Free Guide: Adur Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Adur District Council · Non-metropolitan district · South East
Data covering 2011 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£1.1bn
Transactions
179,925
Suppliers
4,651
Key Takeaways
- £1.07 billion in recorded spend across nearly 180,000 transactions since 2011
- 4,651 identified suppliers but the top five account for 47.5% of matched spend
- Only 3 published contracts found, with 2 of 3 awarded through limited procedures
A billion pounds through a small district council?
Adur is a compact non-metropolitan district, just 16.2 square miles and around 64,000 residents on the West Sussex coast. But the spending records tell a bigger story than you might expect. Our dataset covers £1.07 billion in recorded spend across nearly 180,000 transactions, drawn from 497 source files and spanning 2011 to 2026. That volume looks high for a council this size, and part of the explanation is that Adur operates a shared services arrangement with Worthing Borough Council. The two councils run joint teams and budgets, so spending published under the Adur banner likely includes shared service costs. You will see Worthing-linked entities appearing in the supplier data, which supports this reading. The data comes from two sources: Adur-Worthing's own transparency pages and Find a Tender. With 4,665 matched suppliers across 15 years of records, there is a decent depth of spending history to work with here.
Where does the money actually go?
The top supplier in our data is Basildon District Council at £232 million, which is unusual and likely reflects inter-authority transfers or shared service payments rather than a typical commercial relationship. Lloyds Bank sits second at £91 million, and Winckworth Sherwood LLP third at £49 million. Construction firms feature twice in the top ten, with West Sussex (Worthing) Limited at £36 million and J. Cheesmur & Sons at £14 million. Across all matched spending, construction accounts for 15.9% and financial services for 13.8%, though 40.1% of spend sits in the Unknown sector category where supplier SIC codes have not been classified. Of the 4,651 identified suppliers, the top five account for 47.5% of recorded spend, and the top ten for 55.7%. The HHI score is 845, which is unconcentrated. So while a few large recipients dominate, spending is spread across a long tail of smaller suppliers.
Why are there so few published contracts?
This is where the picture gets thin. Our data holds only 3 published contracts for Adur, with a median value of £86,841. One was awarded through open procedure and two through limited procedures. That is a very small sample, so drawing firm conclusions about procurement style is difficult. On the tender side, there are 13 notices worth a combined £20.8 million, which gives a better sense of the pipeline. The gap between 180,000 payment transactions and just 3 formal contracts is striking but not unusual for smaller districts, particularly those operating shared services where contracts may be published under a partner authority's name. If you are tracking opportunities here, it is worth checking Worthing's contract register too. The limited procedure rate of two out of three contracts is hard to read much into given the tiny sample, but it is worth noting as you build a picture of how this council operates.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BASILDON DISTRICT COUNCIL | £231,698,771 |
| 2 | LLOYDS BANK PLC | £91,426,271 |
| 3 | WINCKWORTH SHERWOOD LLP | £48,778,077 |
| 4 | WEST SUSSEX (WORTHING) LIMITED | £35,695,713 |
| 5 | MORGAN SINDALL LIMITED | £19,777,060 |
| 6 | STEVENS & BOLTON LLP | £17,984,471 |
| 7 | NSL LIMITED | £17,132,595 |
| 8 | J. CHEESMUR & SONS (LEWES) LIMITED | £14,271,951 |
| 9 | WORTHING HOMES LIMITED | £12,524,741 |
| 10 | GOLDMAN SACHS INTERNATIONAL BANK | £12,000,000 |
About Us
CouncilLedger brings together spending records, contract awards, and tender notices from over 400 UK local authorities into one procurement intelligence platform. Our data covers 16 years of transactions, collected directly from council transparency publications and government procurement platforms. Search suppliers, track spending trends, discover tender opportunities, and monitor the contracts that matter to your business.
