Free Guide: Westmorland and Furness Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Westmorland and Furness Council · Unitary authority · North West
Data covering 2023 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£559.5m
Transactions
208,434
Suppliers
3,215
Key Takeaways
- £560 million in recorded spend across 208,000 transactions from 2023 to 2026
- 3,215 identified suppliers with an unconcentrated HHI of 77, spreading spend widely
- 783 tenders worth £492 million point to a busy and active pipeline
Half a billion in three years: how big a buyer is Westmorland and Furness?
Westmorland and Furness is a unitary authority covering nearly 1,450 square miles of North West England, with a population of around 225,000. It was formed in April 2023 from the merger of several predecessor councils, and our data picks up from that point. Across the spending records we hold, the council has pushed £560 million through 208,434 transactions between 2023 and 2026, drawn from 48 source files. That is a sizeable throughput for a largely rural authority. The data comes from five source domains, including the council's own site, its predecessor South Lakeland's, and the Find a Tender service. We have matched 3,331 suppliers to company records. On the contracts side, recorded contract value sits at around £2.1 million across 750 contracts, while 783 tenders are valued at £492 million. If you are looking at a council still bedding in post-reorganisation, this is one with plenty of purchasing activity already visible.
Who's getting paid, and is anyone dominating?
Short answer: no one is dominating. The HHI score here is just 77, which is extremely low. The top five identified suppliers account for only 11.6% of matched spend, and the top ten for 19.7%. Stagecoach Services leads at £8 million, followed closely by the University of Cumbria and Witherslack Group, both education-sector suppliers at around £7.3 million each. Kiely Bros (construction) and Creative Link Support (health and social care) round out the top five. Construction is the largest sector by spend at £43.3 million (14.2%), with health and social work close behind at £39.1 million (12.8%) and education at £38.4 million (12.6%). Administrative services, transport, and professional services all feature too. Across the 3,215 identified suppliers, 374 are in wholesale and retail, 309 in admin services, and 302 each in manufacturing and professional services. That is a broad supplier base. The council is also a member of Procure Plus Holdings, a purchasing consortium open to all public sector bodies.
Open tenders or direct awards: how does this council buy?
Our procurement data covers four detailed contract records, split evenly: two direct awards and two open tenders. Three of those four sit above the procurement threshold, with a median contract value of around £517,000. That is a small sample to draw firm conclusions from, but the even split between open and direct routes is worth watching as more data comes through. Where things get more interesting is the tender pipeline. With 783 tenders on record worth £492 million, this is a council that publishes actively. For bid managers scanning the North West, that volume of tendering activity from a single unitary authority creates a reasonable flow of opportunities to track. The blend of sectors in the spending data, from construction and health to education and transport, suggests the tender pipeline will be similarly varied. Given the council is still relatively new, procurement patterns may continue to shift as it matures.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STAGECOACH SERVICES LIMITED | £7,956,834 |
| 2 | THE UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA | £7,372,158 |
| 3 | WITHERSLACK GROUP LIMITED | £7,264,125 |
| 4 | KIELY BROS. LIMITED | £6,531,823 |
| 5 | CREATIVE LINK SUPPORT LTD | £6,351,273 |
| 6 | LANCASHIRE COUNTY CARE LTD | £5,209,767 |
| 7 | D. PARKINSON LTD | £5,130,976 |
| 8 | HEIDELBERG MATERIALS UK LIMITED | £4,966,730 |
| 9 | AGGREGATE INDUSTRIES LIMITED | £4,852,684 |
| 10 | TOP NOTCH CONTRACTORS LIMITED | £4,527,324 |
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.
