Care Tender Writing in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester care contracts are advertised on The Chest (thechest.co.uk), the free North West e-tendering portal run through STAR Procurement, and commissioned by the ten boroughs alongside NHS Greater Manchester ICB. We write scoring-aware bids for providers across all ten councils. Your first tender is £795 and our win rate is 96 percent.
Care commissioning in Greater Manchester
If you deliver care in Greater Manchester, almost every council opportunity you bid for is advertised on The Chest (thechest.co.uk), the free and secure e-tendering portal used by contracting authorities across England's North West. According to STAR Procurement's supplier guide, The Chest links public sector buyers in the North West with suppliers, so one registration gives you visibility of work across the conurbation. Manchester City Council, Salford, Bolton, Wigan and the other boroughs all publish here. We write the bids that win this work, from domiciliary care and supported living to continuing healthcare packages.
Greater Manchester is unusual because it is a combined authority of ten boroughs operating an integrated devolution model. NHS Greater Manchester ICB co-ordinates health and social care commissioning across the whole footprint, yet home care frameworks are still let borough by borough. That means a single shared portal but ten separate sets of commissioners, rate cards and lot structures. A bid that wins in Manchester will not automatically transfer to Wigan or Bolton, so we tailor every submission to the specific authority advertising it.
Manchester's council procurement is delivered through STAR Procurement, a shared service for partner councils, and every STAR opportunity lands on The Chest. STAR publishes detailed supplier guidance on how to register and respond, which reduces handling errors, but the evaluation rubrics are unforgiving. Method statements are marked against weighted criteria where a single dropped band can lose the contract.
We know the GM landscape: which work is borough-specific, which sits with the ICB under Find a Tender notices, and what local evaluators reward. You get a bid built around the real questions, the real word counts and the real scoring, not a recycled North West template.
What is different about bidding in Greater Manchester
One portal, ten commissioners: how Greater Manchester actually buys care
Greater Manchester councils buy care through a single portal but ten separate commissioning teams, so you register once yet bid into borough-specific frameworks. Manchester City Council and several partner boroughs run procurement through STAR Procurement, a shared service, and all STAR opportunities are published on The Chest (thechest.co.uk). Practically, a Salford home care lot, a Wigan supported living DPS or a Tameside reablement contract each carry their own rate card, geography and method statements. Do not assume a single Greater Manchester home care framework exists; it does not. We map which authority owns each opportunity, read the borough's own quality expectations, and write to the specific lot rather than recycling a generic North West answer. Manchester City Council's own adult social care directorate even holds a CQC provider record, so commissioners here understand frontline quality at first hand and expect bids to evidence it concretely rather than assert it.
Registering and expressing interest on The Chest before the clock runs out
To bid for any Greater Manchester care contract you must register on The Chest and express interest before the tender closes, because that is the only way to access the documents. Registration is free but mandatory, and STAR Procurement's supplier guidance documents the exact steps to register and respond, which cuts down avoidable errors. The trap is timing: if you express interest late, you lose days you needed for method statements and pricing, and clarification question windows often close well before the submission deadline. We get you registered, pull the full document set the moment interest is confirmed, and build a timeline back from the deadline so nothing is rushed at the end. The market is crowded too: Skills for Care's 2025 summary records 15,232 domiciliary care organisations regulated by the CQC in England in March 2025, up from 13,733 the year before, so a clean, early, well-evidenced submission is what separates you from the field.
Where the ICB commissions, not the boroughs
Not all Greater Manchester care work sits with the councils. NHS Greater Manchester ICB commissions community beds, pressure care and continuing healthcare (CHC) packages alongside the borough councils, and these often appear as Find a Tender notices rather than purely on The Chest. If you provide complex care, nursing-led packages or fast-track CHC, you need to watch both routes. The evaluation emphasis shifts too: ICB bids weigh clinical governance, registered nurse cover and CHC framework compliance more heavily than a council home care lot, which leans on care worker continuity, local recruitment and call monitoring. Continuity is under real scrutiny: CQC's 2024/25 State of Care found that more than 28 percent of home care services now provide care to four people or fewer, raising financial-resilience and continuity concerns that evaluators probe hard. We write to whichever buyer owns the contract, matching the evidence to what that commissioner actually scores rather than submitting one bid for two very different audiences.
Councils we write bids for in Greater Manchester
- Manchester City Council
- Salford City Council
- Bolton Council
- Wigan Council
- Stockport Council
- Trafford Council
- Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
- Oldham Council
- Rochdale Borough Council
- Bury Council
NHS integrated care boards (ICBs)
- NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board
NHS and continuing healthcare work in Greater Manchester is commissioned through these ICBs.
Greater Manchester councils and where they advertise care tenders
All ten Greater Manchester boroughs publish care opportunities on The Chest, with Manchester and partner councils procuring through the STAR Procurement shared service. NHS Greater Manchester ICB also issues CHC and community health contracts via Find a Tender. Register free on The Chest and express interest before the deadline to see documents.
| Council | Type | Procurement portal |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester City Council | Metropolitan borough (STAR Procurement) | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Salford City Council | Metropolitan borough | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Bolton Council | Metropolitan borough | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Wigan Council | Metropolitan borough | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Stockport Council | Metropolitan borough (STAR Procurement) | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Trafford Council | Metropolitan borough (STAR Procurement) | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council | Metropolitan borough | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Oldham Council | Metropolitan borough | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| Rochdale Borough Council | Metropolitan borough (STAR Procurement) | The Chest (thechest.co.uk) |
| NHS Greater Manchester ICB | Integrated Care Board | Find a Tender / The Chest |
Portals change. We confirm the live portal and registration steps for your specific tender before you commit.
What we write for Greater Manchester providers
Domiciliary care tender writing
Supported living tender writing
Residential care tender writing
Nursing home tender writing
Continuing healthcare tender writing
Mental health tender writing
New to this? Read how to find care tenders and how to win a care tender.
Greater Manchester: common questions
What portal does Manchester City Council use for tenders?
Manchester City Council advertises its tenders, including care and support contracts, on The Chest (thechest.co.uk). The council procures through STAR Procurement, a shared service for partner councils, and every STAR opportunity is published on The Chest. Registration is free but you must express interest before a tender closes to download the documents and submit a bid.
What is The Chest procurement portal?
The Chest is the free, secure e-tendering portal used by contracting authorities across England's North West, including Greater Manchester councils, to publish opportunities and let suppliers see and bid for contracts. You register once, build a supplier profile, then express interest in individual tenders to access their documents. STAR Procurement publishes supplier guidance documenting the exact steps to register and respond.
What is STAR Procurement?
STAR Procurement is a shared procurement service that delivers tendering for several Greater Manchester partner councils, including Manchester. Rather than each council running procurement separately, STAR co-ordinates it and publishes all opportunities on The Chest. Its supplier guidance documents how to register and respond, which reduces bid-handling errors and helps providers avoid missing deadlines or document steps.
Which ICB covers Greater Manchester care commissioning?
NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board covers all ten boroughs. Under Greater Manchester's integrated devolution model, the GM Integrated Care system co-ordinates health and social care commissioning across the conurbation. The ICB commissions community beds, pressure care and continuing healthcare packages alongside the borough councils, often through Find a Tender notices rather than only The Chest.
How do I register to bid for Manchester care contracts?
Register free on The Chest (thechest.co.uk), complete your supplier profile, then find the specific opportunity and express interest before it closes; this unlocks the documents. STAR Procurement's supplier guidance walks through each step. Your first tender with us is £795. We only take bids we believe you can win, and if a loss is clearly down to our writing error we rewrite the next one free. Our win rate is 96 percent.
Bidding for a Greater Manchester contract?
Send it over and we'll tell you free whether you'd qualify, before you spend a penny. £795 for your first tender.