Business Support North East Framework
- Buyer
- North East Combined Authority
- Value
- £23,000,000
- Closes
- 13 November 2026
- Where
- Newcastle Upon Tyne, the North East
- Type
- Sets up a framework (suppliers apply to join)
In plain English
The North East Combined Authority is setting up a framework, which is a pre-approved list of suppliers, for business support services across the North East. Once suppliers are on it, public bodies can buy specialist help such as start-up support, growth advice, finance access, productivity programmes and training for businesses. The work is split into five lots covering different stages of a business's life, from encouraging entrepreneurs to helping established firms scale up.
What the buyer wants
• Suppliers must show they can design, set up and deliver business support programmes, either broad programmes or specialist support in a particular sector or business need. • Suppliers should show experience with the lot(s) they apply for, such as start-up support, productivity, high-growth scale-up, sector or supply chain development, or engagement and training. • Suppliers should be able to work alongside the regional hub and local authority networks to build strong relationships with businesses across the region.
Lots
- Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Business Start-up Support
- Business Growth, Productivity and Specialist Business Support
- High Growth, Scale-up and Investment Support
- Sector, Cluster, Supply Chain and Market Development
- Business Engagement, Development and Programme Delivery Services
Likely requirements
Our reading of the notice. Always check the tender documents.
A small business with no verifiable track record of delivering publicly funded business support, or one that cannot demonstrate capacity to mobilise and manage a programme across the North East, is likely to be screened out at the qualification stage.
How to bid
This is a framework: the buyer picks a set of suppliers now and awards work to them over several years. If you are not on it when it is awarded, you usually cannot win work from it until it is re-tendered, so this is the window to bid.
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