YORtender: a guide for care providers bidding in Yorkshire and the Humber
YORtender is the shared e-tendering portal Yorkshire and Humber councils use to advertise contracts and receive bids. It runs on Mercell's EU-Supply platform, and suppliers log in at yortender.eu-supply.com. Registration is free. A care provider registers the organisation, adds health and social work CPV codes for nightly email alerts, accepts an opportunity to open its documents, then uploads and submits a response before the deadline. Sheffield, North Yorkshire, Hull and East Riding all tender through it.
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What YORtender is and who runs it
YORtender is the regional e-tendering portal for local authority contract opportunities across Yorkshire and the Humber. In its own words, the portal offers a single procurement approach across the region, where suppliers register their capabilities, receive email alerts and get immediate access to current opportunities. It is powered by Mercell, and the software underneath is EU-Supply's CTM system, which is why every YORtender address sits on eu-supply.com. Suppliers log in at yortender.eu-supply.com, and the old yortender.co.uk address no longer leads to the portal, so update any saved bookmark. You may still see YORtender described as ProContract in older documents and on some websites. That is out of date: Hull City Council states that the authority moved from Proactis to Mercell on 1 November 2021 and that the portal kept the YORtender name. For a care provider the practical point is simple. YORtender is not a ProContract instance, the screens and the submission steps are different, and guidance written for ProContract will send you looking for buttons that do not exist.
Related: how ProContract and Due North work, care tender writing in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Which councils tender on YORtender, and the two exceptions
Most councils in Yorkshire and the Humber advertise on YORtender, but not all of them, and one is leaving. On 29 September 2026 the YORtender opportunities feed listed live notices from Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, Kirklees, North East Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield and City of York councils, plus the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Wakefield Council's own procurement page also names YORtender as its official portal. Leeds is the first exception. Leeds City Council runs its tenders on its own Jaggaer source to contract system, and uses YORtender only to host its live register of awarded contracts, so a YORtender account will not show you Leeds care tenders. The second is Bradford. Bradford Council says it is replacing YORtender with Atamis, a new system hosted by YPO, and lists YORtender as its route until 31 December 2026. A provider bidding into Bradford needs both registrations during the changeover and should read each notice to see which system the council is using for that exercise.
See also: Leeds care tenders on Jaggaer and the CHC DPS, how Jaggaer e-sourcing portals work.
How to register on YORtender
Registration on YORtender is free and takes two stages: register the organisation, then log in and set up alerts. From the login page choose New Supplier Registration and complete the general company information, including the SME tick box, which councils use for transparency reporting. A DUNS number is requested but Kirklees Council's guidance confirms it is not mandatory. Next come the company contact details, the company administrator and the username and password you will use to take part in tenders. Accept the terms and conditions and you receive an email confirming the registration. Give a shared company inbox here, because the portal sends alerts and buyer messages to this address, and the login page itself recommends a generic one. You can add several users under one master company account, which lets a registered manager and an office lead both see the same bids. Hull City Council also advises adding the eu-supply.com domain to your safe senders list, since alerts that land in junk are the same as alerts never sent.
Read next: the free eligibility check.
Setting alerts so care tenders reach you
YORtender alerts only work if you add CPV codes, the public procurement classification codes, to your profile. After logging in, choose Manage CTM alerts, start using alerts, confirm the email address, then add CPV codes from the code tree. Kirklees Council's guidance warns that without codes on your profile you may miss opportunities entirely. Alerts go out every night when new quotes or tenders match your categories. Care notices on YORtender mostly sit in the health and social work family: in the 29 September 2026 feed, extra care, supported accommodation, advocacy and day activity notices were coded 85000000, 85300000, 85310000 or 85311000. Add that whole family; guessing one narrow code is how alerts go quiet. Then back it up with a keyword search, because coding is inconsistent. That feed also carried a Hull market engagement event about a fostering marketing campaign coded under advertising, not social work. The public opportunities list can be searched without logging in, so a weekly keyword check for care, support and living costs nothing.
Related: where else to find care tenders.
What care work appears on YORtender
YORtender carries a steady mix of adult social care, housing related support and specialist services, alongside everything else councils buy. On 29 September 2026 the feed included a North Yorkshire Council market engagement for an adult social care Live Well at Home framework, Sheffield City Council's Extra Care Housing notice, Barnsley's provision of care and support in extra care schemes, Bradford's multiple day activities for adults with a learning disability or autism, an Independent Advocacy Services 2027 tender from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, and supported accommodation at Morley Road from City of Doncaster Council. Notice types matter as much as titles. Several care items were preliminary market engagement notices, where the council asks the market for views before it writes the specification. Taking part costs a few hours and is the one moment a provider can influence lot structure and pricing before anything is fixed. Others, such as the advocacy tender, ran as open procedures under the Procurement Act 2023, and the portal also carries competitive flexible procedures and requests for quotation for smaller work.
See also: how extra care housing tenders are scored, writing a day services tender, frameworks, DPS and contracts compared.
How to submit a bid on YORtender
To bid on YORtender you accept the opportunity, download the documents, answer offline and upload, then press Submit response and confirm it. Open notices sit under CTM Published Tenders, and invitations to restricted exercises appear under New Invitations. You must accept an opportunity before you can use Access documents; once accepted it moves to your ongoing list. Clarification questions go through the Questions and answers area, one question per request, before the question deadline shown on that page. After the deadline the Ask question button disappears, and although the messaging function stays open, Kirklees Council notes that messages may not be answered before the submission deadline. To submit, open the opportunity from your ongoing list, choose Attach documents, upload your files, select Done, then Submit response and Send to verify your identity. Once sent, the percent complete bar turns from red to green and shows the date and time of submission. That green bar and time stamp are your proof, so screenshot them.
Read next: asking tender clarification questions, how to respond to a care tender.
Pitfalls that cost care providers bids on YORtender
Most YORtender failures are procedural. First, amending after submitting: if you change an attachment before the deadline, the bar returns to red and you must submit again, and if you do not, Kirklees Council's guidance says the council receives your earlier submission and the revisions are lost. Lots are the second trap. Where a tender has one submission document per lot, each response must be uploaded to its own lot, and pricing schedules, certificates and appendices must go in with it. An old account is the third. Suppliers registered on the Proactis era portal had to register again on the Mercell system, so an account from before November 2021 may not exist. Fourth, assuming YORtender is the whole picture: Leeds is on Jaggaer, Bradford is moving to Atamis, and since the Procurement Act 2023 councils such as Wakefield also point suppliers to registration on the Central Digital Platform. Finally, submit a day early. The portal records the exact time, and a late response is late.
Related: what the Procurement Act 2023 changed, the Find a Tender Service.
Primary sources: YORtender on EU-Supply (yortender.eu-supply.com); Contracts Finder (GOV.UK).
Where Yorkshire and Humber councils advertise care tenders
Checked against each council's own procurement page and the YORtender opportunities feed on 29 September 2026. Portals change, so confirm the system named in the notice before you bid.
| Council | Where it tenders | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sheffield City Council | YORtender | All open opportunities advertised here; contract register viewable without logging in |
| The North Yorkshire Council | YORtender | Also used to monitor contract performance |
| Hull City Council | YORtender | Moved from Proactis to Mercell on 1 November 2021; older accounts had to re-register |
| East Riding of Yorkshire Council | YORtender | Used for all council e-tendering, no document fees |
| Kirklees Council | YORtender | Contract register on YORtender, snapshot published each April and October |
| Wakefield Council | YORtender | Names YORtender as its official procurement portal |
| City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council | YORtender until 31 December 2026, then Atamis | Register on both during the changeover |
| Leeds City Council | Leeds City Council Jaggaer portal | YORtender hosts only its live contract register |
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. See our domiciliary care tender writing or text TENDER to get started.
Common questions
What is the YORtender login address?
The supplier login is yortender.eu-supply.com, on Mercell's EU-Supply platform. The old yortender.co.uk address no longer leads to the portal. If you have forgotten your details, use the Forgot your password link on the login page.
Is YORtender the same as ProContract?
No, not any more. Hull City Council states that YORtender moved from Proactis to Mercell on 1 November 2021 and kept its name. It now runs on EU-Supply's CTM system, so ProContract guidance does not match its screens.
Does Leeds City Council use YORtender?
Only for its contract register. Leeds City Council runs its tenders on its own Jaggaer source to contract system, where suppliers register to receive notifications and bid. Its live register of awarded contracts is published on YORtender.
Does it cost anything to register on YORtender?
No. The portal states that supplier registration is free, and the email alerts matched to your CPV codes are free too. East Riding of Yorkshire Council adds that there are no annual subscriptions or document download fees.
Who do I contact if YORtender is not working?
The EU-Supply support desk at uksupport@eu-supply.com, or 0800 840 2050 during office hours, 9am to 5pm, as listed by North Yorkshire and Bradford councils. For questions about a specific tender, use the Questions and answers area on that opportunity instead.
How much does it cost to have a YORtender care bid written?
Your first tender is £795. We only take bids we believe you can win. Our win rate is 96 percent, substantiated by our internal tracker. We start with a free eligibility check, so you only pay once we have confirmed the Yorkshire or Humber opportunity genuinely fits your 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.