The Procurement Act 2023 for small businesses: what changed and what to do
The rules for how UK public bodies buy changed on 24 February 2025, when the Procurement Act 2023 came in. GOV.UK's short guide for suppliers says the Act is meant to benefit suppliers of all sizes, particularly small businesses. Here are the changes that matter most if you bid for public contracts, each with what to do about it.
1. You register once, on the Central Digital Platform
Find a Tender is now the Central Digital Platform. You enter your core supplier information there once and share it with each buyer using a share code. GOV.UK says Find a Tender is free to use, and that you only need to register when you want to bid. If you had an account before the change, you need to re-register.
What to do: register before you need to bid, and keep your record current. If your information changes, update it and create a new share code. See how to register on the Central Digital Platform.
2. One main place to search
Outside Scotland, most new procurements are published on Find a Tender. Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements that started under the older rules. Notices for procurements still under the 2015 rules move off Contracts Finder from 1 May 2027 (SI 2026/746).
What to do: search Find a Tender first. See Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender, and check the procurement thresholds that decide which rules apply. Smaller contracts have their own notice rules, covered in our guide to below-threshold tenders.
3. A new, more flexible procedure
Alongside the open procedure, there's a new competitive flexible procedure. GOV.UK's short guide says it's meant to make it easier to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector. The buyer designs the stages.
What to do: read the tender notice and documents for the stages, dates and what's scored at each one, before you decide to bid.
4. Buyers must think about small businesses
GOV.UK's SME guidance says the Act places a new duty on buyers to have regard to SME participation and to consider removing or reducing barriers. An SME has fewer than 250 staff and either annual turnover of £44 million or less or a balance sheet total of £38 million or less.
What to do: if a tender looks built to shut small businesses out, say so during engagement or in clarification questions.
5. Buyers must consider lots
Under section 18, a buyer must consider splitting a contract into lots, and give reasons if it doesn't.
What to do: look for lots by area or type of work that fit your size, and take part in early engagement to argue for them.
6. Proportionate conditions, and some common barriers banned
Under section 22, the tests to take part must be proportionate to the nature, complexity and cost of the contract. A buyer can't ask for audited accounts unless you're required by law to have them audited, and can't require insurance for the contract to be in place before it's awarded.
What to do: don't rule yourself out because you don't yet hold the cover a contract needs. Check whether you can get it in time for award.
7. Frameworks are more open, and dynamic markets replace DPS
GOV.UK's short guide says the Act makes frameworks more open, so suppliers aren't shut out for long periods. New open frameworks with more than one supplier must be re-opened to new suppliers at least once in their first 3 years and at least every 5 years after that. Dynamic markets replace dynamic purchasing systems, and suppliers can apply to join a dynamic market at any time while it runs.
What to do: note when frameworks in your sector are re-opened, and look for dynamic markets you could join now. See our guide to construction frameworks.
8. Feedback on every assessed tender
Before a competitively tendered contract is awarded, each bidder whose tender was assessed gets an assessment summary showing how it was assessed (section 50).
What to do: read each summary and fix the weak answers before your next bid. Our guide to how to win public sector contracts covers how tenders are scored.
9. A standstill period before signing
For many contracts, the buyer must wait at least 8 working days, starting on the day the contract award notice is published, before signing (section 51).
What to do: if you think a decision is wrong, act within the standstill period, and take advice.
10. Faster payment
GOV.UK's short guide says the Act strengthens prompt payment through the supply chain, so suppliers benefit from 30-day payment terms on a broader range of public sector contracts.
What to do: check the payment terms in each contract. If you have concerns about a procurement or late payment, GOV.UK's short guide points to the Procurement Review Unit, which builds on the Public Procurement Review Service.
Questions
When did the Procurement Act 2023 start?
On 24 February 2025. Procurements that started before then carry on under the older rules.
Do small businesses need to register on the Central Digital Platform?
To bid for most public contracts, yes. Registration on Find a Tender is free, and you only need to register when you want to bid.
Does the Procurement Act 2023 help small businesses?
It's meant to. Buyers must have regard to SME participation, consider lots, keep conditions proportionate and give each assessed bidder an assessment summary.
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Sources
- GOV.UK: The Procurement Act 2023, a short guide for suppliers (read 31 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Supplementary information: SME definition (read 31 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Central Digital Platform factsheet and suppliers' detailed walkthrough (read 31 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Guidance: Dynamic Markets and Guidance: Frameworks (read 31 October 2026)
- Procurement Act 2023, section 18, section 22, section 49, section 50 and section 51 (read 31 October 2026)
- The Procurement (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/746 (read 31 October 2026)
- Find a Tender: notice types (read 31 October 2026)
This guide summarises the official sources above. It isn't legal advice. Check the notice and tender documents for each contract.
Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 31 October 2026.