How to set up Contracts Finder alerts
Contracts Finder (gov.uk/contracts-finder) is the UK government's free portal for public sector contract notices in England above approximately £12,000. Setting up email alerts takes about five minutes. Go to the Contracts Finder website, click "Create an account" and register. Once logged in, use the search function to search by keyword (for example, "cleaning services") and apply any filters for contract value or buyer type. When you have a search that returns useful results, click "Save this search" and tick the option to receive email notifications. Contracts Finder will then email you when new contracts match your saved search.
You can save multiple searches to cover different keywords, buyer types, and contract values. Contracts Finder sends emails daily, so you will receive a digest of new matching notices each morning.
Getting the most out of Contracts Finder keyword alerts
A few habits make Contracts Finder alerts significantly more useful. Use multiple narrow searches rather than one broad one -- "cleaning services" and "facilities management" and "soft FM" will catch notices described in different ways. Try CPV code search as well as keyword search: go to Advanced Search and enter the relevant CPV code (for example 90910000 for cleaning services) to find notices that use the code but may describe the work in unexpected language. Set a minimum contract value to filter out notices too small to be worth pursuing. And review your saved searches regularly -- terminology and buyer behaviour change.
What Contracts Finder does not cover
Contracts Finder is a genuinely useful free resource but it covers only part of the UK procurement market. The most significant gaps are: Scotland (Public Contracts Scotland is a separate register), Wales (Sell2Wales is a separate register), and Northern Ireland (eTendersNI is separate). Above-threshold UK-wide notices sit on Find a Tender, not Contracts Finder. Many councils, NHS trusts, housing associations, and other buyers publish below-threshold procurement only on their own portal -- In-Tend, ProContract, Delta eSourcing, or Jaggaer -- and these notices never reach Contracts Finder. Framework call-off notices often appear only on the relevant framework portal. The result is that a supplier relying solely on Contracts Finder may be seeing only 20 to 30 per cent of the total market relevant to their work.
Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender: which to use?
The UK actually has two central government procurement registers that serve different tiers. Contracts Finder covers England from £12,000 and is the right starting point for most SMEs. Find a Tender covers the full UK above the procurement thresholds (currently £213,477 for sub-central authorities under the Procurement Act 2023) and must be used alongside Contracts Finder for comprehensive coverage. A contract below the threshold will be on Contracts Finder but not FTS; a contract above the threshold will be on FTS but may also appear on Contracts Finder. Watching only one misses a tier.
Why most suppliers end up needing more than Contracts Finder
Consider a cleaning contractor in the East Midlands. Their most valuable opportunities may include: an NHS trust contract published only on the trust's Atamis portal; a council contract published on the council's In-Tend system; a housing association contract advertised only on their Jaggaer portal; and a Scotland-wide FM contract on Public Contracts Scotland. None of these appear on Contracts Finder. TenderSignal aggregates more than 145 UK procurement sources, including Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales, all major buyer portals, and framework systems, into a single matched daily feed. You describe your business once and receive every relevant notice across all sources, not just the fraction that reaches Contracts Finder.
How TenderSignal extends your Contracts Finder coverage
TenderSignal reads Contracts Finder every day and includes it alongside Find a Tender, PCS, Sell2Wales, 35+ NHS Atamis portals, 100+ council portals, Delta eSourcing, ProContract portals, and more. Instead of separate keyword searches on each portal, you set your CPV codes, regions, and contract value range once, and receive a matched digest each morning. AI relevance scoring helps you triage which opportunities are worth pursuing. The free tier covers unlimited browsing and daily new-match emails. Create a free account to see how many live tenders across all UK sources match your business right now.