The Requirements Observatory
What UK public tenders actually demand — certifications, policies, standards — measured across 740,000+ official notices. Counts are notice-text mentions (the full requirement set lives in each tender pack), and trends compare rates per 10,000 notices, so ingest growth never masquerades as demand.
People & workforce
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Apprenticeships | 4,644 | steady |
| Safeguarding | 3,823 | ↑ 13% |
| DBS checks | 1,317 | ↓ 19% |
| Real living wage | 220 | ↑ 131% |
Sustainability & social value
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Net zero commitments | 2,724 | ↓ 13% |
| Social value | 2,267 | steady |
| Biodiversity / environmental net gain | 1,214 | ↓ 10% |
| Modern slavery statement | 246 | ↓ 38% |
| Carbon reduction plan (PPN 06/21) | 45 | ↑ 38% |
| B Corp | 4 | ↑ 131% |
Legal & regulatory
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| TUPE transfer | 2,039 | ↓ 21% |
| FCA authorisation | 1,050 | ↑ 36% |
| UK GDPR / data protection | 617 | ↑ 65% |
| Lexcel (legal practice standard) | 9 | — |
Sector regulators
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| CQC registration | 1,534 | steady |
| Ofsted | 1,219 | ↓ 19% |
| MHRA | 793 | steady |
| SIA licence | 95 | ↓ 59% |
| HACCP / food hygiene | 24 | ↑ 15% |
Certifications & standards
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| SSIP family (CHAS / Constructionline / SafeContractor) | 850 | ↓ 48% |
| UKAS accreditation | 478 | steady |
| ISO 9001 (quality) | 323 | ↑ 19% |
| Cyber Essentials (Plus) | 288 | ↑ 15% |
| ISO 27001 (information security) | 121 | ↑ 84% |
| ISO 14001 (environmental) | 91 | ↓ 23% |
| ISO 45001 (health & safety) | 63 | ↑ 34% |
| SOC 2 | 3 | — |
| ISO 42001 (AI management) | 1 | — |
Financial & insurance
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Audited accounts / financial standing | 466 | ↓ 20% |
| IR35 / off-payroll | 458 | ↓ 84% |
| Professional indemnity insurance | 455 | steady |
Security & clearance
| Requirement | Tenders mentioning | Trend (rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Security clearance (SC/DV/BPSS) | 304 | steady |
| PCI DSS | 121 | ↑ 32% |
| NHS Data Security & Protection Toolkit | 45 | ↑ 303% |
Advise on any of these — certification, sustainability, security, compliance? The observatory shows you where demand is moving; the tenders show you who’s responding to it.
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