Middlesbrough Council spends over £120 million a year with external suppliers. This ranges from simple things such as stationery, to complex things like the construction of new buildings. Our mission is to spend as much of that as possible with Middlesbrough and Tees Valley based businesses, and we want to engage with our local markets in order to provide as much opportunity as possible. However there are rules we have to follow, use the links below if you want to find out more about these. Hopefully this page will help direct you to the opportunities and encourage you to apply.
Home Business and licensing Commissioning Buy Boro
Commissioning and procurement
Buy Boro
Buy Boro
Upcoming tenders
Please visit our upcoming tenders page to see what tenders are available.
Spend data
Middlesbrough Council has set itself a target of achieving 40% of its spend with Tees Valley suppliers, which his monitored and reports on a quarterly basis. In this financial year (19/20) the first two quarter results are:
| Quarter | % in Tees Valley | % outside Tees Valley |
| April to June 2019 | 34 | 66 |
| July to September 2019 | 38 | 62 |
The Commissioning and Procurement Team are working to promote local spending where ever possible within the limitations (Standing Order Financial Thresholds) we are working with.
eTendering Portal - NEPO
Middlesbrough Council uses the NEPO (North East Procurement Organisation) Portal for all quotations and tenders.
If you're interested in receiving information on contract opportunities, you can register as a supplier on the NEPO portal. Registration is free of charge.
If you're unable to register or log into the system, or have any technical queries, please contact the NEPO Portal Helpdesk by calling 0330 005 0352 or via email to ProContractSuppliers@proactis.com.
Commissioning and Procurement
One of the ways we buy things is through commissioning. This is the process followed by the council to ensure that the services purchased are high quality, offer value for money, and assist in meeting its objectives. However we are accountable to the taxpayer for all our spending, and legally have to follow formal procurement processes in line with both UK and European laws.
Social Value
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 came into force during 2013 and made it a statutory requirement for public authorities to have regard to local economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public service contracts, and gave direction on how it might act to secure that improvement.
Whilst the Act positively encourages this being taken into account it does need to be done within the context of existing constraints within EU public procurement rules and other legislation. The Act refers to contracts above the EU threshold, however in Middlesbrough the decision has been made that this process will be carried out on all contracts and commissioned services meaning that each commission will have a question around social value.
Voluntary Sector organisations can help to deliver this element of a contract. Go to Middlesbrough Matters if you want to find an organisation who may be able to help deliver on this.
We want to engage with our local markets in order to provide as much opportunity as possible.