BidSkim
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Service market

Legal services contracts

UK public sector · 124 contracts awarded in the 12 months to 6 October 2026

Covering 600+ buyer portals · 5 years of records · Updated 6 October 2026 · How we count

Contracts awarded
124
Last 12 months
Median contract
£140k
Recorded value
Recorded value
£70.1m
121 of 124 main-service contracts have a published value
Buyers
81
Suppliers
54

BidSkim assigns contracts to services from the notice text. How services are assigned

What stands out

  • The five suppliers that won the most legal services contracts took 36% of them (45 of 124).
  • Contracts awarded per quarter rose 39% from the first half of the period to the second.
  • The median contract, £140k, is 56% above the median across legal contracts (£90k).

Who buys legal services

By contracts awarded, the 12 months to 6 October 2026.

  1. 1UK Shared Business Services (UK SBS)11 contracts
  2. 2BANK OF ENGLAND5 contracts
  3. 3NHS Property Services Limited4 contracts
  4. 4South Norfolk Council4 contracts
  5. 5The Coal Authority4 contracts
  6. 6Ministry of Defence4 contracts
  7. 7Department for Transport3 contracts
  8. 8Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust3 contracts
  9. 9Department of Health and Social Care3 contracts
  10. 10University of Lincoln3 contracts

Top legal services contractors by contracts won

The 12 months to 6 October 2026.

  1. 1DAC Beachcroft10 contracts
  2. 2Burges Salmon10 contracts
  3. 3Capsticks9 contracts
  4. 4Hill Dickinson9 contracts
  5. 5Mills & Reeve9 contracts
  6. 6Browne Jacobson8 contracts
  7. 7TLT LLP7 contracts
  8. 8Bevan Brittan LLP7 contracts
  9. 9Eversheds Sutherland6 contracts
  10. 10Weightmans6 contracts

Latest and largest awards

Each links to the official notice.

Latest

Largest

Contracts awarded by quarter

24Q4 2025*23Q1 202645Q2 202632Q3 20260Q4 2026*
* part quarter

Where the contracts were awarded

England 116 · Scotland 7 · Northern Ireland 1

London17East Midlands13East of England12South East12North West11Yorkshire and The Humber7West Midlands5Scotland5North East1South West1Northern Ireland1UK-wide or not stated39

What is included

A standing arrangement that covers an organisation's legal needs across practice areas. It can be a panel or framework of law firms, a call-off from the full-service or general lot of a public sector legal panel, or one firm on a general retainer or outsourced legal contract, instructed matter by matter.

  • Multi-firm legal services panels and frameworks
  • Call-offs from full-service or general lots of public sector legal panels (CCS RM6240 Lot 1a, RM6179 Lot 1, RM3786 GLAS)
  • Single-firm general legal retainers and 'full range' or 'all matters of law' contracts
  • Fixed-price outsourced legal function contracts
  • Overflow and contingent support to an in-house legal team
  • Organisation-wide 'provision of legal services' term contracts that name no practice area

What is not included

  • A panel or lot covering one practice area goes to that practice area's service (for example leg.emp.employment-law, leg.hous.housing-management-possession)
  • Barristers' frameworks and counsel panels (leg.gen.counsel-barristers)
  • Legal work for one project, programme or matter with no stated practice area (leg.gen.other-legal-services)
  • Locum lawyers and standalone law-firm secondees filling a resource gap (rec.temp.legal-locums)
  • Rail legal services frameworks (leg.com.transport-and-rail-law)
  • Regeneration project advice across several areas of law (leg.prop.regeneration-and-development)
  • Commercial, corporate or finance complexity-tier lots such as major projects and complex advice (leg.com.other-commercial-legal-services)
  • Neutral vendors buying professional services on the buyer's behalf (csl.prog.neutral-vendor-professional-services)

Often bought by the same buyers