Delta eSourcing for care providers
Delta eSourcing is a public-sector procurement portal run by BiP Solutions that many UK councils, especially district and borough councils, use to advertise and run tenders. Registering as a supplier is free and automatically creates a profile on the Supplier Information Database (SID), which buyers search to build shortlists and invite firms to bid. For care providers it mostly surfaces lower-value, sub-threshold council work such as domiciliary care top-ups, day services, respite and transport, rather than large national NHS frameworks. According to Delta's own supplier pages it is used and trusted by over 500 UK public-sector organisations and around 100,000 active suppliers, so a complete, well-tagged profile is what gets you noticed. Start with a free eligibility check so we can confirm the work suits you before you spend a penny.
What Delta eSourcing is and who uses it
Delta eSourcing is a tendering platform run by BiP Solutions that hosts opportunities for hundreds of public buyers in one place. According to Delta's own supplier pages, it is used and trusted by over 500 UK public-sector organisations and roughly 100,000 active suppliers, which makes it one of the larger e-sourcing systems sitting behind the national tools like Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. For care providers, the important point is who advertises on it. District and borough councils are heavy Delta users, and they post the smaller local contracts that rarely reach Find a Tender. You will see domiciliary care top-up packages, day services, respite, supported transport and ad hoc community contracts here far more often than large NHS frameworks. Commercial Services Group, wholly owned by Kent County Council and one of the UK's biggest local-authority trading companies, also runs its own Delta-powered portal for collaborative care and corporate frameworks. So a single Delta login can put you in front of a county trading company and dozens of individual councils at once, which is why it is worth getting your supplier profile right rather than treating registration as a tick-box. Note that children's services contracts here are regulated by Ofsted, not CQC, so tag your registrations accordingly.
Registering as a supplier and the SID
Registering on Delta eSourcing is free and automatically creates your profile on the Supplier Information Database, or SID. The SID is the part most providers underuse. According to Delta's supplier FAQs, over 2,700 public-sector buyers actively use the SID to research the marketplace and build supplier shortlists, so your profile is not just an admin step, it is a passive route to being invited to bid without ever seeing a public advert. When you register, complete every field that buyers filter on: company details, CQC registration and rating (or Ofsted registration for children's services), professional indemnity and public liability insurance, annual turnover, and the category and keyword tags. Add the right CPV codes for health and social care, principally the 85000000 series, so a council running a market-scoping exercise actually surfaces you. A thin profile with no CPV tags is effectively invisible to that search. Treat the SID like a directory entry you want ranked, not a form to clear, and refresh it whenever your rating, insurance or turnover changes, because buyers often screen on those details before any invitation goes out. The providers who get the unsolicited invitations are almost always the ones whose SID record is complete, current and accurately tagged to the services they actually deliver.
How to find care tenders on Delta
You find care tenders on Delta in two ways: by searching live notices once you are logged in, and by opting into buyer alerts. The alerts matter more, because Delta runs separate sub-portals for individual buyers. Each council typically has its own Delta URL, such as a procurementhub.delta-esourcing.com style address, and alerts are set per portal rather than once across the whole system. That structure has a practical consequence. Opting into alerts on one council's Delta sub-portal will not show you the neighbouring authority's contracts, so a single opt-in leaves gaps. To cover a real catchment area you may need to opt into several sub-portals, one per buyer you want to track. Build a short list of the councils and trading companies in your patch, find each one's Delta portal, and set alerts on every one. Because most care work here is sub-threshold and moves quickly, alerts are how you avoid missing a short-window opportunity. Pair Delta with Contracts Finder and Find a Tender so you are not relying on a single source, and remember that Scotland advertises on Public Contracts Scotland, Wales on Sell2Wales and Northern Ireland on eTendersNI. Our guide on how to find care tenders sets out the wider portal map.
Council advertising thresholds and what they mean
Councils set their own thresholds for what must go on Delta, and those thresholds tell you exactly what to expect. Surrey Heath Borough Council requires all procurement opportunities and tenders valued above £25,000 to be advertised and managed through Delta eSourcing. The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk directs suppliers to register free on Delta to view and bid for contracts valued over £20,000, and Three Rivers District Council runs a free contract-alert opt-in for suppliers. The pattern is consistent: Delta is the home of sub-threshold and lower-value local spend, mostly below the formal Find a Tender thresholds. For a care provider that is good news. These contracts attract fewer national bidders, the buyer is local, and a strong local track record counts for a lot. The paperwork is usually lighter than a full framework competition, but lighter is not the same as easy. You should still expect scored quality questions on safe staffing, safeguarding, business continuity and service continuity, and a clear, evidence-backed answer beats a long generic one every time. Check each council's published thresholds and contract standing orders so you know which size of work lands on Delta versus their other portals, because the same council may split spend across Delta, ProContract and a quotes system depending on value.
Where Delta fits alongside other portals
Delta is one portal among several, and care providers should not treat it as the whole picture. Many councils use ProContract (Due North), In-Tend, Atamis or Jaggaer instead of, or alongside, Delta, and each has its own registration and alert system. Delta's strength is the cluster of district and borough councils and trading companies like Commercial Services Group that favour it for smaller local work, including a good volume of domiciliary care top-up and community contracts. The practical rule is to register where your target buyers actually publish. Identify the councils and NHS bodies in your area, check which portal each uses, and hold accounts on all of them. A Delta account covers multiple buyers, but the alerts are per sub-portal, so the ongoing admin is in keeping the opt-ins current as you expand your catchment. If you are unsure which portals matter for your service and area, that mapping is exactly what we do in a free eligibility check before you commit time to any single platform. Getting the portal coverage right early is far cheaper than discovering a missed council a year later, after the work has already been awarded to someone who was on the right alert list.
Delta eSourcing at a glance for care providers
What Delta is, how it works for suppliers, and what to expect, with the sourced figures and example council thresholds.
| Item | Detail | Why it matters for care providers |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | BiP Solutions runs Delta eSourcing | Established UK procurement provider, separate from ProContract and In-Tend |
| Reach | Over 500 public-sector organisations and around 100,000 active suppliers | One login reaches many councils and trading companies at once |
| Supplier database | The SID, used by over 2,700 buyers to research the market | A complete, tagged profile gets you invited to bid passively |
| Cost to register | Free; registration auto-creates your SID profile | No barrier to listing; the work is in tagging it well |
| Sub-portals | Each buyer has its own Delta URL; alerts set per portal | Opt into several sub-portals to cover your whole catchment |
| Typical care work | Sub-threshold council spend: dom care top-ups, day services, respite, transport | Lower-value, local, fewer national competitors |
| Surrey Heath threshold | Advertises opportunities over £25,000 on Delta | Shows the size of work that lands here, not large NHS frameworks |
| King's Lynn and West Norfolk | Register free to view and bid for contracts over £20,000 | Confirms the sub-threshold local pattern |
| CPV tags | Use health and social care codes, the 85000000 series | Lets council market-scoping searches surface you |
Not sure if you qualify for a tender? We check it for free, before you pay anything, and we only take bids we believe you can win. Text TENDER to get started.
Common questions
What is Delta eSourcing and who uses it?
Delta eSourcing is a public-sector tendering portal run by BiP Solutions. According to Delta's own pages it is used and trusted by over 500 UK public-sector organisations and around 100,000 active suppliers. District and borough councils are heavy users, alongside local-authority trading companies such as Commercial Services Group, which is wholly owned by Kent County Council. For care providers it mostly carries lower-value local contracts like domiciliary care top-ups, day services and respite, rather than large national NHS frameworks.
Is it free to register as a supplier on Delta eSourcing?
Yes. Registering as a supplier on Delta is free, and it automatically creates your profile on the Supplier Information Database (SID). There is no charge to view or bid for advertised contracts. The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, for example, directs suppliers to register free on Delta to view and bid for contracts valued over £20,000. The cost is your time in completing the profile properly, not a fee.
What is the Supplier Information Database (SID) on Delta?
The SID is Delta's searchable directory of registered suppliers, created automatically when you register. According to Delta's supplier FAQs, over 2,700 public-sector buyers actively use the SID to research the marketplace and build shortlists. Buyers filter it by category, CPV code and keyword, so completing your tags, especially the health and social care 85000000 series CPV codes, is what lets a council market-scoping exercise find and invite you.
How do I find care tenders on Delta eSourcing?
Log in and search live notices, but rely mainly on alerts. Delta runs separate sub-portals for individual buyers, each with its own URL, and alerts are set per portal rather than once across the system. List the councils and trading companies in your area, find each one's Delta portal, and opt into alerts on every one. Pair Delta with Contracts Finder and Find a Tender so you are not depending on a single source.
Which councils use Delta eSourcing for tenders?
District and borough councils are the heaviest Delta users, setting their own advertising thresholds. Surrey Heath Borough Council advertises opportunities over £25,000 on Delta, the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk over £20,000, and Three Rivers District Council runs a free contract-alert opt-in. Commercial Services Group, owned by Kent County Council, runs its own Delta-powered portal too. Other councils use ProContract, In-Tend or Atamis instead, so check which portal each target buyer publishes on.
How much does a tender bid cost with Selective Care Match?
Your first tender 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. Standard tenders are £3,000, with £50 per extra lot. Start with the free eligibility check so we can confirm the work suits you and map which portals, including Delta, your target buyers actually use before you commit.
Keep reading
ProContract and Due North
Find a Tender Service (FTS)
Contracts Finder for care
How to find care tenders
Browse all care tender guides, or see care tender writing by service.
Got a tender to check?
Text TENDER to +44 7822 030677and we'll tell you free whether you'd qualify, before you spend a penny.