The short answer
Find a Tender is for higher value contracts across the whole UK. Contracts Finder is for lower value contracts in England, the kind most small and mid sized firms actually bid on. Construction firms usually need both.
What changed in February 2025
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act 2023 replaced the old rules. Find a Tender became the central platform for public procurement. Since then, new procurements publish both above and below threshold notices on Find a Tender, except below threshold work in Scotland.
Contracts Finder still runs, and it is still where you find below threshold contracts in England, especially for procurements that started before the change. In practice, during this transition, you check both.
You now register once on Find a Tender, store your company details, and reuse them across bids. If you were registered before the change, you have to register again.
Contracts Finder, explained
Contracts Finder is the government site for lower value public contracts in England and other non devolved areas. Central government bodies must publish contracts over £12,000 including VAT. The wider public sector, including councils and the NHS, must publish over £30,000 including VAT.
- Best for: smaller council, NHS and housing work, the bread and butter for most SMEs
- Covers England and non devolved bodies
- Shows opportunities and award notices, so you can see who won past work and for how much
- Free to search, with or without an account
Around two thirds of public sector opportunities are below threshold, so this is where most of the volume is.
Find a Tender, explained
Find a Tender is the government site for higher value contracts across the whole UK. It replaced the EU TED system after Brexit, at the start of 2021, and since February 2025 it is also the central platform under the new rules.
- Best for: larger frameworks and major works contracts
- Covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Above threshold notices now cover the full life of a contract, from early pipeline to award
- Free to use
The thresholds, from 1 January 2026
A contract is above threshold if its estimated value, including VAT, is at or above these figures. They are reviewed every two years and apply to procurements started on or after 1 January 2026.
| Contract type | Threshold (inc VAT) |
|---|---|
| Works (all authorities) | £5,193,000 |
| Goods and services, central government | £135,018 |
| Goods and services, councils, NHS and wider public sector | £207,720 |
| Light touch services (health, social care and some others) | £663,540 |
| Utilities, goods and services | £415,440 |
Which one should you use?
Both, if you bid for public work in England. They overlap, but neither is complete on its own.
- Chasing smaller council, NHS and housing jobs: watch Contracts Finder
- Chasing large frameworks or major works: watch Find a Tender
- Want award notices to size up competitors and buyers: Contracts Finder
- Working in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland: also check Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI
The catch is time. Checking several sites by hand, every day, by keyword and region, is slow. That is the gap Strukta fills: it pulls public tenders from Contracts Finder and Find a Tender into one place, filters them to your trade and patch, and flags the ones closing soon. Pricing is published in full.