Buying routes
Direct award
Awarding a contract to a supplier without running a competition, where the rules allow.
A direct award skips the competition — for example, calling off from a framework against fixed terms, or in specific circumstances permitted by the rules.
For suppliers, the lesson is that not every contract is won through a tender; sometimes the route in is being pre-positioned on the right agreement.
Related terms
See live tenders, scored against your company.
Browse tenders