and signs or swears personally. A UK apostille costs £45 on paper (up to 25 working days) or £35 as an e-Apostille (up to 2 working days); notaries set their own fees. Foreign documents are notarised and apostilled in the home country, because the FCDO cannot legalise non-UK documents, then translated into English if needed.
If you’re in line for award
| Certificate or proof | Issued by | Cost and time | Valid for | What only you do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber Essentials (PPN 014) | An IASME-licensed certification body | IASME fee £320 + VAT (0–9 employees), £440 (10–49), £500 (50–249), £600 (250+); bodies may charge more. Days to about 2 weeks | 12 months; renewed every year of the contract | Attest the questionnaire about your own IT, with board-level sign-off |
| Cyber Essentials Plus | An IASME-licensed certification body, after a hands-on technical audit | — | 12 months | Give the assessor access to your systems and fix the findings |
| ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 or 27001 | A UKAS-accredited certification body | — | 3-year certificate with annual surveillance audits | Run the system and take part in the audits |
| SSIP health-and-safety accreditation (CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS, Constructionline Gold via Acclaim) | An SSIP member scheme | — | 12 months | A director signs the H&S policy; supply RIDDOR and accident records |
| Construction prequalification: Common Assessment Standard (Constructionline Gold, CHAS Elite, Acclaim) | Build UK’s CAS, through accredited bodies | — | 12 months | Own the membership account, pay the fee and sign the policy and declaration statements |
| Employers’ Liability insurance | An FCA-authorised insurer, through a broker | Broker certificate in 1–3 days | Policy year | Buy the policy and give true disclosure |
| Public Liability and Professional Indemnity certificates | An FCA-authorised insurer, through a broker | — | Policy year | Buy the policy at the levels you committed to |
| Parent company guarantee or performance bond, if asked | Your parent company, a surety insurer or a bank | — | Contract term or until practical completion | Your (or your parent’s) directors execute the documents |
Cyber Essentials is required under PPN 014 for central-government and NHS contracts that handle personal data, OFFICIAL ICT or government business data, with no value threshold; many councils ask too. Evidence is required before award, and the certificate must be held when data is passed. PPN 014 says Plus, which adds an independent hands-on audit to the basic certificate, should be used where cyber risk is higher. ISO 27001 does not automatically satisfy Cyber Essentials. Overseas organisations can certify, and an equivalent independently verified standard must be accepted under section 56.
ISO certificates can be checked by buyers on UKAS CertCheck, and buyers must accept equivalents. SSIP schemes recognise each other under “Deem to Satisfy”, so one assessment is accepted across all member schemes. For construction, PPN 03/24 tells public buyers to use the Common Assessment Standard; PAS 91 was withdrawn by BSI in April 2023. Both SSIP and CAS assume UK operations or staff.
Employers’ Liability cover of at least £5m is a legal requirement for UK employers, and being uninsured costs up to £2,500 per day. It is needed once you employ staff in Great Britain; employers whose staff are all based outside England, Scotland and Wales are exempt. Northern Ireland has its own regime, also with a £5m minimum.
Before the contract
Read the assessment summary. Every assessed bidder receives one (s.50) before the contract award notice, and a mandatory 8-working-day standstill follows. A challenge must be issued within it to trigger automatic suspension. Whether to challenge is your decision, and you instruct a solicitor directly, because conducting litigation is a reserved activity. Overseas, only treaty-state suppliers on covered procurements can bring a claim.
Sign or execute the contract. Your directors sign, or execute deeds and guarantees (Companies Act 2006, s.44), and hand over the insurance certificates, Cyber Essentials and any guarantee or bond.
DBS checks for staff, where the contract involves children, vulnerable adults or regulated roles. Your company applies as employer through a registered or responsible body, and each employee completes their own identity check. From 5 October 2026, Basic and Standard checks cost £20.00, Enhanced £41.00, and the Update Service £15 a year; registered bodies may add admin fees. There is no fixed expiry: buyers set refresh rules. Scotland uses Disclosure Scotland and Northern Ireland AccessNI. Staff deployed in the UK need UK checks, and buyers often want overseas criminal-record certificates too.
VAT registration. Your VAT number sits in your CDP basic information and on your invoices. UK businesses register above the turnover threshold. An overseas business with no UK establishment (a non-established taxable person, NETP) has no threshold and must register within 30 days of its first UK taxable supply or expected supply. Registration is free; an accountant registers you as your HMRC tax agent and advises on whether place-of-supply rules make UK VAT apply. You approve the registration and the agent authorisation. The online form has a known glitch that records a NETP as a natural person, so check how HMRC recorded the company.
A UK subsidiary or establishment (optional for overseas firms). It is never a condition of bidding, but it is often used to deliver with UK staff or premises. Incorporation costs £100 online, typically within 24 hours; registering a UK establishment of an overseas company costs £124 on paper and takes longer. The annual confirmation statement is £50 online. An accountant or formation agent files as presenter; you decide the structure, appoint the directors, and each director verifies their identity first.
Who does what
| Step | Who can do it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK One Login | Each person, for themselves | Your Administrator creates their own |
| CDP registration | Prepared for you | An employee registers the company and keeps the Administrator role |
| CDP supplier information | A bid writer, as a user you add | Supply the accounts and confirm the data |
| Exclusions and connected persons | Drafted for you from Companies House and questionnaires | Confirm every answer in writing |
| Share code | Your bid writer declares under their own name, after your sign-off | Sign off, or tick the declaration yourself |
| Buyer portals, PCS-Tender, Sell2Wales, eTendersNI | Prepared for you; your bid writer gets a named user | Register as primary user and add the users |
| Companies House identity verification | Each director and PSC, directly or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider | Complete their own identity check |
| Financial standing, payment performance, VAT | Your accountant | Release the accounts and approve the figures |
| Quality, social value, CRP and modern slavery responses | Your bid writer drafts | Approve commitments; directors or the board sign off and publish |
| Form of Tender | Prepared for you | Your director e-signs it |
| Submission | Your bid writer, as named user and authorised agent | Approve the price, answers and declarations |
| Cyber Essentials, ISO, SSIP, CAS | A licensed or accredited certification body | Attest, operate the systems and take part in audits |
| Insurance | An FCA-authorised broker | Buy the cover |
| Power of attorney, guarantees, challenges | A solicitor | Execute deeds; decide on and instruct any challenge |
| Notarisation and apostille | A notary or solicitor | Appear and sign or swear personally |
The professionals involved
| Professional | Licensed or regulated by | What they do for a bidder |
|---|---|---|
| Bid writer or bid manager (independent or a bid consultancy) | No licence needed; APMP membership is voluntary | Maintain your CDP supplier information as a named user, prepare the exclusions answers for you to confirm, generate the share code after your sign-off, work your buyer portals, raise clarifications, draft quality, social value and modern slavery responses, submit as your authorised agent, and review the assessment summary |
| Chartered or certified accountant | ICAEW, ACCA or ICAS | Prepare financial-standing evidence and answer EFS and FVRA queries, register you for VAT (including NETP registration), prepare PPN 018 payment evidence, act as an ACSP for identity verification if registered as one, and file a UK subsidiary or establishment |
| Solicitor | Solicitors Regulation Authority (England & Wales); Law Society of Scotland; Law Society of Northern Ireland | Advise on contract terms, treaty-state status and exclusion or self-cleansing questions; draft and execute powers of attorney, parent company guarantees and deed-form framework agreements; administer oaths; bring a procurement challenge within standstill |
| Notary public | Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury (England & Wales); in Scotland notaries are solicitors | Notarise copies, signatures and corporate documents, and prepare documents for an FCDO apostille |
| Certification bodies | UKAS (accreditation); IASME for Cyber Essentials; the SSIP Forum | ISO certification, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, SSIP assessments and Common Assessment Standard prequalification |
| Insurance broker | Financial Conduct Authority | Arrange Employers’ Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity cover, and issue broker letters for the bid |
| Surety, bank or parent company | PRA and FCA | Performance bonds at contract stage, bank guarantees or counter-guarantees, and parent company guarantees |
Bid writing is not a reserved legal activity, but challenges, deeds, notarisation and oaths are, and go to a solicitor or notary.
If your company is from abroad
You don’t need a UK company to bid: the Central Digital Platform accepts non-UK addresses and issues an identifier to firms without a Companies House number. Who may bid from abroad, and on which contracts, is explained in How to bid for UK government contracts, and for Indian companies in How Indian companies can bid for UK government contracts. For the paperwork:
Use your home-country company documents (for an Indian company, its MCA master data or certificate of incorporation) instead of Companies House filings, and home-country audited accounts in the CDP, translated into English. Overseas references count with English summaries and a reachable referee. ISO certificates from bodies accredited by IAF-MLA signatories, such as NABCB in India, are generally accepted, but check each tender. A parent company guarantee from the overseas parent, or a UK bank counter-guarantee, is common where security is asked. Home documents are notarised and apostilled at home. Once you make UK supplies, register for VAT as a NETP; once you employ staff in Great Britain, buy Employers’ Liability cover.
Pitfalls
- Never share a login. One Login, portal passwords, second-factor codes and e-signatures are personal; every adviser works under their own and is added as a named user you can revoke.
- Keep the master roles in-house. One of your employees should be the CDP Administrator and the primary user on every buyer portal.
- Re-register if you were on Find a Tender before February 2025, and generate a new share code after every change to your information.
- Don’t buy insurance just to bid. Buyers may not require it before award (s.22(3)).
- Check confidentiality clauses before an outside bid writer opens the documents; MoD DEFFORM 47 needs the buyer’s written approval first.
- Overseas: check treaty coverage for each notice (buyer, value, category and start date). Find a Tender does not flag UK–India CETA coverage.
- Scottish devolved tenders use the SPD, not the CDP share code.
- Don’t rely on ISO 27001 for Cyber Essentials, and don’t chase PAS 91, which BSI withdrew in April 2023.
- Don’t share a bid writer with a rival on the same tender. Shared drafting across competing bids is a bid-rigging red flag for the CMA.
- A solicitor may act for you and a competitor in the same tender only with informed written consent from every client and effective confidentiality safeguards (SRA Code para 6.2(b)).
Doing it with askTender
In the UK, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on Find a Tender (Central Digital Platform) and the buyers’ portals, and works under their own login. You keep your own login and sign only what the law reserves to you: confirming the exclusion and connected-person facts, setting the price, signing the Form of Tender and executing contracts, deeds and guarantees. The askTender Desk prepares the supplier information, declarations and responses, assembles the bid and coordinates the certificates; askTender Partners, such as a bid writer, an accountant, a solicitor or a notary, do the steps their profession covers.
Questions
Do I need a digital signature certificate to bid in the UK?
No. UK buyers use tick-box or typed declarations on their portals, and simple electronic signatures are valid in UK law. Where a tender includes a Form of Tender, your director or authorised signatory signs it in their own name with any e-signature tool. Overseas companies may sign in any manner their home law permits.
Do UK tenders ask for a bid bond?
No. UK buyers don’t ask for bid security. On some contracts, typically construction, large outsourcing or a bidder that is a subsidiary, the buyer may ask for a parent company guarantee or a performance bond at contract stage.
Do I need insurance in place before I bid?
No. Under section 22(3) of the Procurement Act, buyers may not require insurance to be in place before award. You confirm you will hold the cover the contract specifies, and a broker letter can support that. Employers’ Liability insurance, with at least £5m of cover, is a legal requirement for UK employers anyway.
Can a bid writer submit my tender for me?
Yes. Your company registers on the buyer’s portal and adds the bid writer as a named user with their own login. As your authorised agent they can upload and submit once you have signed off the price, answers and declarations. Nobody should ever use your own One Login or portal password.
How much does Cyber Essentials cost?
The IASME fee is £320 + VAT for 0–9 employees, £440 for 10–49, £500 for 50–249 and £600 for 250 or more; certification bodies may charge more. It takes days to about 2 weeks and must be renewed every 12 months for the life of the contract.
Do directors need to verify their identity with Companies House?
Yes, for UK companies. Since 18 November 2025 every director and person with significant control must verify their identity, free through GOV.UK One Login or for a fee through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Each person does it for themselves; an overseas company bidding directly is not affected.
Sources
- Register your organisation and first Administrator on Find a Tender
- How an Administrator completes and updates supplier information
- Central Digital Platform factsheet
- GOV.UK One Login: terms and conditions
- Procurement Act 2023 guidance: exclusions (Welsh Government)
- Guidance: conditions of participation
- Procurement Act 2023, section 22
- Companies House fees
- Companies House identity verification from 18 November 2025
- PPN 014: the Cyber Essentials scheme
- PPN 006: Carbon Reduction Plans
- PPN 009: tackling modern slavery in government supply chains
- PPN 017: transparency of AI use in procurement
- Employers’ liability insurance
- DBS fees from 5 October 2026
- Get a document legalised (apostille)
- HMRC VAT registration manual: non-established taxable persons
- eTendersNI: register as a supplier
- Sell2Wales and the Procurement Act 2023
This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.