The Proactis Supplier Network for care providers
The Proactis Supplier Network is a free supplier registration system run by the procurement-technology vendor Proactis, used by councils and NHS bodies to advertise quotes and tenders and to find supplier contact details. For care providers, registering lets buyers such as NHS Property Services and South West councils like Somerset reach you, and lets you see opportunities plus an online contract register that flags when existing care contracts are due for re-tender. Registration is free with no charge for an account, and you can add National coverage so a single registration reaches buyers across England. A note of caution: Proactis now owns Due North's ProContract, so a Proactis-hosted portal and a ProContract portal can sit on related technology but use separate supplier logins. Before you write anything, we check whether you actually qualify for the contracts you find here, for free, so you only spend time on bids you can realistically win.
What the Proactis Supplier Network actually is
The Proactis Supplier Network is a central register of suppliers that public buyers search when they need quotes or want to run a tender. Proactis is a procurement-technology vendor whose public-sector products include this Supplier Network and the Proactis (ProContract/Rego) tendering portals, so the same group sits behind several systems you will meet as a care provider. The network does two jobs. First, it makes your contact details and service categories visible to buyers, who can then invite you to quote or request information directly. According to NHS Property Services guidance, it encourages all suppliers to register so its buyers can find supplier details and request quotes, covering both informal quotations and formal tenders. Second, it gives suppliers an online contract register with real-time data on existing public-sector contracts. For a care provider that is a planning tool: you can see roughly when a council's home care or supported living contract is due to expire and start your bid well before the notice appears, instead of scrambling inside a four to six week window. Think of registration as opening a door rather than submitting a bid; the bid still has to be written, evidenced and scored on its own merits.
Which councils and NHS bodies use Proactis
Proactis is used by a mix of councils and NHS bodies, with NHS Property Services the clearest NHS example. NHS Property Services encourages all suppliers to register on the Supplier Network so its buyers can obtain quotes and run tenders, which matters for providers offering care, community and facilities-linked services on NHS sites. Be realistic about NHS reach, though: most NHS clinical and community care commissioning runs through other routes, so do not assume Proactis is your main NHS channel. On the council side, the Royal Borough of Greenwich runs its procurement on a Proactis-hosted portal at royalgreenwich.proactishosting.com, a London example issuing care and corporate tenders through Proactis. In the South West, Somerset Council and other authorities use the Supplier Network to advertise opportunities, including social care and community services. The proactishosting.com web address is a reliable signal you are on a Proactis-hosted portal rather than a different system. Coverage is patchy by region, so most providers will still register on several portals. Keep a written record of which authorities near you actually use Proactis, because that list drives where you spend your registration and monitoring effort.
How to register as a supplier
Register directly on the Supplier Network or on the Proactis-hosted portal of the buyer you are targeting, and it is free. According to Proactis and council e-procurement guidance such as Flintshire County Council's, companies can register for free with no charge for an account, and you can register for National coverage at the same time as your local registration. National coverage means a provider working across England does not need a separate account per region, which saves real admin time if you cover more than one council area. When you register, complete your organisation profile carefully. Add your CQC registration details (or Ofsted, if you deliver children's services, which are Ofsted-regulated, not CQC), your service categories and the geographic areas you cover. Buyers filter the register by category, so vague or half-finished entries simply get missed. Keep the contact email monitored, because quote requests and invitations to tender can arrive directly through the system rather than as a public advert, and a missed invitation reads to a busy commissioner like a supplier who is not interested. Treat the profile as a live shop window and update it whenever your registration, insurance, staffing capacity or coverage area changes.
How to find care contract opportunities
Find care opportunities by searching the Supplier Network and individual Proactis-hosted portals by category and keyword, then using the online contract register to anticipate re-tenders. Search terms like home care, domiciliary care, supported living, residential care and community services surface most relevant notices, and saving searches or setting alerts means new opportunities reach you without daily manual checking. The contract register is the underused tool. Because it offers real-time data on existing public-sector contracts, you can spot when a council's care contract is approaching its end date and start preparing months ahead instead of reacting to a short tender window. That early sight is where bids are won: time to line up your CQC evidence, references, policies and pricing model before the clock starts. Pair Proactis with the other portals where care work appears, including ProContract/Due North, Atamis for NHS opportunities, and the national Find a Tender service for contracts above threshold, so you do not miss buyers who advertise elsewhere. No single portal carries everything, which is why most successful providers monitor several. We help clients map which portals their target buyers actually use, so you watch the right places rather than all of them.
Proactis is not the same as ProContract or Due North
This is the single biggest source of confusion, so be precise: the Proactis Supplier Network and a ProContract (Due North) portal are different things, even though Proactis now owns the ProContract product. ProContract/Due North is now part of the Proactis group, so a Proactis-branded portal and a ProContract portal sit in the same technology family, but they are not interchangeable logins. In practice that means your Supplier Network account does not automatically log you into a council's ProContract portal, and the reverse is also true. You may genuinely need separate registrations and credentials for each, even when the branding looks almost identical. When a buyer tells you to register on a Proactis-hosted portal at a proactishosting.com address, that is this Supplier Network family. When they point you to a ProContract URL instead, follow our ProContract and Due North guide for that specific platform. Keep a simple credentials log of which login belongs to which portal, because mixing them up, or assuming one account covers both, is one of the most common reasons providers miss a deadline they were otherwise eligible to bid for.
Proactis Supplier Network at a glance for care providers
What a CQC or Ofsted-registered provider needs to know before registering and bidding through Proactis.
| Item | What it means for you | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Account cost | Registration on the Supplier Network is free, with no charge for an account | Register early; there is no cost barrier |
| National coverage | Add National coverage alongside local registration to reach England-wide buyers | Tick National if you work across regions, not one account per area |
| Who uses it | NHS Property Services plus councils like Royal Borough of Greenwich and Somerset | Check which target buyers use a proactishosting.com portal |
| Contract register | Real-time data on existing contracts shows re-tender timing | Use it to prepare bids months before the notice appears |
| ProContract overlap | Proactis owns Due North's ProContract, but logins are separate | Keep a separate login for each portal; see our ProContract guide |
| Profile setup | Buyers filter by service category and area | Enter CQC or Ofsted details and accurate categories |
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 the Proactis Supplier Network?
The Proactis Supplier Network is a free supplier register run by the procurement-technology vendor Proactis, which public buyers search to find supplier contact details, request quotes and run tenders. For care providers it makes you visible to councils and NHS bodies, and it includes an online contract register that gives real-time data on existing public-sector contracts so you can anticipate when a care contract is due for re-tender.
Is Proactis the same as ProContract or Due North?
No, not as a login. Proactis now owns Due North's ProContract, so a Proactis-hosted portal and a ProContract portal sit in the same technology group, but they are different systems with separate supplier accounts. Your Supplier Network registration does not automatically sign you into a council's ProContract portal, so you may need to register on each separately. See our ProContract and Due North guide for that platform specifically.
How do I register as a supplier on Proactis?
Register directly on the Supplier Network, or on the Proactis-hosted portal of the buyer you are targeting, by creating a free account and completing your organisation profile. Add your CQC details (or Ofsted for children's services), your service categories and the areas you cover, and tick National coverage if you work across England. Buyers filter the register by category, so a complete, accurate profile is what gets you found and invited to quote.
Is it free to register on the Proactis Supplier Network?
Yes. According to Proactis and council e-procurement guidance, companies can register for free on the Supplier Network with no charge for an account. You can also register for National coverage at the same time as your local registration, so a provider working across England does not need a separate account for each region. There is no cost reason to delay registering.
Which NHS bodies and councils use Proactis?
NHS Property Services is the clearest NHS example; it encourages all suppliers to register on the Supplier Network so its buyers can obtain quotes and run tenders. On the council side, the Royal Borough of Greenwich uses a Proactis-hosted portal at royalgreenwich.proactishosting.com, and Somerset Council and other South West authorities advertise opportunities, including social care, through Proactis. Coverage varies by area, so most providers still monitor several portals.
What does Selective Care Match charge to bid for a tender I find on Proactis?
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 after the first are £3,000, with £50 per extra lot. Before any of that, we run a free eligibility check on the opportunity you found, so you only pay when the contract is genuinely worth pursuing.
Keep reading
ProContract and Due North
Atamis NHS portal
How to find care tenders
Care frameworks explained
Home care contract bidding
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.