How procurement works
Thresholds, procedures and timelines explained from first principles — open, restricted, competitive dialogue and more.
Read the chapter →The public-procurement field guide
Learn how to win public tenders — the structured way.
Tenderplaybook is the open, vendor-neutral reference for selling to the public sector: how procurement actually works, country-by-country rules, plain-English glossaries and ready-to-use templates.
Used by bid teams, founders and consultants across the EU and UK
Independent & vendor-neutral
Plain-English explanations
EU, UK & Nordic coverage
Updated against current rules
The four chapters of the playbook
Everything we publish slots into one of these. Start anywhere — each chapter stands on its own.
Country guides
Where to find notices and how the rules differ across Sweden, the UK, Germany and the wider EU single market.
Pick a country →Glossary
From CPV codes to MEAT scoring — the procurement vocabulary, defined in plain language with worked examples.
Templates & checklists
Bid/no-bid scorecards, response outlines and compliance checklists you can copy and adapt today.
A tender, end to end
The same five stages run beneath almost every public contract. Learn them once, apply them everywhere.
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Find & qualify
Spot the right notices early and decide bid or no-bid before you sink hours into a response.
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Read the rules
Decode the specification, award criteria and weightings so nothing in the ITT surprises you.
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Write the bid
Answer the question that was asked, evidence every claim, and score against the published criteria.
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Win & deliver
Understand standstill, feedback and what to do whether the award goes your way or not.
Latest guides
All guides →What is the Aanbestedingswet (the Dutch Procurement Act)?
Dutch public procurement runs on one main law, and it is unusually supplier friendly in one respect: it actively tries to stop…
What is the BVergG (Bundesvergabegesetz)?
Austria runs its public procurement on its own federal act, and it has one feature that can save bidders a lot of…
What is a licitation? Danish public tenders explained
In Denmark you will see the word licitation more often than tender, especially around building work. It is a Danish term with…
Written for everyone on the bid
Reference-grade, jargon-free and as useful on your first tender as your fiftieth.
- Bid & proposal managers
- Founders selling to government
- SME owners
- Procurement consultants
The monthly procurement field notes
One calm email a month: new guides, rule changes worth knowing, and a template you can use straight away. No selling.
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