In this article:
• What the Central Digital Platform (CDP) is and why it launched under the Procurement Act 2023
• How the “tell us once” model works for suppliers and contracting authorities
• What the CDP does and does not do — and where your e-sourcing tools still fit
• Practical steps buyers should take to prepare
• How Delta eSourcing helps you run compliant procurements alongside the CDP
UK public procurement has changed. Under the Procurement Act 2023, buyers now face a single online service for supplier information and notice publication — the Central Digital Platform. For contracting authorities used to fragmented supplier data, duplicated due diligence, and disconnected systems, the reform promises a simpler regime. Yet it also raises a practical question: where does the platform end and your day-to-day sourcing work begin? This guide answers that clearly for buyers.
Want to see how compliant procurement works in practice alongside the CDP? Request a free Delta eSourcing demo.
What is the Central Digital Platform (CDP)?
The Central Digital Platform (CDP) is the UK government’s single online service where suppliers register once and share their core information for use across public procurements. Launched on 24 February 2025 as an enhanced version of Find a Tender, it brings noticing, registration, and supplier information together in one place.
In short, the CDP is the backbone of transparency and supplier data under the new regime. Suppliers input business details, financial records, accreditations, and exclusion-ground declarations once, and contracting authorities draw on that verified data rather than re-collecting it at every stage. For buyers, that means less repetitive administration and a more consistent picture of who they are dealing with.
Why the Central Digital Platform Was Introduced
The CDP was introduced to deliver central digital platform procurement that is simpler, more transparent, and less burdensome. The Procurement Act 2023 set out to replace a patchwork of older rules with a single regime, and a shared platform was the natural way to make that regime work in practice.
Two problems drove the change. First, suppliers were submitting the same core information repeatedly across procurements, wasting effort on both sides. Second, procurement data was scattered and inconsistently disclosed, making genuine transparency difficult. As a result, the government built one service to standardise how information is registered, published, and reused — in effect, a “tell us once” model for public procurement.
How the Central Digital Platform Works
The central digital platform (CDP) works by collecting supplier information once, then allowing that data to flow — with permission — to the contracting authorities that need it. The mechanics break down into four stages.
Supplier registration and the “tell us once” principle
Suppliers register on the platform and receive a unique identifier. They enter their core organisational information a single time, covering business details, financial records, and declarations relating to exclusion grounds. This is the “tell us once” principle in action: enter it once, reuse it many times.
Sharing supplier information across contracting authorities
Crucially, supplier data is not open to everyone. A supplier chooses whether to share information with a buying organisation during a procurement, and those supplier shares can be made either through the eSender platform by generating a share code or by downloading a file to submit as directed for the tender notice process, while submitting bids still happens in the contracting authority’s separate e-sourcing system.
Publishing notices and transparency data
All UK contracting authorities publish their procurement notices on the CDP, and notices must appear there before being posted anywhere else. This single point of publication is what makes the new transparency obligations enforceable and consistent across the public sector.
How buyers access and use supplier data
On the buyer’s side, contracting authorities register, publish notices, and receive shared supplier information through the platform. The CDP therefore provides cdp data and shared supplier information, but procurement teams and contract teams still need to carry out their own due diligence and diligence checks. It remains the supplier’s responsibility to keep submitted data accurate, while the buying organisation must verify supplier eligibility and assess supplier eligibility before contract award.
Ready to streamline how your team manages tenders and supplier responses? Book a free Delta eSourcing demo.
What the Central Digital Platform Means for Buyers
For Central Digital Platform buyers, the practical message is straightforward: register early, publish correctly, and adapt your workflows. Failing to publish a required notice — or publishing incomplete information — can place an authority in breach of the Act and expose it to legal challenge.
To get ready, contracting authorities should take a few concrete steps: register the organisation and secure your unique identifier; confirm who is responsible for publishing notices and on what timeline; review your process so notices go to the CDP first, before any other channel; and brief evaluation and contract teams on how shared supplier data now reaches them. Treating this as a workflow change, rather than a one-off IT task, is what separates a smooth transition from a scramble.
Central Digital Platform vs Existing Procurement Systems
A common misunderstanding is that the CDP replaces the tools buyers already use. It does not. The platform manages supplier registration and transparency data — it is not a tendering, evaluation, or contract management system, nor does it eliminate the need for modern eSourcing over traditional procurement methods.
Where the CDP fits in your procurement tech stack
Think of the CDP as the shared layer for identity, notices, and core supplier information — it sits underneath the procurement process rather than running it. Everything involved in going to market — building the tender, responding to a tender notice, submitting bids, evaluation, and keeping a defensible record through contract award — still happens in your sourcing tools.
Using e-sourcing tools alongside the CDP
This is where a dedicated e-sourcing platform earns its place. Delta eSourcing is a comprehensive, web-based procurement platform that runs the live sourcing process — publishing opportunities, managing tenders, evaluating bids, and maintaining a full audit trail — while the CDP handles registration and transparency data. The two are complementary, not competing.
The Central Digital Platform and the Procurement Act 2023
The Central Digital Platform is the operational heart of public procurement transformation under the Procurement Act 2023. It also supports how central government and other public bodies buy goods and services under the new regime. The platform is how buyers meet transparency requirements across regulated public contracts.
That context matters now because the market is large and increasingly competitive. According to Delta eSourcing Q1 2026 procurement data (February–April 2026), UK buyers published 30,841 contract awards worth a disclosed £1.07 trillion across 2,703 buying authorities, alongside more than 9,000 procurement notices carrying £403 billion in disclosed value, illustrating the scale of activity supported by Delta and its public sector procurement partnerships. The same data shows buyers are steadily getting better at publishing contract values — a shift attributed in part to the transparency drive of the Procurement Act 2023. More disclosure means more visible activity, and more scrutiny of whether your own notices are compliant and complete.
How Delta eSourcing Supports Buyers in the New Landscape
Delta eSourcing addresses the fragmentation the CDP was designed to reduce, giving buyers a single, compliant environment to run procurements from notice to award. Where the platform standardises supplier data and publication, Delta’s eSourcing solutions simplify procurement and tender management and handle the work of actually sourcing.
In practice, that means publishing opportunities, managing tenders and supplier responses in one place, enhancing each step of the procurement process, evaluating bids consistently, and keeping a complete audit trail that stands up to challenge — the record-keeping the Act now expects. The result is a workflow that complements the CDP rather than duplicating it, integrating eSourcing with your wider procurement technologies and keeping teams compliant without adding administrative weight.
Central Digital Platform FAQs for Buyers
What is the Central Digital Platform?
The Central Digital Platform is the UK government’s single online service, launched in February 2025 as an enhanced Find a Tender, where suppliers register their core information once and contracting authorities publish procurement notices under the Procurement Act 2023.
Is the Central Digital Platform mandatory for buyers?
Yes. Contracting authorities must register on the platform to run a covered procurement, and required notices must be published on the CDP before appearing anywhere else. This applies to covered procurements, while below threshold procurement follows different rules and does not always require mandatory CDP use. Non-compliance can expose an authority to legal challenge.
Does the CDP replace my e-tendering system?
No. The CDP handles registration, notices, and supplier information. It does not build tenders, receive bids, score responses, or manage contracts — so buyers still need dedicated e-sourcing tools such as Delta eSourcing to run the procurement itself and to stay aligned with Procurement Act 2023 and CDP-related system changes.
How do buyers register for the Central Digital Platform?
Contracting authorities register their organisation on the platform and are issued a unique identifier used to identify them across procurements. Registration is the first step before publishing any notice, and buyers should ensure their organisation’s required information is accurate at this stage.
What supplier information can buyers see on the CDP?
Buyers can access the core information a supplier has entered — business details, financial records, accreditations, relevant qualifications, exclusion-ground declarations, and a vat number where applicable — but only when the supplier chooses to share it, via a share code or a downloaded file, reflecting the trusted, community-focused approach behind Delta eSourcing’s support for buyers and suppliers.
This is self-declared information shared by the supplier, so buyers must still carry out their own due diligence to verify supplier eligibility.
Key Takeaways for Buyers
The Central Digital Platform is the single online service at the centre of the Procurement Act 2023: suppliers register once, buyers publish notices, and core data is reused across procurements. It reduces duplicated effort and raises transparency — but it does not run your sourcing process. To prepare, register early, publish notices to the CDP first, brief your teams on the new data flows, and consider using expert-led procurement webinars to keep stakeholders informed about ongoing reforms.
Above all, remember the division of labour. The CDP provides the shared foundation; your e-sourcing platform runs the procurement on top of it. Delta eSourcing gives buyers a compliant environment to publish, manage, evaluate, and audit every procurement alongside the platform.
Ready to run compliant, efficient procurements alongside the CDP? Request your free Delta eSourcing demo today.