Free Guide: Tunbridge Wells Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council · Non-metropolitan district · South East
Data covering 2014 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£143.5m
Transactions
24,695
Suppliers
1,565
Key Takeaways
- £143.5 million in recorded spend across 24,695 transactions since 2014
- 1,621 matched suppliers spread across 21 sectors with an unconcentrated HHI of 327
- 5 of 7 published contracts awarded through open tender procedures
How big a buyer is Tunbridge Wells?
For a non-metropolitan district of around 119,000 people in Kent, Tunbridge Wells moves decent money through its books. Our data shows £143.5 million in recorded spend across 24,695 transactions, drawn from 102 source files covering 2014 to 2026. That works out to a steady drumbeat of purchasing activity over more than a decade. On the contracts side, we've tracked 31 published contracts worth a combined £5.1 million, alongside 41 tenders valued at £4.4 million. The median contract value sits at £43,545, so this is predominantly a council buying in modest chunks rather than letting huge single awards. If you're used to chasing seven-figure frameworks, this is a different rhythm. But the volume of smaller transactions suggests regular, repeating demand across services. The spending data comes from the council's own open data portal and Find a Tender, all published under OGL-v3.
Waste and construction dominate, but who else is at the table?
Biffa appears twice in the top five identified suppliers, through two separate entities, with a combined recorded spend of around £11.2 million. That's waste management locking up the top spot. Tivoli Group follows at £5.3 million for grounds maintenance, and Sodexo sits at £4.4 million. Construction firms fill out the rest of the top ten, with Mace, Buxton Building Contractors, Blakedown Landscapes, G M Monk, and OCO all appearing. Across the 1,621 suppliers we've matched, construction and waste management each account for roughly 17.5% of spend, running almost neck and neck. Professional services and admin support follow at around 13.5% each. Despite those big names at the top, concentration is low. An HHI of 327 is unconcentrated, and the top five suppliers account for 36.3% of recorded spend. That's a wide supplier base for a borough council, with 119 construction suppliers alone in our records.
Does open competition actually happen here?
Based on the 7 contracts where we have method data, yes. Five went through open procedures, one through a limited process, and just one was a direct award. That's a strong lean towards competitive procurement, at least in the published records. Two contracts sat above the public procurement threshold, with the remaining five below it. The contract size profile reinforces what the median value of £43,545 tells you: this council tends to buy in smaller lots. The tender pipeline of 41 opportunities at £4.4 million gives you a sense of upcoming or recent market engagement. For a borough council covering 127.8 square miles of west Kent, the procurement pattern looks fairly open. Most of what gets published goes to competitive process. Whether that holds across the wider spending base is harder to say from contracts data alone, but the direction is clear in what's been published.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BIFFA ENVIRONMENTAL MUNICIPAL SERVICES LIMITED | £6,507,814 |
| 2 | TIVOLI GROUP LIMITED | £5,315,612 |
| 3 | BIFFA MUNICIPAL LIMITED | £4,728,151 |
| 4 | SODEXO LIMITED | £4,380,999 |
| 5 | TOWN AND COUNTRY HOUSING GROUP | £3,143,693 |
| 6 | MACE LIMITED | £2,356,019 |
| 7 | BUXTON BUILDING CONTRACTORS LIMITED | £1,729,066 |
| 8 | BLAKEDOWN LANDSCAPES (SE) LIMITED | £1,157,705 |
| 9 | G M MONK LIMITED | £1,118,129 |
| 10 | OCO LIMITED | £1,044,382 |
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.
