The Central Digital Platform is the government's name for the enhanced Find a Tender service that went live with the Procurement Act on 24 February 2025. For a supplier it does three jobs: it's where public contract notices are published, it gives your organisation a unique identifier, and it stores your "core supplier information" so you enter it once instead of in every tender. It's free for everyone, and you should never pay to see a public opportunity.
Do you need to register?
Not to look. Anyone can search notices and set up alerts. You only need to register at the point you want to bid. For contracts covered by the full Act (above the thresholds), the buyer must get your confirmation that you have registered, submitted your up-to-date core supplier information and shared it with them through the platform. For smaller below-threshold contracts registration isn't always a requirement, but many buyers ask for your unique identifier, and having it ready saves a scramble before a deadline.
If you were registered on the old Find a Tender, you do need to register again. Use the same email address and your saved searches and notices come across.
Registering, in three steps
- GOV.UK One Login. Create a One Login with your own work email (or sign in if you already have one). You'll confirm a six-digit code sent by email, choose a password, and pick how to receive security codes: a text message or an authenticator app.
- Your user account. Agree to the platform's privacy policy and enter your first and last name.
- Your organisation. Choose "Register an organisation", then "Supplier". Enter your Companies House number if you have one (or an equivalent, such as a Charity Commission number); if you have neither, the platform gives you an identifier. Pick your SME status, check your registered name, give a shared email address your team can reach, and check your registered address. Save, then choose "View" to see your unique identifier.
The person who registers becomes the administrator, who can add and approve other users and manage the organisation's details. A sole trader is simply both.
Core supplier information
The Procurement Regulations 2024 (regulation 6) define four kinds of core supplier information, which is the information most procurements need and which rarely changes between them:
- Basic information: your name, unique identifier, address, VAT number if you have one, legal form, registration date if you're a company, qualifications and trade associations, and whether you're an SME or a public service mutual.
- Economic and financial standing: as set out in your most recent accounts.
- Connected persons: people or organisations with significant influence or control over your business, where there are any.
- Exclusion grounds: information about relevant convictions and events that could be mandatory or discretionary exclusion grounds under the Act.
The government's short guide for suppliers lists what to have to hand: your Companies House number if you have one, postal address, website, email, your last two years of accounts if you have them, details of anyone connected to the business or with significant control over it, and details of any relevant convictions. You can fill it in ahead of time or in response to a particular opportunity, and you can upload supporting documents.
The information is not public. It's only available to the buyers you choose to share it with. Before you share it for a procurement, check it's current: if you change it before the buyer decides who wins, the buyer must get your confirmation that you've updated and shared it again.
Small-firm tips
- Register before you need to. A deadline evening is not the time to wait for security codes.
- Use a shared organisation email such as bids@ or hello@, not a personal one, so the account survives a change of staff.
- Keep your SME status and accounts current. Buyers reserving a competition for small firms rely on it.
- Write down your unique identifier with your other bid details: you'll be asked for it.
- Save searches on Find a Tender if you like, but expect the firehose: about 1,750 new UK notices a month across the official sources (Bidlark's count of Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and Public Contracts Scotland, 17 July to 14 October 2026). Bidlark's job is to send you the few that fit.
What buyers can't ask for separately
If the regulations put a piece of information in core supplier information, a buyer shouldn't ask you for it again in its own forms: it should ask you to provide it through the platform. Buyers can still ask for information the regulations don't cover, such as answers specific to that contract.