Free Guide: South Cambridgeshire Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for South Cambridgeshire District Council · Non-metropolitan district · East of England
Data covering 2016 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£455.6m
Transactions
68,268
Suppliers
1,701
Key Takeaways
- £455.6 million in recorded spend across 68,268 transactions since 2016
- 1,711 identified suppliers with admin services and construction taking 62% of spend
- 35 tenders worth £253 million, with all 12 tracked contracts awarded through open process
How big a buyer is South Cambridgeshire?
South Cambridgeshire is a non-metropolitan district covering 348 square miles in the East of England, with a population of around 161,000. For a district council, the spending volume is worth a look. Our data covers £455.6 million in recorded spend across 68,268 transactions, drawn from 101 source files and spanning 2016 to 2026. That works out to a steady flow of purchasing activity over a decade. On the contracts side, we've tracked 16 published contracts worth a combined £7.1 million. The tender pipeline tells a different story in scale: 35 tenders with a combined value of £253.2 million. Data is sourced from Find a Tender and the council's own site at scambs.gov.uk, collected up to November 2025. If you're scoping district councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, this one has enough transactional volume to be interesting.
Admin services and construction dominate, but is the market open?
Two sectors account for nearly two-thirds of matched spend. Administrative and support services leads at 31.9% (£82.4 million across 209 identified suppliers), followed by construction at 30.0% (£77.4 million, 171 suppliers). Manufacturing sits a distant third at 7.5%. Mears Limited tops the supplier list with £62.6 million in recorded spend, operating in the admin services sector. Hill Partnerships follows at £33.2 million in construction. Between them, these two account for a large share of the top-end spend. But the broader picture is less concentrated than you might expect. The HHI sits at 803, which is low. We've matched 1,711 suppliers in total, and the top five account for 43.9% of spend, with the top ten at 51.2%. Professional and technical services has the highest supplier count at 250 firms, despite taking just 4.5% of spend. Lots of smaller engagements there.
All open tenders, no direct awards. Really?
Of the 12 contracts where we have procurement method data, every single one was awarded through an open process. No direct awards, no restricted procedures. That's unusual for any council, and it paints a picture of a procurement team that runs things competitively, at least based on the contracts we hold. The median contract value comes in at £51,780, with nine contracts falling below threshold and three above. So the bulk of tracked contract activity is in the smaller-value range. The tender pipeline is where the larger opportunities sit. Those 35 tenders carry a combined value of £253.2 million, which suggests the council routes its bigger requirements through formal tender processes. For bid managers tracking opportunities, the 100% open award rate across tracked contracts is a useful data point. Whether that pattern holds across the council's full procurement activity is something the data can't confirm, but it's a clear signal in what we can see.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MEARS LIMITED | £62,594,070 |
| 2 | HILL PARTNERSHIPS LIMITED | £33,169,481 |
| 3 | DENNIS EAGLE LIMITED | £7,138,833 |
| 4 | BENCHLEVEL DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED | £6,186,064 |
| 5 | VEV SERVICES LIMITED | £4,125,192 |
| 6 | MEAD CONSTRUCTION (CAMBRIDGE) LIMITED | £3,977,248 |
| 7 | CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY HOMES LIMITED | £3,874,701 |
| 8 | TRANSPORT FOR ALL | £3,756,700 |
| 9 | KEEPMOAT HOMES LIMITED | £3,722,967 |
| 10 | T J HUNT LTD | £3,453,368 |
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.
