The problem
Many social enterprises earn from public contracts, but checking council and NHS sites by hand is a weekly chore that gets dropped when things are busy. At 1.5 hours a week that is about 6.5 hours a month (1.5 x 4.3), and a missed $26,600£20,000€23,800A$38,400C$37,600 contract can be most of a year's surplus.
What the AI does
Contracts Finder is the government's search service for public sector contracts over $15,960£12,000€14,280A$23,040C$22,560 including VAT. Its GOV.UK page says that with an account you can save your searches and get email updates. Set up saved searches for your services, area and keywords, so new opportunities arrive by email and a member of staff spends 20 minutes a week deciding which to look at. High value contracts, usually above $185,785£139,688€166,229A$268,201C$262,613 including VAT, are on the separate Find a Tender service, so search there too if you bid for larger work.
A worked example
A cleaning and grounds maintenance social enterprise in Middlesbrough employs 20 people with convictions and bids for council, housing and school contracts worth $15,960£12,000€14,280A$23,040C$22,560 to $106,400£80,000€95,200A$153,600C$150,400.
Before
About 1.5 hours a week checking council and NHS sites: 6.5 hours a month
After
About 20 minutes a week reviewing alert emails: 1.4 hours a month
What it's worth
About $122£92€109A$177C$173 a month in staff time saved, at no cost. 5.1 hours a month saved (6.5 minus 1.4), valued at an assumed $24£18€21A$35C$34 an hour. Contracts Finder's GOV.UK page shows no charge. Contracts won are extra and aren't counted here.
How to set it up
- Create a Contracts Finder account in the business's name with a shared email address.
- Set up saved searches by service, keyword and region, such as 'grounds maintenance' in the North East.
- Turn on email updates and decide who reads them each week.
- Check Find a Tender for larger contracts, and register on your local council's own portal too.
- Keep a simple list of opportunities seen, bid and won, and review your searches each quarter.
What goes wrong
- Keywords that are too narrow miss things; too broad and the alerts become noise. Adjust after a month.
- Some councils also advertise on their own e-tendering portals, which alerts from Contracts Finder may not cover.
- An alert is only a start: deadlines for questions and bids are strict, so put each one in the business's main diary straight away.
- Shared inboxes get ignored. Name the person who reads alerts each week.