Free Guide: Slough Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Slough Borough Council · Unitary authority · South East
Data covering 2021 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£274.6m
Transactions
24,131
Suppliers
731
Key Takeaways
- £274.6 million in recorded spend across 24,131 transactions from 731 identified suppliers
- 35% of matched spend goes to health and social work, with children's services dominating
- 65 tenders worth £136.7 million published, suggesting an active pipeline for new suppliers
A unitary with £275 million flowing through the books
Slough is a compact unitary authority, just 12.7 square miles serving around 150,000 people in the South East. But it punches above its weight as a buyer. Our data covers £274.6 million in recorded spend across 24,131 transactions, drawn from 17 source files and spanning 2021 to 2026. That is a busy procurement operation for a council this size. Payment transaction data starts from January 2024, while tenders and contracts stretch back further. On the tender side, 65 opportunities have been published with a combined value of £136.7 million, and we hold one formal contract on record valued at £452,400. Slough has been through well-publicised financial difficulties in recent years, which makes the spending patterns here worth watching closely. The volume of transactions alone tells you this is an active buyer with plenty of supplier relationships turning over.
Children's services and real estate eat up half the budget
Health and social work dominates, accounting for 35% of matched spend across 101 identified suppliers. Slough Children First Limited sits at the top of the supplier list with £42.8 million, which makes sense given the council's arm's-length children's services company. Behind that, real estate activities take 16% through 47 suppliers, with Cardo (South) Limited pulling in £17.1 million and two other real estate firms in the top ten. Matrix SCM Limited, a staffing and recruitment intermediary, ranks second at £21.6 million, reflecting the admin and support services sector's 14.4% share. Education accounts for 10.5% of spend with 83 suppliers. Across the 731 suppliers we've matched, concentration is moderate. The HHI sits at 770, which is unconcentrated, though the top five suppliers still account for 49% of recorded spend. If you're outside those core sectors, the remaining spend is spread thinly across construction, waste management, and professional services.
65 tenders on record, but how open is the door really?
The tender pipeline is where things get interesting for anyone looking at Slough. Those 65 published tenders are worth a combined £136.7 million, covering everything from social care placements to infrastructure work. Our contract data holds one formal contract record, awarded through open procedure with a value of £452,400. That single contract was above threshold. The contract register captures only part of the picture, though. The transaction data paints a much busier one, with 24,131 payment records flowing to 731 suppliers. There is clearly a lot of procurement activity happening beyond what formal contract notices show. The spread across 22 different sectors suggests Slough buys a wide range of goods and services. For anyone tracking this council, the tender feed from Find a Tender and slough.gov.uk is where you will get the clearest view of upcoming opportunities. The question is whether those opportunities are genuinely competitive or whether established suppliers have the inside track.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SLOUGH CHILDREN FIRST LIMITED | £42,772,273 |
| 2 | MATRIX SCM LIMITED | £21,607,731 |
| 3 | CARDO (SOUTH) LIMITED | £17,052,956 |
| 4 | QED (SLOUGH) LIMITED | £6,591,884 |
| 5 | HARTWELL PRIMARY SCHOOL | £5,442,931 |
| 6 | SLOUGH CITY REAL ESTATES LIMITED | £4,079,988 |
| 7 | CARE UK COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS LTD | £4,019,897 |
| 8 | APTUS EA LTD | £4,004,265 |
| 9 | GRUNDON WASTE MANAGEMENT LIMITED | £3,818,340 |
| 10 | HAYBROOK COLLEGE TRUST | £3,494,624 |
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.
