Free Guide: Wigan Spending & Supplier Profile
A free spending & supplier guide for Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council · Metropolitan district · North West
Data covering 2011 to 2026
Recorded Spend
£4.6bn
Transactions
786,253
Suppliers
5,430
Key Takeaways
- £4.6 billion in recorded spend across 786,253 transactions since 2011
- 5,430 identified suppliers with an unconcentrated market at HHI 104
- Health and social care takes 25.7% of matched spend, construction follows at 20.2%
£4.6 billion over 15 years: what does that tell you?
Wigan is a big buyer. Our dataset covers £4.6 billion in recorded spend across 786,253 transactions, drawn from 28 source files spanning 2011 to 2026. That is a metropolitan borough of 330,000 people in Greater Manchester, and the spending profile matches what you would expect from a council of that size. On the contracts side, we have tracked 55 published contracts worth a combined £5.7 million, plus 92 tenders with a total pipeline value of £376 million. The gap between those two numbers is worth noting. The tender pipeline is large relative to the contracted values we hold, which suggests many of those opportunities are either still in play, awarded through frameworks, or recorded differently. Wigan sits within the GMCA combined authority and is a member of Procure Plus Holdings, a consortium open to all public sector bodies. If you are already working through Procure Plus, that is a route worth being aware of.
Who's getting paid, and how spread out is it?
The short answer: lots of suppliers, and no single firm dominates. Wigan's HHI is just 104, which is very low. The top five identified suppliers account for only 17.7% of matched spend, and the top ten for 26.6%. Across the 5,430 suppliers we have matched, the money is genuinely spread around. FCC Recycling leads with £136 million in recorded spend, mostly in waste management. Access for Wigan follows at £106 million, then Agilisys at £104 million on the IT side. Three of the top ten are construction firms: JJH Building Contractors, A. Connolly, and Borras Construction, with a combined £162 million between them. Health and social care is the biggest sector at 25.7% of matched spend, spread across 641 suppliers. Construction takes 20.2% with 399 suppliers. Professional services, admin, and education each sit in the 7-9% range. That is a broad base of activity across multiple sectors.
How open is the front door?
Our contracts data for Wigan is thin, with just two recorded contracts in the procurement breakdown. Both went through open tender, one above threshold and one below, with a median value of £2.85 million. That is too small a sample to draw firm conclusions about how Wigan typically buys. But the tender pipeline tells a fuller story. With 92 tenders worth £376 million in total, there is clearly activity coming through formal procurement routes. The median contract value of £2.85 million puts the recorded contracts in mid-range territory, neither the small stuff nor the mega-deals. Given the council's membership of Procure Plus Holdings, some procurement likely runs through framework agreements that would not appear in these contract figures. The very low market concentration and high supplier count suggest Wigan is not a council that leans heavily on a small pool of incumbents, at least based on the spending patterns we can see.
| # | Supplier | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FCC RECYCLING (UK) LIMITED | £136,096,077 |
| 2 | ACCESS FOR WIGAN LIMITED | £105,870,225 |
| 3 | AGILISYS LIMITED | £103,500,176 |
| 4 | DISABILITY DIRECT | £78,018,909 |
| 5 | CROFTWOOD CARE LTD | £62,342,384 |
| 6 | JJH BUILDING CONTRACTORS LIMITED | £58,714,337 |
| 7 | A. CONNOLLY LIMITED | £55,359,052 |
| 8 | BORRAS CONSTRUCTION LTD. | £47,979,565 |
| 9 | CHERISH UK LIMITED | £46,132,862 |
| 10 | MEARS LIMITED | £36,466,883 |
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.
