…but being on the wrong ones is a bigger risk than being on none at all.
For years, public sector frameworks have been described as a route to market, in 2026, that description is no longer accurate. Frameworks are fast becoming the market.
More than £46bn of public sector spend now flows through frameworks, DPSs and dynamic markets each year. In some sectors, it is already the default procurement route. In others, it is getting there quickly.
Yet many suppliers are still approaching frameworks in the same way they did five or ten years ago - opportunistically, reactively and often without a clear view of whether the frameworks they are chasing actually unlock the buyers they want. That gap between activity and strategy is where a lot of effort and money is quietly being wasted.
More frameworks does not mean more opportunity
There are now thousands of live frameworks across the UK public sector. On the surface, that looks like choice and opportunity, in reality, it increases risk.
Being on a framework that your target buyers do not use is not a neutral position. It is a sunk cost. Time, bid resource and management attention are all tied up for little or no return. As framework volumes increase, the cost of being on the wrong ones rises with them.
One of the most persistent myths in public sector sales is that being on lots of frameworks increases your chances of success. The data suggests the opposite, the suppliers that scale most effectively are not those on the most frameworks, but those that are on the frameworks their buyers actually call off from.
The growing divide between large suppliers and everyone else
Larger suppliers, particularly strategic suppliers, consistently outperform SMEs when it comes to framework usage. They win more work through frameworks, more consistently, and across a wider range of buyers. This is not simply a size issue. It is a capability issue.
Larger firms tend to treat frameworks as part of a long-term market access strategy. They track buyer behaviour, monitor expiry cycles, engage early through preliminary market engagement and decide where to compete based on evidence rather than instinct.
SMEs and VCSEs, by contrast, often engage late, rely on generic framework lists, or assume that inclusion alone will create opportunity. The result is lower success rates and, in some cases, disengagement from the market altogether.
The Procurement Act changes the game, but only if you act
The Procurement Act introduces more flexibility through open frameworks and dynamic markets, and places greater emphasis on early market engagement. On paper, this improves access, particularly for newer and fast-growing suppliers. In practice, those benefits will accrue to suppliers who are paying attention.
Early signals matter more than ever. Pre-market engagement notices, pipeline data and buyer engagement are no longer “nice to have”. They are how suppliers influence framework design, prepare realistically and avoid being locked out for years at a time. Waiting for a framework to go live and then reacting is already too late.
A framework strategy is now a growth strategy
The most important shift suppliers need to make is mental rather than procedural. Frameworks should not sit in the bid team’s inbox as standalone events. They should sit alongside account planning, sales strategy and growth forecasting.
Decisions about which frameworks to pursue should be driven by buyer behaviour, average call-off values, service-line fit and long-term opportunity, not by headline contract value or brand recognition. Put simply, access determines opportunity and frameworks increasingly determine access.
The uncomfortable truth
Frameworks are not going away. They are becoming more central, more complex and more influential. Ignoring them is no longer viable, but engaging with them without a clear, data-led strategy is arguably worse.
In 2026, the question for suppliers is not “should we be on frameworks?”, it is “which frameworks genuinely unlock growth for our business, and why?”
Those who can answer that confidently will be the ones still winning when others quietly step back from the market.
If you would like a data-led view of which frameworks genuinely unlock growth for your business, get in touch.
