Procurement, Commissioning and Tenders

A cooperative approach

We are working collaboratively across sectors to develop a city and region-wide movement of change.

Our Preston and Lancashire local group of practitioners includes representatives from different sectors: local government, education, housing, police as well as business support organisations.

We share a collective vision to deliver more for our place and our communities!

We believe institutions need to use public procurement as a tool to deliver wider economic, social and environmental benefits.

Our work has been recognised for its collaborative approach around spend analysis and public procurement.

Since 2013, more than six of our Preston and Lancashire based institutions have been collectively analysing procurement spend to better harness its impact and further progress our practice.

Going forward, we want to increase communication and awareness between buyers and suppliers, to improve suppliers' capacity to bid for tenders, to understand better how we can integrate social value in tenders and how we can monitor the impact of public procurement and the delivery of contracts.

How to do business with Preston City Council?

Are you interested in doing business with us? We want to know about you!

To make sure we can get in touch with you, register now as a supplier on The Chest so you can:

• View opportunities for both Preston City Council and other North West authorities
• Access and participate in tendering and quotation exercises free of charge 
• Receive email updates on opportunities that match your profile.

We have put together a short guide on How to do business with the Council (PDF, 339 KB) to explain how we buy works, goods and services and how your business can be involved.

Our objective to deliver fairness for our place and communities defines how we spend money.

Our Preston's Procurement Strategy (PDF, 303 KB) identifies how your business can make a difference in its offer and contribute to our objective. It highlights the vision, values and actions at the heart of our procurement processes.

Additional information

• Equality and Fairness in Procurement
• Fair Employment clause (PDF, 23 KB)
• Small business friendly Concordat (PDF, 98 KB)
• Voluntary and Community sector compact (PDF, 65 KB)
• Purchase order terms and conditions (PDF, 49 KB).

What are we buying?

We buy different types of works, good and services, varying in type and cost.

If you are interested in doing business with us, the list below highlights some of the main sectors we are currently buying from:

• Works and construction
• Information
• Financial services
• Vehicle management
• Arts and Leisure services
• Human resources
• Environmental services
• Consultancy

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list - for more details about what we are buying, please refer to our contract register.

View our Contact Register

Current opportunities

You can check all our current contract opportunities through The Chest.

Tips to view what we are currently buying:

• In the portals drop down list: select 'The Chest'
• In the organisations drop down list: select 'Preston City Council' and update your search.

In addition to this, our contracts register lists all current contracts as specified by the current Governments - Transparency Agenda directives, which focuses on making local councils more transparent.

Preston's Activation of Active Travel project

We are seeking proposals from potential partners to deliver high-quality active travel programmes in Preston.

Preston City Council has £30,000 of funding to invest in active travel from Lancashire County Council's Activation of Active Travel Fund. This fund aims to put in place soft measures to support and encourage residents to change their behaviour and use existing active travel infrastructure.  

The funding has been divided into three projects, tailored to the needs of Preston.

Please view the Preston's Activation of Active Travel project page to view the programmes, the criteria and how to apply.

View Preston's Activation of Active Travel project

Reopening High Street Fund

With the support of the Re-opening High Streets Safely Fund, Preston City Council is committed to working with key partners, including the Business Improvement District and Lancashire County Council, as well as engaging with local businesses wherever possible, to support a successful, phased, recovery of the High Street.

Please view the Re-opening the High Street Fund page to view supplier opportunities related to this funding.

View suppliers opportunities for Re-opening the High Street Fund

Got a question?

If you require help with something in this section, please contact us by emailing procurement@preston.gov.uk or telephone 01772 906720. You can also write to us at the address below. 

Procurement Department
Preston City Council
Town Hall
Lancaster Road
Preston
PR1 2RL