Oldham Council spends in the region of £230m on supplies and services, providing businesses of all sizes with a wide range of commercial opportunities. The Council's priority is to secure the best value for money throughout a large and diverse organisation.
Register for contract opportunities
You need to register to access all opportunities and contracts with existing and new suppliers:
- Register on The Chest - procurement portal
View all published contracts on the Contracts Register
View published contracts using the Contract Register portal:
- Contract Register – use the Organisation drop-down menu and scroll to Oldham Council
Advertising contracts
All contracts that need to be advertised will appear on The Chest or at least one local newspaper and/or a relevant trade or professional journal.
Where the value of contracts exceeds the EU thresholds a notice will be published in the Supplement of the Official Union Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
The Council publishes a Prior Indicative Notice in OJEU to give warning of contracts to be advertised in OJEU throughout the year.
Tendering process
The tendering process chosen is at the Council's discretion.
Improving tenders with a Social Value element
The following is a list of links to help you with your Social Value proposition when bidding for any tender.
- The Oldham Plan
- Social Value Do's and Don'ts
- Part 1 Oldham Social Value Webinar
- Part 2 Oldham Social Value Webinar
- Social Value Oldham Council District Links and Contacts
- Social Value Additional Guidance
- Oldham's Needs Analysis
- Social Value Letter of Engagement
Open tendering
One-stage bidding process where all interested service providers respond to an advertisement that invites them to submit a tender.
The advertisement will state where interested parties may obtain tender documents and the last date when tenders will be accepted.
Restricted tendering
Two-stage bidding process where potential contractors expressing an interest in bidding are evaluated and a shortlist is drawn up to invite bids.
The public notice will give details on what information must be submitted by the supplier or how to receive the necessary documentation to be able to express an interest in being short-listed.
The restricted process is likely to be applied when a large number of applicants is anticipated, allowing that number to be reduced to a manageable list of tenderers.
Negotiated tendering
The Council, under certain very limited circumstances, negotiates with one or more organisations of its choice.
Frequently asked procurement questions
Supplier selection
Supplier selection is based on:
- Overall value for money
- Quality
- Reliability
- Safety
- Good design
- Timely delivery
- Maintenance and after-sales support
Potential suppliers must demonstrate:
- Financial, commercial, and technical capability to fully meet the contractual requirements
- Past performance with reference to contracts of a similar nature
- Commitment to equal opportunities in employment, the environment, and safety
- References
For high-value service contracts, we evaluate suppliers on a set of pre-determined factors.
These criteria will be set out in both our advertisements and our tender documents.
The number of individuals/companies invited to tender will vary with the nature of the order and the availability of suitably qualified suppliers.
In many cases, it will not be practical to include all those suppliers who express an interest, and where there is a wide field of potential suppliers we may undertake a pre-qualification process.
Purchase Orders and Invoicing
Oldham Council has a No Po No Pay policy for the delivery of all goods and services. The issuance of a Purchase Order is validation to the supplier that the goods/services requested have been authorised. If you supply goods or services to the council you must not accept verbal or written instruction to supply goods or services from any member of staff unless they provide you with a valid purchase order number.
Our financial system produces purchase order numbers in the format ‘OL20******’ e.g., OL20123456.
A valid PO must be quoted on all invoices, otherwise, the invoice will be returned, and payment will not be processed until a compliant invoice has been submitted.
To ensure timely processing and payment all invoices should:
- Quote a valid Purchase Order number
- Be addressed to: Oldham Council
Accounts Payable
Civic Centre
West Street
Oldham
OL1 1UH
- Sent by email to accountspayablereception@oldham.gov.uk as a PDF attachment
- Shows your name and address, and if you are VAT registered, quoting your VAT registration number