BidSkim
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Service market

Strategy development contracts

UK public sector · 144 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
144
Last 12 months
Median contract
£60k
Recorded value
Recorded value
£17.3m
135 of 139 main-service contracts have a published value
Buyers
108
Suppliers
132

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

What stands out

  • The five suppliers that won the most strategy development contracts took 15% of them (22 of 144).
  • Contracts awarded per quarter rose 47% from the first half of the period to the second.
  • The median contract, £60k, is 25% below the median across consulting & accountancy contracts (£80k).

Who buys strategy development

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

  1. 1Westmorland and Furness Council5 contracts
  2. 2Highways England4 contracts
  3. 3Bristol City Council4 contracts
  4. 4Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)3 contracts
  5. 5DERBY CITY COUNCIL3 contracts
  6. 6Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)3 contracts
  7. 7UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)3 contracts
  8. 8Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs2 contracts
  9. 9Bangor University2 contracts
  10. 10Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)2 contracts

Top strategy development contractors by contracts won

The 12 months to 6 October 2026.

  1. 1Arup5 contracts
  2. 2Inner Circle Consulting5 contracts
  3. 3PwC4 contracts
  4. 4Deloitte4 contracts
  5. 5AtkinsRéalis4 contracts
  6. 6Constellia3 contracts
  7. 7Venturebright Ltd2 contracts
  8. 8WSP2 contracts
  9. 9PPL (Private Public Ltd)2 contracts
  10. 10PA Consulting2 contracts

Latest and largest awards

Each links to the official notice.

Latest

Largest

Contracts awarded by quarter

34Q4 2025*34Q1 202626Q2 202650Q3 20260Q4 2026*
* part quarter

Where the contracts were awarded

England 131 · Wales 6 · Scotland 5 · Northern Ireland 2

London22South West18North West11South East11East Midlands9Yorkshire and The Humber8North East7West Midlands6East of England6Wales5Scotland3Northern Ireland2UK-wide or not stated36

What is included

Consultancy that develops or refreshes the strategy of an organisation, partnership or service area, including commercial and income generation strategies, or independently reviews how an existing service, partnership or programme performs, what it costs and how it is delivered: diagnosis, options, priorities and recommendations or an action plan the buyer then owns.

  • Corporate and departmental strategy
  • Partnership and thematic strategies such as community safety
  • Investment and market strategy for an organisation
  • Problem-solving and improvement plans for services
  • Corporate policy and strategy lots of consultancy frameworks
  • Independent review of a named service
  • Value for money and transformation review of a single service
  • Review of a partnership's effectiveness
  • Service delivery review
  • Independent management review of a programme's approach, such as knowledge management
  • Commercialisation strategy for council assets
  • Commercial business plan for an in-house traded service
  • Business development for income-earning partnerships

What is not included

  • Organisation-wide transformation and operating model design (see Transformation, operating model and process improvement)
  • Reviews of health, social care, children's services and SEND (see Health and social care transformation consultancy)
  • Governance and board reviews (see Governance reviews and board effectiveness)
  • Programme deliverability and assurance reviews (see Project assurance)
  • Commercial advice on contracts the buyer lets (see Commercial advisory services)
  • Research and evaluation that report findings (see Impact evaluation)
  • Finance function and financial recovery reviews (see Financial sustainability, recovery and finance function reviews)
  • Business plans for cultural and heritage venues (see Tourism, culture and heritage business planning)
  • Sport and leisure facility options and business cases (see Sport and leisure facility strategy, options and operator procurement advice)
  • Comparative cost and performance benchmarking against peers (see Performance and cost benchmarking)
  • Economic growth strategies (see Economic development, growth and skills strategies)
  • Property disposal and development advice (see Development appraisal)
  • Net zero and sustainability strategies (see Sustainability consultancy)
  • Digital and IT strategy (see it software (it.advice.digital it strategy))

Often bought by the same buyers