Free Guide: Brighton and Hove Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Brighton and Hove City Council · Unitary authority · South East
Data covering 2011 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£5.0bn
Transactions
994,975
Suppliers
10,280
Key Takeaways
- £5 billion in recorded spend across nearly 995,000 transactions since 2011
- 10,280 identified suppliers and an HHI of 150, making this a highly fragmented market
- 20.1% of matched spend goes to health and social work suppliers alone
How big a buyer is Brighton and Hove?
Big enough to pay attention to. Our data covers £5 billion in recorded spend across nearly 995,000 transactions, drawn from 135 source files dating back to 2011. That is a deep spending history for a unitary authority serving around 292,000 people in just 32 square miles. On the contracts side, we've tracked 110 published contracts worth a combined £110 million, and 209 tenders with a total pipeline value of £3.5 billion. The gap between contract value and tender value is worth noting. It suggests the council runs large procurements, and that many of the bigger opportunities flow through formal tender processes rather than smaller purchase orders. Brighton and Hove is also a member of the Procure Plus Holdings consortium, which may mean some procurement activity runs through that framework. If you're sizing up this council, the transaction volume alone tells you there is consistent, recurring spend here.
A wide-open supplier base, but a few names keep showing up
With 10,280 identified suppliers and an HHI of just 150, this is an unconcentrated market. The top five suppliers account for only 20.8% of matched spend, and the top ten for 28.6%. That said, the names at the top are well embedded. Mears Limited leads with £251 million in recorded spend, followed by Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company at £131 million. Construction firms like R.J. Dance and Morgan Sindall also feature prominently. Health and social work is the biggest sector by spend, pulling in 20.1% of matched spend across over 1,000 suppliers. Administrative services (15.2%) and construction (14.8%) round out the top three. Professional and technical services, despite having the highest supplier count at 1,244, only captures 2.8% of spend. That tells you it is a crowded space with small ticket sizes. Competition there looks fierce based on what we can see.
Only five contracts on record, so what's really going on?
Here is where the picture gets interesting. Of the contracts we hold formal procurement data for, there are just five. Two were direct awards, two went through open tender, and one has no method recorded. Four of those five sit above the procurement threshold, and the median contract value is £13.6 million. So when Brighton and Hove does publish contract details, these tend to be large pieces of work. But five contracts against £5 billion in transaction spend means most purchasing happens outside formally published contracts, at least in the data we hold. The 209 tenders worth £3.5 billion tell a different story, suggesting the council does run competitive processes at scale. The contrast between tender volume and published contract count is something to keep in mind when assessing how this council routes its buying. Much of the day-to-day spend likely flows through frameworks, standing arrangements, or smaller orders below reporting thresholds.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MEARS LIMITED | £250,546,823 |
| 2 | BRIGHTON & HOVE BUS AND COACH COMPANY LIMITED | £131,182,435 |
| 3 | GB ELECTRICAL SERVICES (SOUTH EAST) LLP | £77,429,056 |
| 4 | R.J. DANCE (CONTRACTORS) LIMITED | £66,288,046 |
| 5 | SOUTHDOWN HOUSING ASSOCIATION LIMITED | £61,029,779 |
| 6 | BRIGHTON & HOVE SEASIDE COMMUNITY HOMES LIMITED | £48,308,459 |
| 7 | MORGAN SINDALL CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE LTD | £44,844,749 |
| 8 | NSL LIMITED | £44,447,790 |
| 9 | THE GRACE EYRE FOUNDATION | £41,769,284 |
| 10 | BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY SCHOOLS SERVICES LIMITED | £41,594,195 |
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.
