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Not all tenders are worth your time. The trick is knowing which ones are.
You've seen the contracts. £30k, £50k, £100k. Government departments, NHS trusts, universities, councils. Real budgets, real clients, repeat work.
But then you read the spec. You research the buyer. You spend two weeks pulling together a bid. And you lose to an agency who's had the relationship for years.
The tender was never a real competition. It was a box-ticking exercise. And you had no way of knowing.
Meanwhile, the genuine opportunities – the ones you could actually win – get buried in the noise. Or you miss them entirely because you're too busy chasing the wrong ones.
How it works
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We find them
We monitor tenders daily across public sector, education, and charity. When something matches your profile, you hear about it the same day it's published.
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We assess them
Every tender comes with a full intelligence report: incumbent status, competition level, win probability, red flags, and a clear verdict on whether it's worth your time.
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You decide
You get everything you need to make a quick, confident go/no-go decision – before you waste a single hour on a bid you were never going to win.
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No more guessing. No more wasted bids. Just clarity on which opportunities are real.
What lands in your inbox
Every tender is hand-matched to your services, experience, and budget criteria – then assessed by a real person, not an algorithm.
Each report includes:
Incumbent analysis Win probability Competition estimate
Red flags & risks Fit assessment Key dates
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Tender documents Buyer contact details
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Simple pricing. Serious value.
£199 per month
Unlimited tenders. Unlimited reports. Cancel anytime.
Every relevant tender, matched to your agency
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Full intelligence report on each one – same day
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Decision maker contacts included, even if you don't bid
No contracts. No setup fees. Cancel with one email.
One avoided wasted bid pays for a year.
Who's behind this
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Duncan Smith
Founder
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I'm Duncan, and I've spent over 15 years on both sides of the tender process – writing them, winning them, and losing them.
I cut my teeth responding to public sector tenders at LeasePlan UK and later at P&MM (now part of Sodexo), working on bids for vehicle leasing, employee recognition programmes, and prepaid Mastercard incentive schemes. I've sat in the room writing proposals until midnight. I've felt the gut-punch of losing to an incumbent who was never going to be displaced. I know exactly how demoralising it is to pour weeks of work into a bid, only to discover it was a box-ticking exercise from the start.
For the last decade, I've been on the other side – helping agencies find, assess, and win public sector work. Clients I've worked with have won contracts including a £250k video project for Kew Gardens, a £120k SEO contract for Investors in People, a £64k podcast production tender for Ofgem, a £27k animation project for The Science Museum, and a £17k TV advert for Tamworth Castle. And plenty more besides.
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I find the opportunities that actually fit your agency – and give you the honest intel to decide whether they're worth your time. I built TenderSource because I was tired of watching good agencies waste effort on tenders that were never real. The problem isn't finding them – it's knowing which ones are genuine opportunities and which ones are box-ticking exercises. That's what I help you figure out.
When you subscribe, you're not signing up to an algorithm. You're working with me directly. I learn your agency, your strengths, and your ideal clients. Then I find the opportunities that fit – and tell you the truth about your chances.
Duncan Smith, Founder
Based in Milton Keynes. Unreasonably obsessed with tenders since 2009.
Questions you probably have
How do you calculate the win probability?
It's an informed estimate based on four key factors:
- Incumbent status – Is there an existing supplier? How long have they held the contract? Are there signs of a strong relationship, or cracks appearing?
- Spec bias – Does the tender specification read like it was written around a specific supplier's capabilities? Are there requirements that would be hard for anyone else to meet?
- Competition level – How many suppliers are likely to bid? Is this a niche requirement or a crowded field?
- Contract history – Has this tender been renewed with the same supplier repeatedly, or is there a pattern of switching?
It's not a crystal ball – it's a realistic gut check based on the evidence we can find. In practice, it flags the no-hopers early so you don't waste 80 hours on a 6% chance.
Where does the intelligence actually come from?
All human-led research. No lazy AI scraping.
For every tender, we manually check:
- Contract award histories – Using Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, and buyer-specific portals to see who's won similar work before
- FOI requests - Gaining an understanding of why a supplier was awarded a previous contract, as well as better understanding if the buyer has geographical bias (I.e. Do they tend to award contracts locally?)
- Spend data - Many organisations are legally bound to publish spend data. We can use these insights to ascertain who the buyer has invoiced, for how much, and for what reason
- LinkedIn research – Looking at the decision-maker's profile, their career history, their connections, and any public engagement with potential suppliers
- Spec analysis – Reading the tender documents carefully to spot language that mirrors a specific supplier's offering, unusually narrow requirements, or other signs of bias
- Public records – News articles, press releases, annual reports, anything that sheds light on the buyer's situation or relationships
- Portal activity – Where available, checking how many suppliers have expressed interest or downloaded documents.
It's proper legwork. The kind of research you'd do yourself if you had the time – except we do it for every tender, every day.
How many reports will I get per month?
Typically 4-10 for a digital or creative agency, depending on the market.
Tender flow is lumpy. Some months – especially after budget announcements or at the start of financial years – you'll see more. Other months, it's quieter. We only send tenders that genuinely match your criteria. No padding the numbers with irrelevant stuff to make it look like you're getting value. Quality over quantity, always.
If you're in a niche sector, there may be fewer opportunities – but they'll be better matched. If you want to broaden your criteria to see more, we can adjust.
Do you offer a trial period?
Yes. One month at the full £199, cancel anytime.
No long contracts, no setup fees, no hoops to jump through. You'll get real reports on live tenders – not demo fluff – so you can see exactly what you'd be paying for.
If it doesn't deliver, cancel with one email. No hard feelings.
If you'd like to see a couple of example reports before committing, just ask. We can send you live assessments on current tenders in your sector so you know what to expect.
Is this just another generic tender alert service?
No. Basic alert services are ten a penny – and mostly useless.
They send you a link and leave you to figure out the rest. You still have to research the buyer, hunt for incumbent info, assess whether it's worth your time, and find out who to contact afterwards. We do all of that for you.
Every report includes: - Incumbent analysis – who's got the contract now, how strong is the relationship - Win probability – a realistic estimate with reasoning - Competition level – how many bidders to expect - Red flags – payment risks, timeline issues, spec bias - Tender complexity – what's involved and how long it'll take - Decision-maker contact – name, role, LinkedIn profile Even if you decide not to bid, you walk away with a verified contact for future business development. That alone is worth something.
How tailored are the reports to my agency?
Very. We don't blast out everything vaguely related to "marketing" and hope something sticks.
When you sign up, we get to know your agency:
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- Your core services – SEO, content, video, PR, web development, whatever you do
- Your experience – sectors you've worked in, clients you've won, case studies you can reference
- Your sweet spot – ideal contract size, project length, client type
- Your no-go zones – sectors you're not interested in, regions that don't work, budgets that are too small
Then we filter every tender against that profile. If something matches, we research it fully and send you the report. If it doesn't, you never see it. Want to adjust your criteria? Just tell us. We can tighten or broaden the filter anytime.
How quickly do I get reports after a tender is published?
Same day, usually within hours.
We monitor tender portals 7 days a week. When something matches your profile, we research it immediately and send the report while it's still fresh.
Most public sector tenders have 2-4 week deadlines, so speed matters.
You'll have the intel early enough to make a considered decision – not a last-minute scramble.
Ready to stop wasting time on the wrong tenders?
Book a quick call and I'll show you how it works.
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No pitch, no pressure – just a conversation to see if it's a good fit.
Or email me directly: duncan@tendersource.co.uk
Luminous House, 300 South Row, Milton Keynes, MK9 2FR
Luminous House, 300 South Row, Milton Keynes, MK9 2FR