What is the Central Digital Platform?

If you are bidding for public sector contracts in the UK, the Central Digital Platform is something your business needs to understand.

Introduced as part of the Procurement Act 2023 reforms, the Central Digital Platform provides a single place for suppliers to register and maintain key information about their organisation for use in public procurement.

Rather than repeatedly supplying the same core company information every time you participate in a procurement exercise, much of that information can now be maintained centrally and shared with contracting authorities when required.

For businesses that regularly tender for public sector work, getting this right should form part of your bid readiness.

What is the Central Digital Platform?

The Central Digital Platform, often referred to as the CDP, is the government’s online platform supporting public procurement under the Procurement Act 2023.

It is accessed through the Find a Tender service and allows suppliers to register their organisation and maintain information that contracting authorities may require during procurement.

This can include information relating to your organisation, connected persons, exclusion grounds and other supplier information.

Once the required information has been completed, suppliers can generate a share code that allows a contracting authority to access the relevant information.

The objective is straightforward: reduce duplication and make it easier for suppliers and contracting authorities to manage information used repeatedly across procurement exercises.

Is the Central Digital Platform the same as Find a Tender?

They are closely connected.

Find a Tender is the government service through which public procurement notices are published and searched.

The Central Digital Platform functionality sits within the wider Find a Tender service and provides the supplier registration and information-sharing element of the new procurement regime.

For suppliers, this means Find a Tender is increasingly more than somewhere to search for contract opportunities. It also forms an important part of maintaining the information required to participate in public procurement.

What information does a supplier need to provide?

The information required will depend on the organisation and procurement, but suppliers should expect to maintain core information about their business.

This can include:

• Basic organisational and registration information.
• Companies House information where applicable.
• Details of connected persons.
• Relevant exclusion information.
• Financial and organisational information.
• Other supplier information required under the procurement regime.

The important point is that this information needs to be accurate and kept up to date.

Do not treat registration as something that can simply be completed once and forgotten.

Changes to directors, ownership, company information or other relevant circumstances may mean that your supplier information needs updating.

What is a PPON?

A PPON is a Procurement Particulars Object Number.

It is a unique identifier associated with information held within the Central Digital Platform.

Businesses bidding under the new procurement regime may see PPON references appearing within procurement documentation or information generated through the platform.

It is therefore worth ensuring that the people responsible for bids within your organisation understand what these references are and where the relevant information is maintained.

What is a Central Digital Platform share code?

The share code allows a supplier to provide a contracting authority with access to information held about the organisation on the Central Digital Platform.

This is an important distinction.

You are not simply telling the contracting authority that your organisation is registered. Where requested as part of a procurement, you may need to generate and provide the appropriate share code.

Your bid team should therefore check the procurement documents carefully rather than assuming that registration alone satisfies the requirement.

Do I need to register before bidding?

If your organisation intends to compete for public contracts covered by the new procurement regime, registration should be dealt with as part of your general bid readiness.

Waiting until a major tender lands in your inbox creates unnecessary risk.

Public sector tenders operate to fixed deadlines. Discovering close to submission that company information needs registering, updating or checking can create additional work at exactly the point your bid team should be concentrating on the submission.

At Meridian Strategies, we encourage clients to address these requirements before an important opportunity goes live.

Does registering mean my business is approved to win public contracts?

No.

Registration on the Central Digital Platform should not be confused with qualification for a particular contract.

It does not mean that your organisation has been approved by every contracting authority, and it does not guarantee that you will meet the conditions of participation for a particular procurement.

You will still need to satisfy the requirements of the individual opportunity.

Depending on the procurement, this could include demonstrating:

• Appropriate financial standing.
• Relevant technical and professional ability.
• Suitable previous contract experience.
• Required accreditations and certifications.
• Appropriate insurance.
• Compliance with mandatory requirements.
• Sufficient resources and capacity.
• Relevant policies and procedures.

And, of course, you still need to submit a competitive tender.

Does the Central Digital Platform replace the tender response?

No.

The platform helps deal with supplier information, but the competitive element of a procurement remains.

Contracting authorities will continue to assess bidders against the requirements and award criteria set out within their procurement documents.

That may involve detailed responses covering areas such as mobilisation, service delivery, contract management, staffing, quality assurance, social value, sustainability, risk, innovation, commercial proposals and pricing.

This is where the quality of your bid becomes critical.

Being correctly registered gets you through an administrative part of the process. It does not win the contract.

What should businesses do now?

If public sector contracts form part of your growth strategy, we recommend making Central Digital Platform readiness part of your wider tender preparation.

Before your next major opportunity, check that:

• Your organisation is correctly registered.
• Your company information is accurate.
• Relevant connected-person information is current.
• The appropriate people within your business can access the account.
• Your bid team understands how to generate and provide share codes.
• Your wider tender evidence library is current.
• Policies, accreditations, insurance and supporting evidence are ready.
• Responsibility for maintaining supplier information is clearly allocated.

Good bid management starts before the tender is published.

How Meridian Strategies Can Help

Meridian Strategies supports organisations throughout the public and private sector tender lifecycle.

Our team of six specialist bid writers brings more than 100 years of combined bid management and commercial experience, supporting clients from initial qualification and bid/no-bid decisions through to strategy, writing, review, commercial development and final submission.

If you are preparing to enter public sector procurement for the first time, we can help establish the foundations you need before bidding.

If you already compete regularly, we can review your bid readiness, evidence, processes and approach to identify weaknesses before they affect a live submission.

And when the right opportunity arrives, we can manage the bid with you from qualification through to submission.

Winning work that matters.