Procurement at Natural England
Details of our purchasing arrangements and information for those looking to become a supplier or contractor.
Changes to procurement at Natural England
The Procurement Act 2023 is new legislation that will change the way the public sector buys goods and services. It aims to:
- create a simpler and more flexible commercial system
- open up public procurement to new entrants
- take tougher action on underperforming suppliers
- embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle
The changes are expected to start on 24 February 2025. They were originally planned to start in October 2024.
The existing legislation will apply until 24 February 2025. After 24 February 2025, it will only apply to procurements and contracts that started before this date. Read our procurement at Defra pages for further information.
Doing business with Natural England
Suppliers can look for current opportunities to work with Natural England on our eSourcing portal. The system is free, you can register for information that interests you.
Find government contract opportunities, view contract awards and contract documents on the Contracts Finder.
Contact [email protected] if you have questions about our procurement process.
Terms and conditions
Read Natural England’s template terms and conditions for goods and services, including research and development.
Previous purchases
The following terms and conditions only apply if you received the request for quote before 6 November 2023:
For research and development purchases started before 13 December 2023, the team managing the purchase should have provided a copy of the relevant terms.
Contact the procurement team if you have any questions: [email protected].
These terms are currently available to allow access to a copy of the previous templates as required. They may be removed from this page by the end of March 2024.
Identifying the relevant terms
Refer to the request for quote to see which terms and conditions apply.
If you are awarded a contract, you will receive an award letter following the conclusion of the quotation process. This will reference the relevant terms and contain details of the purchase.
An order form will also be provided during the quotation process if the following terms apply:
- standard goods and services terms and conditions
- research and development terms and conditions
This form will be finalised at award stage with your details and the bid submitted. You should read the form alongside the terms and conditions, as it provides information you need for each specific purchase.
Accepting the terms and conditions
To accept the offer of the contract award and the:
- low value terms and conditions, sign the award letter or accept in writing
- standard goods and services terms and conditions, sign the award letter and the order form
- research and development terms and conditions, sign the award letter and the order form
Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number
New suppliers awarded a contract with Natural England must provide a Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number, a unique 9-digit number recognised as the universal standard for identifying and keeping track of businesses worldwide. It allows us to identify and learn about your company.
Supporting small and medium-sized businesses
Natural England is committed to meeting the government target of awarding one third of its spend with third-party suppliers to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by 2020. We want as many SMEs as possible to compete for our contracts. Email [email protected] for further information.
Prompt payment to Natural England suppliers
Natural England aims to pay undisputed invoices within 5 days, in line with the government’s prompt payment policy.
To support this aim, Natural England uses an automated scanning solution to speed up how they review and process invoices.
To help Natural England efficiently process your invoice, please make sure you:
- include a valid Natural England purchase order number on your invoice
- indicate the purchase order line number if you are invoicing an item from a multiple line purchase order
- provide a quantity, unit rate, and meaningful description for each unit Natural England is buying (where applicable)
- send an email that is not bigger than 4MB
- format all files as PDFs
- attach all files directly to the email – for example, you should not attach folders
- provide one PDF per invoice – all supporting documentation must be included within the single PDF
- send your invoice to the relevant email address only – do not copy in multiple addresses
- do not send password protected files – these cannot be processed
You can attach multiple invoices to one email, but each invoice must be in a separate PDF.
Submit your invoice by email to [email protected]
In exceptional circumstances, suppliers may post invoices to the following address:
Shared Services Connected Limited
DEF Procure to Pay
PO Box 790
Newport
NP10 8FZ
Sustainable procurement
Our explains how environmental factors affect our procurement policies and practices. It is supported by other policies that suppliers may need to be aware of:
How we process your personal data
We are changing the way we process your personal data relating to financial transactions when we interact with you. Our services provider Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) may process some of this data offshore. For more details see our personal information charter.