Procurement Visibility in the Public Sector

Following up on the Procurement Report published by Tech Uk in September 2025 https://lnkd.in/esQh9Y2M

This is the first in the series of blogs covering major areas of focus from the Tech UK Procurement report published in September 2025. The first critical issue is Procurement Visibility in the Public Sector.

Suppliers across the market have consistently highlighted the problem of opaque procurement opportunities: nearly 77.8% said they missed more than five bids in the past year due to direct awards made without the chance to compete, and over half estimate they’ve missed more than 20 such opportunities. The 77.8% statistic from the report aligns with techUK’s previous findings and echoes similar figures from Crown Commercial Service’s own supplier engagement research.

Direct awards, typically to incumbent suppliers, are main culprit.

This challenge is intensified by a patchwork landscape of procurement portals and numerous bidding systems.

These findings echo wider industry perspectives. Even during the COVID years, where much more direct procurement (PPE scandals anyone?) took place, there has been a desire to bypass procurement altogether.

In some ways, this is understandable – too often procurement teams do not face the business pressures directly and can seem to be a bureaucratic barrier, rather than an essential partner in supplier selection.

But, the costs of such views are very high. Lack of transparency undermines innovation and SMEs’ participation, reinforcing market concentration among big suppliers, making “bad behavior” and treating their customers like cattle.

The Procurement Act 2023 has brought stricter requirements around transparency and seeks to limit direct awards, except in cases like urgent requirements, system compatibility, or limited alternatives.

However, the main issue is not just legality – it’s the lack of transparency and communication when direct awards occur. At Arcus, many customers simply renew their legacy systems, and when they do finally come to market, are frequently amazed how much solutions and technology has moved on.

So what could be different?

Full procurement pipeline publication – before the award! Data tools like Tussell or Oxygen do this, but they cost a lot, and don’t have anywhere near the full picture. Often they pick things up from a Council report when the renewal has already happened.

Procurement frameworks need more frequent reviews to ensure inclusion is merit-based and reflective of current market capabilities, rather than perpetuating incumbency and excluding innovative suppliers. Some frameworks are great (G-Cloud), others are 5 years + an extension (naming no names).

Visibility is the first step to a successful procurement – suppliers need to know that you need something in order to be able to bid for it. It’s that simple.