Data story · Contracts Finder award notices · Sep 2024 – Aug 2026
68,427 awards in the United Kingdom went to 18,037 suppliers from September 2024 to August 2026. 58% of the 18,037 suppliers won exactly one award. Together they hold 15% of the awards. The United Kingdom is above the median: the top 1% of suppliers won 26%, against 18% in the median country (34 countries).
By number of awards, the top 1% hold 26%. By stated value, the top 1% hold 62%. The largest supplier, Softcat plc, won 827 awards (1%).
- Awards
- 68,427
- Contract awards from Sep 2024 – Aug 2026, each counted once.
- Winning suppliers
- 18,037
- Suppliers with one or more awards, counted by normalised name.
- Won one award
- 58%
- Share of winning suppliers with exactly one award.
- Top 1% of suppliers
- 26%
- Share of awards won by the 180 suppliers with the most awards.
- Gini coefficient
- 0.64
- Inequality of awards across suppliers: 0 = each wins the same number, 1 = one supplier wins all.
- Stated value (GBP)
- GBP 199 billion
- From the 98% of awards that state an amount, capped at the 99.9th percentile.
- Top 1% by stated value
- 62%
- Share of stated value won by the top 1% of suppliers by value.
How the awards spread across suppliers
The United Kingdom ranks 15th of 40 countries for the Gini coefficient and 9th for the top 1% share. 1st is the most concentrated.
Who wins the most awards
| # | Supplier | Awards | Share of awards | Stated value (GBP) | Share of value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Softcat plc | 827 | 1% | 1.37 billion | under 1% |
| 2 | INSIGHT DIRECT (UK) LTD | 427 | under 1% | 394 million | under 1% |
| 3 | PHOENIX SOFTWARE LIMITED | 343 | under 1% | 1.31 billion | under 1% |
| 4 | CIVICA UK LIMITED | 290 | under 1% | 78.4 million | under 1% |
| 5 | Hansom | 278 | under 1% | 4.75 million | under 1% |
| 6 | Constellia Limited | 274 | under 1% | 175 million | under 1% |
| 7 | QRO SOLUTIONS LIMITED | 272 | under 1% | 774 million | under 1% |
| 8 | COMPUTACENTER (UK) LIMITED | 270 | under 1% | 365 million | under 1% |
| 9 | Mason Clark Associates Limited | 268 | under 1% | 256 million | under 1% |
| 10 | CDW Limited | 264 | under 1% | 342 million | under 1% |
Who buys the most
| # | Buyer | Awards | Share of awards | Stated value (GBP) | Share of value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suffolk County Council Passenger Transport | 1,955 | 3% | 248 million | under 1% |
| 2 | UK Research & Innovation | 1,901 | 3% | 181 million | under 1% |
| 3 | Leicester City Council | 1,341 | 2% | 663 million | under 1% |
| 4 | National Highways | 1,337 | 2% | 2.52 billion | 1% |
| 5 | Ministry of Defence | 1,285 | 2% | 14.1 billion | 7% |
| 6 | UK SHARED BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED | 1,258 | 2% | 2.86 billion | 1% |
| 7 | Environment Agency | 1,099 | 2% | 910 million | under 1% |
| 8 | HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL | 1,022 | 1% | 696 million | under 1% |
| 9 | Ministry of Justice | 948 | 1% | 8.27 billion | 4% |
| 10 | Leicestershire County Council | 733 | 1% | 350 million | under 1% |
Stated value: the amount in each award notice, split between joint winners and capped at the 99.9th percentile.
Sectors
The award records for the United Kingdom have no CPV code, so this story has no sector table.
CPV sector: the sector of the award's CPV code, the EU classification of what a contract buys. Our keyword sector labels elsewhere on the site can give other counts.
How we counted
- Contracts Finder award notices for the United Kingdom. One record is one contract award: a buyer, a supplier, a date and, where the source gives it, an amount.
- September 2024 to August 2026. This is the latest 24 months of our data for the United Kingdom, up to the last month with a normal number of awards.
- The records for the United Kingdom have no CPV code, so this story shows no sector numbers. We do not use our keyword sector labels: a hand check found too many wrong labels for most sectors.
- We count each award once: one notice, one amount, one date. We leave out awards with no supplier name, placeholder names such as "persona natural", names that are only a legal form, and names that appear on thousands of unrelated awards.
- We count suppliers by normalised name. A firm under two spellings counts as two suppliers, so the "won one award" share is an upper bound.
- Stated value is the amount in the award notice, in GBP. It is often the ceiling of a framework agreement, and the money paid can be lower. When several winners share one notice and one amount, we split the amount. We cap each award at the 99.9th percentile of the awards in the United Kingdom. 98% of the awards state an amount, GBP 199 billion in total.
- These numbers show how the awards spread across suppliers. They do not show why.
The method is the method of our study of 39 countries: who wins government contracts. Other countries: who wins, country by country. The sector pages show the same numbers for each country and sector with enough data.
Snapshot 9 October 2026. Awards from September 2024 to August 2026. The numbers change when we add new awards.