Digital procurement
Public procurement in the UK and Ireland runs end to end online: notices, tender packs, bids and invoices. The platforms involved and what an SME must set up.
Updated on September 5, 2026
Digital procurement means running the whole process, from the notice to the signature and the invoice, electronically. In the United Kingdom and Ireland paper tendering has effectively disappeared: notices, tender packs, clarifications, bids and award decisions all pass through online systems.
How it works
Under the Procurement Act 2023 notices are published on the central digital platform, from which Find a Tender and Contracts Finder are served, and tender documents must be available electronically and free of charge. Scotland uses Public Contracts Scotland and PCS-Tender, Wales uses Sell2Wales, Northern Ireland uses eTendersNI, and Ireland uses eTenders. Actual bid submission usually happens on the buyer's e-tendering portal: ProContract, In-tend, Jaggaer, Delta, Atamis for the NHS, or PCS-Tender and eTenders.
The system rests on several pieces:
- the portal, which timestamps every upload and holds the audit trail;
- supplier registration on the central digital platform, where core company information is entered once and reused through a share code, replacing the old selection questionnaire and ESPD approach;
- an electronic signature where the contract or a certificate has to be signed;
- electronic invoicing, which public bodies must be able to receive, with the NHS and Irish public bodies using the PEPPOL network;
- open publication of contract data, including contract details notices and, for larger contracts, performance and payment information.
Exceptions survive for physical models, samples and security-sensitive work, and for very small purchases handled by email quote.
What it means for a bidder
Digital procurement lowers the barrier to entry: no bound copies to post, immediate free access to packs, and the ability to bid to a buyer three hundred miles away.
In exchange it requires organisation: accounts on the portals your target buyers use, a monitored shared mailbox rather than one person's address, a completed supplier profile on the central digital platform with a current share code, files named and formatted as instructed, and the habit of uploading the day before the deadline rather than on the day.
Once you hold a contract you will invoice electronically, often through a purchase-order system with strict referencing. Set the account up at mobilisation, not at the first invoice, or payment will slip.
Example
A four-person architectural practice bids for a design contest run by Sainte Foy Borough Council for a primary school with a works budget of £4,500,000. The selection stage is submitted on the council's portal, with the practice's share code from the central digital platform and PDF references. The concept drawings, which are large, are uploaded the day before the closing time. Nothing is posted, apart from one physical model expressly required by the brief.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still submit a paper bid?
Only in the rare cases the buyer allows, such as models or samples. For ordinary tenders an electronic submission is required and a paper one would be rejected.
Do I need special software?
No. A browser is enough for most portals. You only need signing software if the instructions to tenderers require a signed document at submission.
Do I have to register on every portal?
Yes, one account per portal, which is why it pays to know which systems the buyers in your sector use. The central digital platform profile is shared across UK notices, but the portals themselves remain separate.