Procurement at CMA
Details of our purchasing arrangements and information for those looking to become a supplier or contractor.
The CMA conducts its business in a fair, open and transparent manner. It deals with many different local, national and global organisations - from those with just a few employees to those with many hundreds.
All our contracts are awarded by competition, unless there are compelling reasons why competition can’t be used.
Where required, contracts in the relevant categories are advertised on the Official Journal of the European Union’s TED (tenders electronic daily) website in line with our obligation under the EU Procurement Directives. In some cases we also issue Prior Information Notices (PINs), which describe contracts that will be formally advertised in the near future.
Opportunities to become a supplier or contractor
Opportunities can be found by:
- visiting the Contracts Finder website
- looking for opportunities to tender on TED, where all government opportunities to tender that are over limits set by EU directives are listed
The CMA contracts with its suppliers on its , which apply to all purchase orders unless alternative terms and conditions are specified.
Transparency in procurement
Details of our tender and contract documents over £10,000 can be found on the Contracts Finder website.
Improving opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
The government recognises the important role of SMEs in delivering UK economic growth and prosperity. In 2015, it set a new target to award a third of spend with third-party suppliers to SMEs by 2020.
The CMA is committed to supporting this target. We encourage SMEs to bid for business and we monitor the level of business SMEs receive from us directly (by winning contracts) and where possible indirectly (by winning contracts with prime contractors or further down supply chains).
To find out if you qualify as an SME, please read the definition on the European Commission website.
If you have any further questions regarding SMEs, please email our Commercial Team.
Information assurance
Information security is one of our highest priorities. We report annually to Cabinet Office on the department’s information maturity, and include within our response a statement on information we share with third party suppliers.
For this purpose, we ask suppliers to complete a self-assessment questionnaire about the maturity of their policies, systems and controls when handling sensitive (ie personal or protectively marked) CMA data. If the response provided does not meet CMA policy requirements, recommendations for further controls will be made to ensure that the supplier has the means to handle and protect CMA data.
eSourcing
We use Delta eSourcing to manage our tendering activities. You will need to register with Delta through Contracts Finder. If you have any problems with the registration process please email our Commercial Team.
Prompt payment
We aim to pay 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 days.
We pay all invoices for compliant goods and services as soon as they have been authorised by the CMA officials responsible for the contract. We also require prime contractors to pay their sub-contractors within 30 days, through the inclusion of a contractual condition in the prime contract.
Invoicing us
Please ensure that your invoice quotes a valid CMA purchase order reference.
You should email your invoice to Invoices@cma.gov.uk. Although we prefer to receive invoices by email, they can also be posted to:
Competition and Markets Authority
Finance Team
9th Floor,
The Cabot,
25 Cabot Square,
London
E14 4QZ
Any suppliers asked to supply to the CMA will be given a formal purchase order. Suppliers should not provide goods or services unless a valid purchase order has been received or an alternative method has been formally agreed.
Contact us
If you have any further questions regarding procurement in the CMA, please contact our Commercial Team at commercial.team@cma.gov.uk.