Why this webinar, why now
Councils are under more pressure than they’ve been in a generation. Tighter budgets, statutory service demand, new Procurement Act requirements, devolution shake-ups, and rising expectations on social value and sustainability — all of it is reshaping what “a good supplier” looks like in 2026.
For suppliers, that’s both the opportunity and the risk. Councils are buying — but they’re buying differently. The bids that won three years ago won’t win today. The suppliers who understand what’s changed inside local government are the ones moving up shortlists, getting onto frameworks, and building long-term council revenue.
This session pulls back the curtain. John Coyne will walk through what councils genuinely look for in a supplier today, where bids most often fall down, and how the smartest suppliers are using market intelligence to get in front of the right buyer at the right time.
What you’ll take away
In 45 minutes, you’ll get a clear, practical view of what councils are prioritising in 2026 and the spending categories where pipeline is strongest, how the Procurement Act 2023 has changed what buyers expect from supplier responses, why social value, sustainability and community impact now decide close-call bids, the most common reasons supplier bids get scored down (straight from the buyer side), how to use pre-market engagement to influence specifications before a tender ever goes live, and the intelligence and data points your bid team should be tracking weekly.
About the speaker
John Coyne — Director of Commercial and Procurement, Birmingham City Council
There are very few people in the UK who can speak with John’s authority on what councils actually want from their suppliers, because very few people have shaped public sector commercial strategy at his scale.
As Director of Commercial and Procurement at Birmingham City Council, John leads procurement for one of the largest local authorities in Europe. Before Birmingham, he held the equivalent role for the Welsh Government, directing national-level commercial activity across an entire devolved administration. Earlier in his career, he was appointed the first-ever Commercial Director of Liverpool FC, bringing a sharp commercial lens that he has carried into the public sector ever since.
With over 30 years of leadership across public, private and third sector organisations, John is known for high-impact commercial transformations and is a vocal advocate for using procurement as a lever for social and economic change, making sure every pound of public spend delivers real value to the communities it serves.
For suppliers, that’s exactly the perspective you want in the room. John knows what good looks like, what gets shortlisted, and where most supplier bids quietly lose points before anyone reads the pricing.
How Tracker Intelligence helps you act on what you hear
Knowing what councils want is half the battle. The other half is having the data to act on it before your competitors do. That’s exactly what Tracker Intelligence is built for.
Spot opportunities earlier
Get pre-tender visibility of council pipelines, prior information notices and contract expiries, so you’re engaging buyers months before a tender hits the open market, not days.
Know the buyer before you bid
Pull a complete picture of any council: their spend patterns, their incumbents, their framework usage, the procurement leads making the decisions. Walk into every conversation already understanding what they’re trying to solve.
Win more of the bids you write
See who’s bidding against you, what they’ve won previously, and where the contract awards are trending, so you sharpen your win themes and stop wasting effort on bids you can’t win.
Track frameworks that actually convert
Identify the council frameworks and DPSs delivering real spend in your category, not just the ones that sound relevant, and get on the ones that matter.
One source of truth for your bid team
Replace the patchwork of portals, spreadsheets and Google alerts with a single, searchable view of the UK public sector market.
See Tracker Intelligence in action — book a demo
If your pipeline depends on councils, or you want it to, this session will pay back the 45 minutes.