Small-firm tender report · Q3 2026
SMEs won 60% of competed public contracts this quarter, but only 42% of the biggest
Find a Tender carries the winners of 2,761 competed tenders awarded between July and September 2026. Counting each firm once per tender, that's 3,429 wins, and small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) took 2,055 of them, or 60%. A year earlier it was 58%.
Published 3 Nov 2026 by Winnable, from the award notices themselves, counted on 28 Oct 2026. How we counted is at the bottom.
What stands out
- The smaller the contract, the better small firms do. SMEs won 69% of competed contracts worth £100k to £500k, and 42% of those worth £2m or more. Contracts under £500k have gone to SMEs more often than £2m-plus ones in each of the last five quarters.
- Construction keeps rising. SMEs won 77% of competed construction and civil works, up from 69% a year earlier and higher in every quarter in between.
- Local buyers favour small firms more than central government. Councils, NHS bodies, schools, housing associations and other buyers outside central government gave SMEs 62% of their wins; government departments and agencies gave them 49%. Local buyers have been ahead in each of the last five quarters.
- London and Northern Ireland are the hardest regions. SMEs won 49% of London's local contracts and 43% of Northern Ireland's, against 76% in the East Midlands. London's local buyers have been below the rest of the UK's in each of the last five quarters, if only just in early 2026.
- Legal, finance and audit work goes to big firms. SMEs won 15% of it (most of it insurance and audit), the lowest of any trade, as it has been in four of the last five quarters.
By contract size
Most competed contracts are a size a small firm can take on: 1,984 of the 3,351 wins with a stated value were under £500k. The typical (median) contract an SME won was worth about £240,000, against about £515,000 for larger firms.
| Contract value | Wins | Won by SMEs |
|---|---|---|
| Under £100k | 900 | |
| £100k to £500k | 1,084 | |
| £500k to £2m | 687 | |
| £2m and over | 680 |
By trade
Trades with at least 40 wins this quarter. A contract can count in more than one trade.
| Trade | Wins | Won by SMEs |
|---|---|---|
| Construction & civil works | 462 | |
| Building maintenance & repairs | 333 | |
| Marketing, design & comms | 69 | |
| Cleaning | 81 | |
| Recruitment & staffing | 54 | |
| Telecoms | 55 | |
| Architecture, engineering & surveying | 248 | |
| Transport & taxis | 347 | |
| Events, arts & leisure | 62 | |
| Vehicles & fleet | 101 | |
| IT & software | 231 | |
| Consultancy & research | 253 | |
| Security | 57 | |
| Training & education | 222 | |
| Energy & utilities | 93 | |
| Waste & recycling | 54 | |
| Health & social care | 458 | |
| Catering & food | 58 | |
| Medical supplies & equipment | 99 | |
| Legal, finance & audit | 111 |
By region
Buyers outside central government only, by where the buyer is. Government departments and agencies are left out here because they're filed wherever their head office is, which would make London look busier than it is.
| Region | Wins | Won by SMEs |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 240 | |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 287 | |
| Wales | 193 | |
| West Midlands | 192 | |
| South East | 256 | |
| Scotland | 206 | |
| East of England | 206 | |
| North East | 165 | |
| North West | 231 | |
| South West | 162 | |
| London | 496 | |
| Northern Ireland | 138 |
Five quarters
| Quarter | Wins | All | Under £500k | £2m and over | Construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | 4,238 | 58% | 62% | 43% | 69% |
| Q4 2025 | 3,429 | 60% | 68% | 40% | 71% |
| Q1 2026 | 4,042 | 61% | 67% | 52% | 72% |
| Q2 2026 | 3,333 | 62% | 69% | 45% | 75% |
| Q3 2026 | 3,429 | 60% | 67% | 42% | 77% |
Share of competed wins that went to SMEs in each quarter.
Buyers that gave the most to small firms
Among buyers outside central government with at least 15 competed wins this quarter. A tender split into lots (school transport routes, say) can bring several wins.
| Buyer | Wins | Won by SMEs |
|---|---|---|
| North Lincolnshire Council Yorkshire and the Humber · mostly construction & civil works | 38 | 92% |
| Lincolnshire County Council East Midlands · mostly transport & taxis · 8 tenders | 53 | 89% |
| East Riding of Yorkshire Council Yorkshire and the Humber · mostly transport & taxis · 11 tenders | 42 | 88% |
| Herefordshire Council West Midlands · 14 tenders | 15 | 87% |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council West Midlands · mostly transport & taxis · 6 tenders | 21 | 86% |
| Hull City Council Yorkshire and the Humber · 25 tenders | 26 | 85% |
| City & County of Swansea Wales · mostly building maintenance & repairs | 21 | 76% |
| Durham County Council North East · 13 tenders | 54 | 74% |
| NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust) Wales · mostly medical supplies & equipment · 13 tenders | 24 | 67% |
| London Borough of Merton London · mostly transport & taxis · 1 tender | 27 | 59% |
What it means if you run a small firm
Small firms win most of the competed work they can realistically take on. The odds are best on contracts under £500k and with local buyers, and that's where most of the contracts are. Right now there are 666 open tenders under £500k on our list of open tenders, and 1,720 contracts up for renewal in the next 3 to 12 months.
Winnable reads every new notice on Find a Tender each weekday and emails you the few that fit your firm, in plain English, with the catch spelled out. £29 a month, 14-day free trial.
How we counted
- Source: contract award notices published on Find a Tender for contracts awarded between July and September 2026. That isn't every public contract in the UK: smaller ones may appear only on Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland or a buyer's own portal.
- Competed only: open and selective procedures. Direct awards, quotes from invited firms, framework places and awards shared between several firms are left out, as are notices that don't say how the work was procured.
- One win per firm per tender: a firm that won three lots of one tender counts once, so a tender split into hundreds of lots (such as school taxi routes) can't swamp the figures.
- SME: as marked on the award notice. Wins without that mark are left out.
- Region: where the buyer usually is across a year of its notices, so one mislabelled notice can't move it.
- Values are as stated on the award notice. Most notices give the value before VAT, but in a sample of this quarter's award notices about one value in seven was given only including VAT, and we've used it as given. A firm's band uses the largest lot it won.
- Regions and trades need at least 40 wins to be shown. Figures worked out on 28 Oct 2026; a notice published late may not be included.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. You're welcome to quote these figures: please credit "Winnable small-firm tender report, Q3 2026" and link to this page. Questions: hello@getwinnable.co.uk.