Find a Tender Registration: 5 Steps for UK Suppliers 2026

By Aoba Works · Published October 22, 2026 · 17 min read

How this guide was made: drafted with AI assistance from the official sources linked below, then passed an automated editorial check before publishing. Our process

• Find A Tender
• Procurement Act 2023
• Central Digital Platform
• Public Sector Tenders

Find a Tender registration is free. You create a GOV.UK One Login, register your business as a Supplier, fill in the Supplier Information sections, and then generate a share code that you give to buyers when you bid (GOV.UK three-step guide). Your "registration number" is the Public Procurement Organisation Number (PPON). The platform issues it when you register your organisation. It is a different thing from your Companies House number, though the Companies House number is often what you use to set up the account. You don't need an account to browse notices. You only need one when you are ready to bid (Central Digital Platform factsheet).

Which option is right for you?

The right first step depends on how close you are to bidding. If you are only exploring, start by searching. If a deadline is coming up, do the full registration now.

Why each pick makes sense:

• Beginner: the factsheet says suppliers "only need to register at the point that they want to bid for a contract", so you lose nothing by searching first.
• Ready to bid: buyers ask for your share code or supplier information file, and you can't get either until registration is finished.
• Daily use: once you have an account, FTS lets you "save search criteria" and "sign up for notifications via email" (Find a Tender).
• No Companies House number: the official guide accepts Charity Commission and Scottish Charity Regulator numbers. If you have neither, the platform "will assign you one".
• Budget: "Find a Tender is free to use for everyone. There are no charges and you should not pay to view opportunities" (factsheet).

What Is Find a Tender (And Who Must Use It)?

Find a Tender Service (FTS) is the UK government's official platform for public procurement notices, run by the Cabinet Office. Since 24 February 2025 it has also been the Central Digital Platform where suppliers register under the Procurement Act 2023 (CDP factsheet).

Find a Tender started out after Brexit as the UK's replacement for publishing high-value notices in the EU's Official Journal. The Procurement Act 2023 widened its role. GOV.UK calls the enhanced service "a fully integrated digital platform where noticing, sign-in and registration, supplier information all work together" (factsheet). On the Find a Tender homepage you can open Notice Search, Opportunities ("Upcoming pipelines and active tenders"), Contracts, Commercial tools (frameworks, dynamic markets and dynamic purchasing systems) and a Payments transparency register.

Who must use it:

• Buyers (contracting authorities) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their Procurement Act notices here. Procurements started from 24 February 2025 publish both above- and below-threshold notices on Find a Tender. Below-threshold notices in Scotland are the exception (Find a Tender).
• Suppliers who want to bid for contracts covered by the Act need to be registered and hold a PPON. In practice, buyers ask for your share code or supplier information during the tender.

The thresholds that decide which rules apply

The threshold amounts below apply to procurements that start on or after 1 January 2026. They were set by the Procurement Act 2023 (Threshold Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and confirmed in PPN 023. The GOV.UK thresholds guidance confirms the figures include VAT.

A common mistake is assuming that Find a Tender only lists very large contracts. Under the Act, below-threshold notices for new procurements go to Find a Tender as well. That means small contracts you could realistically win can turn up there too. Use the Suitability filter for SMEs or VCSEs, covered further down.

How to Sign Up for Find a Tender (Supplier Registration)

You sign up on the Find a Tender website itself. The person setting up the account uses a GOV.UK One Login with a work email address. It costs nothing, and the process is the same for limited companies, sole traders and charities (GOV.UK guide).

Have these ready before you start. They come from the official Supplier Registration short guide and the GOV.UK guidance:

• A work email address for the person who will be the Administrator
• A mobile phone or an authenticator app for security codes
• Your Companies House number, Charity Commission number or Scottish Charity Regulator number, if you have one
• Your organisation's registered name and registered address
• A shared organisation email address, for example tenders@yourbusiness.co.uk (this is an example)
• Your VAT number if you have one, and whether you are an SME, VCSE or public mutual

Decide who the Administrator will be first. The official guide says "Every supplier should assign a single person to initially set up and register their organisation. This person will be the Administrator and will be able to add and approve other users." For a sole trader, that's you. For a charity, choose someone who will still be around when the next tender comes in, not a volunteer on a short placement.

Common sign-up mistakes and fixes

• Using the wrong website. The Cabinet Office's Supplier Registration Service is "not the same website" as the Central Digital Platform (Supplier Registration Service FAQ). Fix: begin at find-tender.service.gov.uk and select Sign in.
• Re-registering with a new email address. If you had an older FTS account and come back with a different email, "your old information will not be pulled through" (GOV.UK guide). Fix: use the same email so you keep your saved searches and notices.
• Paying a third party to "register" you. Registration and viewing opportunities are free (factsheet).

Find a Tender Service Supplier Registration: Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Supplier registration takes five steps. You create a One Login, finish the platform registration, register your organisation, complete Supplier Information, and then share it to get a share code. The labels below are taken from the GOV.UK walkthrough.

Step 1: Create your GOV.UK One Login

1. Go to Find a Tender and select Sign in.
2. Select Create your GOV.UK One Login.
3. Enter your individual work email address, then agree to the terms of use and privacy policy.
4. Enter the 6-digit security code sent to your email.
5. Choose a password.
6. Choose how you want to receive security codes (text message or authenticator app), then enter the code.

Step 2: Complete Central Digital Platform registration

1. Read and agree to the Central Digital Platform service privacy policy.
2. Enter your first and last name.
3. Select Continue.

Step 3: Register your organisation

1. On your account page, select Register an organisation.
2. Choose Supplier, not Buyer.
3. Answer "Do you have a Companies House number?"
4. Yes: enter the number.
5. No: you'll see other options, such as a Charity Commission number. If none of them apply, the platform generates a unique identifier for you.
6. Check or enter your organisation's registered name.
7. Enter your shared organisation email address.
8. Check or enter your registered address. Non-UK addresses are accepted.
9. Review your answers and select Save.

After you save, your organisation has its unique identifier, the PPON (short guide).

Step 4: Complete Supplier Information

Select Complete Supplier Information and work through the six sections listed in the GOV.UK guide:

• Basic Information
• Connected Persons
• Qualifications
• Trade Assurances
• Exclusions
• Financial Information

Most of the effort goes into Connected Persons and Exclusions, because you need accurate details about the people who control the organisation and honest answers to the exclusion questions. You enter this once and reuse it. The factsheet says you can "review it and re-use it every time for each tender".

Step 5: Share your information and get a share code

1. Select Share my information.
2. Read the declaration and confirm you agree.
3. Enter your name, job title, work email address and postal address.
4. Select Confirm and get share code.

The platform displays a share code, and you can also download a supplier information file. As the factsheet explains, you then enter the share code in the buyer's e-tendering system or send it to the buyer, depending on what the tender documents ask for.

Example (illustration only): a two-person cleaning company in Leeds with a Companies House number registers in Step 3 and gets its PPON. It completes Step 4 over an evening using its latest accounts. When a council tender asks for "your CDP share code", it does Step 5 and pastes the code into the council's portal.

How to Find Your Tender ID Number

Every Find a Tender notice has a notice identifier shown on the notice and in search results, in the format NNNNNN-YYYY. A procurement can include several notices, so each procurement also has a procurement identifier (OCID), which starts with ocds-.

These are the two IDs you'll come across:

The same TfL procurement page lists a UK2 preliminary market engagement notice and a UK4 tender notice under one OCID. If you're asking a buyer about "the tender", quote the OCID together with the notice identifier of the notice you're responding to.

To find an ID:

1. Open Find a Tender search.
2. Type a keyword, or paste an ID you already have into Keywords. That field searches "titles, descriptions, identifiers, and organization names".
3. Open the notice and copy the identifier from the notice or from the browser address bar.

A common mistake is quoting your PPON when a buyer asks for the tender reference, or quoting the tender reference when they ask for your PPON. The notice ID identifies their opportunity. The PPON identifies your organisation.

Find a Tender Registration Number: What It Is and Where to See It

Your Find a Tender registration number is your PPON (Public Procurement Organisation Number). It's a 12-character code in groups separated by hyphens, such as EFGH-1234-IJKL. It identifies your organisation to public buyers. It is not a tracker for your bids (Tender Solutions guide).

The platform issues it once you save your organisation in Step 3. The official short guide describes it as a unique organisation identifier to share with contracting authorities before contract award (short guide). Bids aren't submitted or tracked inside Find a Tender. You submit them through each buyer's own tendering system.

To see your PPON (Tender Solutions):

1. Sign in to Find a Tender.
2. Go to My Account, then Your organisation.
3. Select Registered organisation details.
4. Look under Organisation identification.

Your PPON stays the same from one tender to the next. Your share code is generated each time you complete Share my information. If a buyer's form asks for both, put the PPON in the organisation ID field and the share code where it asks for CDP information.

Pitfall: some councils now ask existing suppliers for their PPON to update vendor records. Warwickshire County Council is one example. If you haven't registered yet, this request is a sign to do Steps 1 to 3 now, even if you have no tender in view.

Find a Tender Registration Number vs Companies House Number: What's the Difference?

A PPON identifies your organisation in public procurement. A Companies House number identifies a company on the official register at Find and update company information. One can't stand in for the other.

Pitfalls:

• Treating them as interchangeable. Your Companies House number is used to set up your FTS organisation in Step 3, but buyers asking for a "PPON" want the code from FTS.
• Assuming you can't register without a Companies House number. The question "Do you have a Companies House number?" includes a No option. Sole traders and unincorporated charities can still register. Charities can use a Charity Commission or Scottish Charity Regulator number. If you have no registry number at all, the platform assigns an identifier (short guide).
• Mismatched names. Enter the registered name exactly as it appears on your official record. Buyers' due diligence checks can flag differences.

How to Use Find a Tender to Search and Bid on Contracts

You use Find a Tender to find and read notices, and then submit your bid through whichever portal the buyer names in the notice. The search filters let you narrow results by stage, notice type, CPV code, location, value, suitability and dates (FTS search).

Steps

1. Open Find a Tender search.
2. Under Procurement Stage, choose Open opportunities. This hides awards and contract notices you can't bid for.
3. Under Notice Type, tick UK4: Tender notice for live tenders. Add UK2: Preliminary market engagement notice if you want early warning of contracts before they open. Notices under the Act are numbered UK1 to UK17. Older ones use F and T codes.
4. Add an Industry CPV Code for your trade, and a Contract Location.
5. Set Value minimum and maximum. You can choose whether the figures include or exclude VAT.
6. Under Suitability, tick SMEs or VCSEs.
7. Use Date Range to set a closing date at least two to three weeks away so you have time to write the bid.
8. Once you're signed in, save the search and switch on email notifications (Find a Tender).
9. Open the notice and look for the submission instructions. The documents and the bid itself are often handled in the buyer's own system. On the TfL procurement mentioned earlier, documents are released through TfL's Ariba sourcing event once you've been added as a bidder (TfL notice).
10. Register on that buyer portal, then add your CDP share code where it's requested.

Pitfalls

• Expecting an "Apply" button on Find a Tender. FTS doesn't take bids. Read the notice to find out where submissions go.
• Leaving portal registration until the last day. Some buyer portals need manual approval before they let you in, as the TfL example shows. Register as soon as you decide to bid.
• Skipping market engagement notices. UK2 notices are your chance to influence a specification before the tender opens.

If a notice points to a framework or a dynamic purchasing system, read Framework Agreement How to Get On or Dynamic Purchasing System: 6 SME Steps before you apply. Most tender notices lead to a Procurement Act selection stage, and Selection Questionnaire Procurement Act 2023: 7 SME Steps covers how to fill it in.

Find a Tender Buyer Registration: How It Differs From Supplier Sign-Up

Buyer registration is for contracting authorities that publish notices. It begins with the same GOV.UK One Login, but you choose Buyer and then wait for the application to be verified before you can publish anything. Suppliers can carry on immediately.

An organisation can be both. The homepage says an account can "register a buyer or supplier organisation" (Find a Tender). For example, a housing association or a university might buy services and also sell them to other public bodies. If yours does both, register a separate Supplier organisation. Don't try to bid from a Buyer record.

Typical mistake: a supplier picks Buyer in Step 3 because they're "looking to buy into" a contract, and then waits on a pending approval that never applies to them. The fix is to register again and choose Supplier.

Tender Registration Meaning: Key Terms Explained

In procurement, "tender registration" means setting up an account and organisation profile so buyers can identify you and you can take part in bids. It isn't a licence to trade, and it isn't a quality accreditation.

Terms you'll come across:

• Supplier registration (CDP/FTS): your organisation record on Find a Tender. It's free and done once.
• PPON: your organisation's unique procurement identifier, in a format such as EFGH-1234-IJKL.
• Supplier Information: the six sections (Basic Information to Financial Information) that buyers rely on instead of asking the same questions on every tender.
• Share code: what you hand to a buyer so they can see your Supplier Information.
• Buyer portal registration: a separate account on the buyer's own e-tendering system, where you actually submit the bid.
• Notice identifier / OCID: the IDs for the opportunity, not for you.

Pitfalls:

• "Registered" doesn't mean "approved". Buyers still assess you against their own conditions and the exclusion grounds in each procurement.
• Registration doesn't win work. It gets you in the door. Price, quality and social value answers decide the outcome. See Social Value in Tenders: PPN 002.
• Out-of-date Supplier Information. If your directors, address or accounts change, update the record before your next share code, because the code shares whatever is saved at that point.

Next steps

You can have your PPON today and a share code ready before your next bid.

What to do yourself today:

1. Choose your Administrator and a shared tenders email address. Then do Steps 1 to 3 on Find a Tender and write your PPON down where your team can find it.
2. Collect what Step 4 needs: your latest accounts, the details of the people who control the organisation, and any qualifications or trade assurances. Complete Complete Supplier Information in one go.
3. Set up a saved search: Open opportunities, UK4 and UK2 notices, your CPV code and region, and the SME or VCSE suitability filter. Then switch on email notifications.

If you'd rather not do it yourself: the official route costs £0. Find a Tender doesn't offer a paid plan (as of October 2026; check the CDP factsheet). For free official help, the Cabinet Office has published walkthrough videos, including "A guide for suppliers: How to register an organisation and the first administrator in 3 easy steps", and the Contact us page on Find a Tender handles account problems. Independent bid consultants will also complete the registration and Supplier Information for you. They set their own fees, so ask for a fixed written quote before agreeing. Paying someone makes sense if you have a lot of connected persons or a complicated group structure. It doesn't make sense if all you need is the Step 1 to 3 setup, which is free and takes one sitting. Whoever does the work, the declaration in Step 5 is yours, so check every answer before you confirm it.

Related guides on this site:

• Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender: 2026 Table and Steps
• How to Win Government Contracts UK: 7 Steps for SMEs (2026)
• Selection Questionnaire Procurement Act 2023: 7 SME Steps

FAQ

Is Find a Tender registration free?

Yes. GOV.UK says "Find a Tender is free to use for everyone. There are no charges and you should not pay to view opportunities" (factsheet). Creating your One Login, registering, getting a PPON and generating share codes are all free.

Do I need a Companies House number to register on Find a Tender?

No. If you answer No to "Do you have a Companies House number?", the platform offers alternatives such as a Charity Commission or Scottish Charity Regulator number. If none of those apply, it assigns you an identifier (short guide).

Can sole traders and charities register on Find a Tender?

Yes. Both register as a Supplier in the same way as a limited company. A charity uses its regulator number where it has one, and a sole trader usually gets a platform-assigned identifier. When you complete your details you can say whether you are an SME or a VCSE.

What happens after I register as a supplier on Find a Tender?

You get a PPON straight away and can complete the six Supplier Information sections. After that you select Share my information to get a share code for each bid (GOV.UK guide). Bids still go through each buyer's own portal.

Is Find a Tender the same as Contracts Finder?

No. New procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, from 24 February 2025, publish their notices on Find a Tender. Contracts Finder still holds procurements that started under the older rules (Contracts Finder transparency guidance). Our Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender guide has a side-by-side table.

Sources

• Find a Tender – homepage
• Find a Tender – search results and filters
• Find a Tender – search page
• Find a Tender – TfL procurement page (OCID example)
• GOV.UK – Suppliers: How to register your organisation and first administrator on Find a Tender in three easy steps
• GOV.UK – Central Digital Platform factsheet
• GOV.UK – Supplier Registration short guide (PDF)
• GOV.UK – PPN 023: 2026 Threshold Amounts
• GOV.UK – Guidance: Thresholds
• legislation.gov.uk – Procurement Act 2023 (Threshold Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
• GOV.UK – Guidance on transparency requirements for publishing on Contracts Finder (PDF)
• Cabinet Office Supplier Registration Service – CDP FAQ
• Companies House – Find and update company information
• Tender Solutions – How to find your PPON
• Warwickshire County Council – Provision of PPON
• CPC – Register as a buyer on Find a Tender service
• Cabinet Office video – A guide for suppliers: register in 3 easy steps

Spotted something out of date or wrong? Tell us at shigoto.ai.note@gmail.com. Guides are re-checked against official sources on a rolling schedule.