Tamworth Borough Council spends in the region of £25m per year on a variety of goods and services.
These vary from small one–off purchases to large formally tendered contracts. Value for money is always a prime consideration for our procurement and we actively encourage suppliers to contribute towards achieving this goal. Whether you are a small or large company, we are keen to hear about the goods and services you can provide.
Our general conditions of contract for provision of goods and services can be viewed here:
In line with our transparency code we publish a contract register where you can view information on live contracts we have in place.
Providing goods and services to Tamworth Borough Council
Tamworth Borough Council, like an increasing number of other local authorities and Universities, are now using e-procurement methods. Tamworth Borough Council uses the e-tendering portal in-tend to advertise our contract requirements with an estimated value in excess of £5K. Described below is the process by which to register your company on our in-tend website together with hopefully a few other useful bits of general information about using in-tend.
In-Tend E-Tendering Portal Supplier User Guide
You will be able to view any of our currently advertised requirements just by visiting our webpage. Our webpage address is:
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/tamworthbc
To access any associated documents your company will need to be registered on Tamworth’s in-tend portal. At the top of the webpage, next to the “Tenders” tab, is another tab titled “Register”. Click on this and you will be taken to the registration page where details about your company may be entered – only those boxes highlighted pale yellow are mandatory. Registration does not cost anything and only takes a few minutes. Once completed it does not have to be repeated for any future tendering with the Council. The registration applies to your company and not the individual so, if other individuals within the company wish to have access to the website and your company account, their details can easily be added without the need to re-register. Within a few minutes of registering, you will receive an e-mail confirmation and password. This must be used when you Login to view any documentation or to submit quotes/tenders. If nothing happens when you Login please check your pop-up blocker as this may prevent access to the system.
How to view tender documentation: At the top of the page is a “Tenders” tab. Click on this with the cursor and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on “Current” and you will be taken to a page that lists all currently available contract opportunities. If, when you have clicked on “Current”, you find an advertised project or opportunity for which you would like view or download the documentation, then first make sure that you have gone through the Login process. Then, under “Current”, select the advertised project of interest to you and click on the “Express Interest” button. You will receive two e-mails almost immediately confirming that you have expressed an interest and informing you that the documents are available for viewing. This does not commit you to anything – it just tells the Council that someone may be interested in tendering.
Having clicked the “Express Interest” button, in-tend will transfer you to a new page for the project. Clicking the cursor on the “ITT” or “Quote Documents” tab will take you to a new page from where you can scroll down and “view” or “download” the ITT or Quotation documents associated with the project.
If at a later date you wish to revisit the project to view the documents or to upload your completed bid, first Login to the system. The project and associated documents you have expressed an interest in will have been transferred from “Current” to “My Tenders” in the drop-down menu under the “Tenders” tab at the top of the page.
Social Value
The 2012 Public Services (Social Value) Act and more recently Procurement Policy Statement (6/20) places an obligation upon all councils to consider how they can secure social, economic and environmental benefits from the procurement of public contracts.
Please read our Social Value Priorities & Pledges and our Social Value Policy.
! IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION FOR SUPPLIERS !
The Procurement Act 2023
The current procurement regulations will be changing, and a new set will replace them on the 24 February 2025. The new Regulations will be known as the Procurement Act 2023. The new Regulations will change how public procurement is carried out with an aim to improve the way goods, services and works are procured for the public sector.
Interested to learn more?
- Cabinet Office have created a number of helpful resources that can be viewed via this link Procurement Act 2023 - Guidance documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to the short guide on Gov.UK.
- You can also watch some short videos/animations here Knowledge Drop for Contracting Authorities Part 1 of 6 (youtube.com) explaining the new Procurement Act and you can view specifically for Suppliers and Suppliers classed as SME’S (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) and VCSE’s (Voluntary and Community Sector Enterprises).
- There are also a series of helpful Knowledge Drops The Official Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) that will provide a high level overview of the changes to the regulations and will cover areas such as the central digital platform (new), early market engagement, prompt supplier payment, changes to procurement procedures and more.
The New Central Digital Platform
Under the new Regulations there will be a new central digital platform that will be used by all public sector bodies to publish details of new procurement opportunities. This is yet to be introduced but will be a single place for suppliers to register and upload key business information typically asked for by us and other public sector bodies with an aim to reducing duplication and resources to tender. You will not be able to bid for new opportunities unless your company is registered on the Central Digital Platform. We will continue to use our E-Tendering provider In-tend to publish our opportunities.
More information
You can find most of the information summarised on the transforming public procurement webpage on GOV.UK, where suppliers can check for regular updates.
Find out more information in our Letter to Suppliers (word document)
For any other information about providing goods or services to the council, please call us on 01827 709371, or email procurement@tamworth.gov.uk.