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Step-by-step guidance for getting the most from OC Intelligence — from finding contracts to understanding procurement patterns.

Welcome to OC Intelligence
Your complete guide to the platform

OC Intelligence aggregates UK government procurement data from Contracts Finder, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales — alongside Companies House, Charity Commission, political donations and MPs' interests — into a single searchable platform. This guide will help you get maximum value from every feature.

Start with Contracts
Navigate to Contracts in the sidebar. Search awarded contracts across CF (England & Wales), PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales. Switch between Awarded Contracts, Live Tenders and Pipeline & PME tabs.
Explore Buyer & Supplier Intelligence
For deep analysis on a specific organisation, use Buyer Intelligence or Supplier Intelligence. These aggregate all contracts across CF, PCS and Sell2Wales showing spend trends, top counterparts, CPV breakdown and live tenders.
Use Market Analysis for sector intelligence
Generate a structured market report for any CPV category. Select a division (2-digit) or drill down to a specific class (4-digit) to see total market size, top buyers, leading suppliers, framework vs direct split and annual trends — live from the database every time.
Track renewals with Renewal Radar
Renewal Radar shows contracts approaching their expiry date — your window for early business development. Filter by CPV, source, value, framework vs direct and urgency. Start conversations 6–12 months before contracts expire.
What's in the Platform
All features at a glance
FeatureWhat it doesBest for
Contracts440,000+ awarded contracts from CF, PCS Scotland & Sell2Wales. Live tenders and Pipeline & PME notices. Framework vs direct filter, CPV filter, source filter.Market research, competitor tracking, daily monitoring
Buyer IntelligenceFull procurement profile for any public sector buyer — contacts, top suppliers, spend trends, CPV breakdown, AI overview, live tenders. All three sources.Bid strategy, account planning
Supplier IntelligenceFull contract history for any supplier across CF, PCS & Sell2Wales — win rates, top buyers, sector breakdown, spend by year.Competitor analysis, benchmarking
Market AnalysisStructured market intelligence reports by CPV category. Live data from all three sources. CPV class (4-digit) drill-down, framework split, top buyers/suppliers, trends.Market sizing, sector strategy, bid preparation
Renewal RadarContracts approaching expiry — CF confirmed end dates + estimated from award date + CPV duration. Framework vs direct filter. All three sources.Pipeline building, early BD conversations
Incumbent FinderSee every current contract holder for a buyer — with value, award date, estimated expiry and renewal urgency. CF, PCS & Sell2Wales.Competitive intelligence, pitch preparation
InsightsCross-source analytics — filter by supplier, buyer, CPV, date range, source, framework type. Charts, trends, recent contracts.Market sizing, trend analysis
Buyer Contacts15,900+ unique buyer email addresses from CF, PCS & Sell2Wales. Search by organisation, export CSV, link to buyer intelligence.Direct outreach, CRM building
CompaniesLive Companies House data — directors, filings, charges, PSCs, CF/PCS/Sell2Wales contracts with name variants, electoral donations.Due diligence, supplier vetting
CharitiesEngland/Wales & OSCR Scotland charities. Trustees, financials, linked companies.Grant research, trustee due diligence
PeopleCompanies House director search cross-referenced with 727,000+ charity trustees. View Charity and View Company links.Director background checks
DonationsPolitical donations to UK parties since 2001 — company donors link to Companies page.Political risk, transparency research
MPs' InterestsRegister of Members' Financial Interests — cross-referenced with companies and contracts.Lobbying and conflict of interest research
Awarded Contracts
440,000+ contracts from CF, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales
Three data sources combined
Awarded Contracts combines Contracts Finder (England & Wales), PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales in one view. Use the Source filter to narrow to a specific region. Each result is colour-coded — navy for CF, green for PCS, gold for Sell2Wales.
Framework vs Direct Awards
Use the Contract Type filter to show only Framework Call-offs or only Direct Awards. CF uses the published procedure type for reliable identification. PCS and Sell2Wales use keyword matching on the contract title.
CPV category filter
The CPV Category dropdown filters by 2-digit division (e.g. 72 = IT Services). This is the most reliable way to find sector-specific contracts — more consistent than keyword search because buyers must assign CPV codes to every notice.
Multiple suppliers on frameworks
Framework contracts often name multiple suppliers — each is stored as a separate record so you can search for any individual supplier and find all frameworks they're on. This is particularly important for large frameworks with 50–100 suppliers.
Tip: When no keyword is entered, the contracts page shows the most recent published contracts. This is a quick way to monitor daily award activity across all three sources.
Live Tenders & Pipeline
Active opportunities and pre-market intelligence
Live Tenders tab
Shows active procurement notices with unexpired deadlines from CF (via Find a Tender API), PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales. PCS and Sell2Wales tenders show a deadline badge. Results are filtered to ensure only genuinely open opportunities appear.
Pipeline & PME tab
Shows pre-market engagement notices, prior information notices and pipeline procurement from Find a Tender, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales. Filter by CPV category to see what's coming in your sector before it goes to formal tender. These are your earliest warning of upcoming opportunities.
⚠ Note: Live tender data is updated daily. For the most complete picture, also check Find a Tender, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales directly.
Buyer Intelligence
Deep procurement profiling for any public sector buyer
Search with autocomplete
Type 3+ characters and select from the styled dropdown — suggestions come from CF, PCS and Sell2Wales combined. Clicking a suggestion fires the search automatically. Results cover all three sources.
Read the stat pills
Five pills show Total Contracts, Total Value (Framework & Direct), Scotland (PCS), England & Wales (CF) and Wales (Sell2Wales). These give an instant picture of how the buyer's spend is distributed geographically.
Use the AI Overview
Click Generate AI Overview for a synthesised intelligence briefing on the buyer — their procurement focus, key contracts, recent news and strategic context. Uses live web search alongside our data.
Contact Details
The Contact Details panel aggregates buyer email addresses from CF, PCS and Sell2Wales notices. These are the procurement contacts who published the contracts — use for direct outreach when a relevant opportunity approaches.
Bid strategy tip: If a buyer has awarded most contracts to one or two suppliers, consider whether the market would welcome a challenger. Check whether contracts are approaching their typical renewal period based on the award dates visible in the contract list.
Supplier Intelligence
Full public sector footprint for any supplier
Search by supplier name
Type 3+ characters and select from the autocomplete dropdown. The search uses name consolidation — "Harmony Fire Ltd" and "Harmony Fire Limited" are treated as the same supplier. Results cover CF, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales.
Understand the statistics
Five stat pills show Total Contracts, Total Value Won (Framework & Direct), Scotland (PCS), England & Wales (CF) and Wales (Sell2Wales). The spend by year chart shows whether their contract pipeline is growing or declining.
Use for competitive intelligence
Supplier Intelligence is ideal for understanding competitors — which buyers they serve, how much they win, which CPV categories they operate in, and how their pipeline has changed year-on-year.
Market Analysis
Structured intelligence reports by CPV category — live data, every time
Select a CPV Division
Choose a 2-digit CPV Division (e.g. 72 — IT Services). Optionally enter a 4-digit CPV Class (e.g. 7222 — Programming Services) to drill down further. Set a year range, source and contract type filter then click Generate Report.
What the report shows
Each report shows: total contracts and spend by source, annual volume trends (CF/PCS/Sell2Wales stacked), monthly activity, framework vs direct split, procurement method breakdown, value distribution, top 15 buyers and top 15 suppliers by value, and a CPV Class breakdown table.
Live data — always consistent
Market Analysis queries the live database directly — a single SQL function returns all data in one pass. Every filter combination (source, year, framework, value, CPV class) returns consistent, accurate results. Generation typically takes 10–20 seconds depending on market size.
Use case: Before entering a new market, run a Market Analysis report to understand the total addressable spend, who the dominant buyers and suppliers are, the typical contract value range and whether the market is growing. This is the research that should underpin every market entry decision.
Renewal Radar
Contracts approaching expiry — your business development window
How expiry dates work
Where Contracts Finder published an end date, that is shown as Confirmed. Where no end date was published (the majority), expiry is Estimated from the award date plus the typical contract duration for that CPV category. Estimated dates are indicative — always verify with the buyer.
Filter to your market
Use the CPV Category filter to narrow to your sector. Add a Source filter for CF, PCS or Sell2Wales. Use Contract Type to focus on Framework Call-offs (which signal an entire framework retendering) or Direct Awards. Filter by minimum value to prioritise significant opportunities.
Urgency colour coding
Cards are colour coded: Red = Critical (under 90 days), Amber = Soon (90–180 days), Green = Upcoming (180–365 days), Grey = Pipeline (1–3 years). The ideal window to start conversations is 6–12 months before expiry.
Incumbent Finder
See every current contract holder for any buyer
Search by buyer name
Type 3+ characters and select from the autocomplete dropdown — it searches CF, PCS and Sell2Wales simultaneously. Then optionally filter by CPV category and source to narrow results.
What it shows
Every awarded contract for that buyer — with incumbent supplier name, contract value, award date, estimated expiry and renewal urgency. Gives you a complete picture of who currently holds business with that organisation and when each contract is likely to retender.
Pitch preparation: Before meeting a buyer, run Incumbent Finder to know exactly who they currently use, what they pay, and which contracts are coming up for renewal. This gives you the evidence to have a specific, informed conversation rather than a generic pitch.
Search for a buyer
Type the buyer organisation name — partial matches work, so "Edinburgh" will find Edinburgh City Council, NHS Lothian and other Edinburgh-area buyers. Select the correct result from the autocomplete suggestions.
Read the AI Overview
Click "Generate AI Overview" to get a synthesised intelligence briefing on the buyer — their procurement focus, key contracts, recent news and strategic context. This is cached for 90 days so repeat views are instant.
Analyse the supplier list
The top 20 suppliers by value shows who this buyer currently relies on. High concentration with a few suppliers may indicate incumbency risk for challengers or opportunity if relationships are long-standing.
Check the pipeline
The Live Tenders tab in Buyer Intelligence shows current open procurements from this buyer — useful for timing your business development activity.
Data Sources Explained
Where the data comes from and how current it is
Source Dataset Coverage Update Frequency Licence
Contracts Finder 407,000+ awarded contracts England & Wales public sector, 2012–present Daily sync OGL v3
PCS Scotland 25,000+ contracts & tenders Scottish public sector, 2015–present Daily sync OGL v3
Sell2Wales 8,600+ awarded contracts & tenders Welsh public sector, 2016–present Daily sync OGL v3
Find a Tender Live above-threshold notices UK-wide, above threshold Live API OGL v3
Companies House Live company data All UK registered companies Live API OGL v3
Charity Commission England/Wales registered charities England & Wales registered charities Monthly refresh OGL v3
OSCR Scotland Scottish charities Scottish registered charities Monthly refresh OGL v3
Electoral Commission Political donations since 2001 UK political donations Quarterly OGL v3
Parliament MPs' Financial Interests Register of Members' Financial Interests since 2015 Weekly sync Parliamentary Licence
Charity trustees 727,000+ trustees England, Wales & Scotland charity trustees Monthly refresh OGL v3
Licencing: All data marked OGL v3 is published under the Open Government Licence. This means the underlying data is freely reusable with attribution. OC Intelligence applies additional value through aggregation, cross-referencing and analysis.
Data Limitations & Caveats
Understanding the boundaries of the data

Contracts Finder coverage: Mandatory for central government contracts over £10,000 and wider public sector over £25,000 — but compliance varies. The database represents what was published, not necessarily all that was awarded.

Sell2Wales coverage: Welsh public sector procurement. Some older records may have incomplete CPV codes or contract values due to the way Wales publishes OCDS data — award and tender information are published as separate releases.

Supplier name variations: The same supplier may appear under multiple name variations — "Harmony Fire Ltd", "Harmony Fire Limited". The platform applies name variant matching in key searches (Companies page, Supplier Intelligence) but some fragmentation may remain in raw contract searches.

Contract values: Many contracts are published without a value or with an estimated/maximum value. Framework award values represent the total potential spend across all suppliers, not what any individual supplier will earn. Treat all totals as indicative.

Framework contracts: A framework award does not mean all listed suppliers will win work — it means they are approved to bid on call-off contracts under that framework. The platform stores each supplier on a framework as a separate record, which allows you to search for any individual supplier.

Renewal date estimates: Where a published end date is not available, Renewal Radar and Incumbent Finder estimate expiry from the award date plus the typical duration for that CPV category. These are approximations — always verify with the buyer before acting on them.

AI-generated content: AI Overviews in Buyer and Supplier Intelligence are generated by a large language model using live web search. They may contain inaccuracies. Always verify material facts independently before using in commercial decisions.

Using the Platform to Win More Business
Practical procurement intelligence for suppliers
Research the buyer before you bid
Before submitting any tender, run the buyer through Buyer Intelligence. Understand what they've bought before, how much they spend, which suppliers they trust, and what their typical contract values and durations look like. This directly informs your pricing strategy and positioning.
Know who the incumbent is
Use Incumbent Finder to see every contract the buyer currently holds and who supplies it — with estimated expiry dates. This tells you who you're displacing, what price point they won at, and how long they've held the contract. Knowing the incumbent is crucial for framing your bid.
Build your pipeline with Renewal Radar
Renewal Radar shows contracts approaching expiry in your CPV category. The ideal window to start buyer conversations is 6–12 months before expiry. Filter by sector, source and urgency to prioritise the most valuable upcoming opportunities.
Size your market with Market Analysis
Before entering a new market, run a Market Analysis report. Select your CPV Division (and optionally a 4-digit Class) to see total spend, top buyers, leading competitors, framework vs direct split and year-on-year trends across CF, PCS and Sell2Wales. This is the evidence base for any market entry decision.
Benchmark your competitors
Use Supplier Intelligence to understand your competitors' public sector footprint — what they win, where they win it, which buyers they serve, and how their pipeline has changed year-on-year. If a competitor is growing strongly in a particular sector or region, understand why before you challenge them.
Identify frameworks to join
Many public sector contracts are called off from frameworks rather than individually tendered. Search Contracts for frameworks relevant to your sector (e.g. Crown Commercial Service, CHIC, YPO) to identify panels you should be on. Getting on the right frameworks creates sustained, recurring revenue.
Golden rule: The best bid is informed by evidence, not assumption. Every claim in your tender about understanding the buyer's needs should be backed by research you can do here — their previous contracts, their stated priorities, their procurement patterns. Buyers can tell the difference between a generic bid and one written by someone who understands them.
Understanding CPV Codes
The Common Procurement Vocabulary and how to use it

CPV codes are an EU/UK standard for classifying procurement. Every public contract is assigned one or more CPV codes. Learning the codes relevant to your sector will make your searches far more precise and ensure you don't miss relevant opportunities.

DivisionCategoryCommon examples
45Construction WorksNew builds, refurbishment, civil engineering
50Repair & MaintenanceBuilding maintenance, vehicle servicing, equipment repair
71Architecture & EngineeringDesign services, surveying, project management
72IT ServicesSoftware development, managed services, cloud, helpdesk
79Business ServicesConsultancy, HR, legal, marketing, training management
80Education & TrainingStaff training, apprenticeships, educational software
85Health & Social ServicesNHS services, social care, mental health, homecare
90Waste & EnvironmentalWaste collection, recycling, environmental consultancy
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the platform and data
Why do I see different totals for the same supplier in different parts of the platform?
The platform draws from three contract sources — Contracts Finder (England & Wales), PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales. Supplier Intelligence consolidates all three, but some name variations may split records. If you see two entries for what looks like the same company it's likely a name variation — e.g. "Acme Services Ltd" vs "Acme Services Limited". The Companies page applies name variant matching automatically.
Are contract values accurate?
Contract values come directly from what the contracting authority published. Many contracts are published with an estimated or maximum value rather than the actual awarded value. Framework contracts often show a total potential value across all suppliers — not what any individual supplier will earn. Treat all values as indicative rather than exact spend figures.
Why can't I find a contract I know exists?
Several reasons a contract might not appear: (1) It may have been awarded below the publication threshold (£10k for central government, £25k for other public bodies); (2) The contracting authority may not have published it — compliance is imperfect; (3) It may be a Scottish contract only on PCS, or a Welsh contract only on Sell2Wales — use the Source filter to check each individually; (4) Try alternative search terms — the keyword search matches on title, buyer and supplier name. You can also check Contracts Finder, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales directly.
How up to date is the data?
Contracts Finder, PCS Scotland and Sell2Wales data is synced daily — new contracts published on any platform should appear in OC Intelligence the following day. Companies House data is live via API. Electoral Commission donation data is updated quarterly. MP interests are synced weekly. Charity data is refreshed monthly.
What is a framework contract and how does it differ from a direct award?
A framework agreement establishes a panel of approved suppliers (often 4–100 companies) who can be awarded work without a full competitive process each time. Being on a framework is highly valuable — it opens the door to multiple call-off contracts. OC Intelligence stores each supplier on a framework as a separate record, so you can search for any individual company and see every framework they're on. A direct award is a contract placed with a single supplier, either competitively or under permitted exemptions.
How do renewal date estimates work?
Where Contracts Finder published a contract end date, that is shown as Confirmed. Where no end date was published (the majority of records), Renewal Radar and Incumbent Finder estimate expiry by adding the typical contract duration for that CPV category to the award date. These are approximations — always verify the actual expiry with the buyer before acting on them.
Can I export the data?
The Buyer Contacts page includes CSV export. Individual contract cards link directly to the original notice on Contracts Finder, PCS Scotland or Sell2Wales where you can access full documentation. API access is available on Professional and Enterprise plans — see the Account page for your API key and documentation.
What does the Brethren flag mean?
The platform cross-references company names against a database of companies historically associated with the Exclusive Brethren (Plymouth Brethren Christian Church). This flag is provided for transparency and research purposes only — a flag does not necessarily indicate current involvement. Always verify independently.
How do I get help or report an issue?
If you find incorrect data, a broken feature, or want to request a new capability, contact us directly at damian@openandcandid.com. We're actively developing the platform and user feedback directly shapes what we build next.