Rules and ethics
Event marketing procurement in Scotland and Wales
Procurement guidance for event marketing agency bids in Scotland and Wales, including tender routes, proposal costs and funded-work reporting.
What to take away
- For an event marketing agency bidding in Scotland, check the tender requirements and any applicable EventScotland or VisitScotland funding guidance, and show how the funder can audit an event's legacy.
- Walescheck the buyer's requirements and price Welsh-language production as its own line where required.
- UK procurement thresholds of £139,000 for central government and £214,000 for other public bodies decide how a commission is bid.
- Reporting dates and record retention are conditions of payment, so they belong in the fee and the timeline.
- Evaluation and bilingual production are the two cost lines most often missing from funded proposals.
The thresholds that decide how you bid
Scotland and Wales run separate procurement rules on the same financial thresholds. Goods and services above £139,000 for central government, or above £214,000 for local authorities and other public buyers, must be advertised. Works above £5,382,000 follow the same route.
High value contracts across the UK's public and utilities sectors are searched and applied for through the Find a Tender service, which replaced the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily on 1 January 2021. Set an alert there as well as on the national portals.
Below those figures each buyer applies its own quotation rules. Scottish notices appear on Public Contracts Scotland, which also runs a Quick Quote route. Welsh notices appear on Sell2Wales, where buyers seek two or three written quotes.
| Contract type | Advertised above | Route below the threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Goods and services, central government | £139,000 | Buyer's own quotation rules |
| Goods and services, wider public sector | £214,000 | Two or three written quotes |
| Works | £5,382,000 | Framework or quotation |
How Welsh commissions are let
- Below lower threshold: quotes from short list
- Above lower threshold: advertised formal tender
- Above higher threshold: full public procurement rules
- Framework agreements can bypass open market
- Subsidy control applies to grants and contracts
Price a £60,000 commission (illustrative) knowing two competitors will quote against you. Bid-rigging can be treated as a criminal cartel offence, and the Competition and Markets Authority enforces competition law.
Scotland: funding considerations for agency proposals
For location-specific context, see the Glasgow and Edinburgh compliance checks. For a Scottish funding bid, verify the current eligibility, application requirements and reporting conditions with the relevant funder. EventScotland then channels support through its national and international event funding programmes. VisitScotland funds destination marketing that sits alongside a funded event.
On the procurement side, Scottish buyers work under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 as well as the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. The Act sets out procurement responsibilities and accountabilities for public bodies, so expect a Scottish buyer's tender documents to reflect it.
Scottish event funding routes
- EventScotland national and international funding
- EventScotland regional events funding
- VisitScotland campaign partnership support
- Scottish Enterprise and HIE support
- Local authority event funding
Eligibility turns on location, track record, audience and funding mix. A first-year event in a priority region can qualify where a repeat event in a saturated market cannot. Local authority and enterprise agency money often sits on top of a national award.
Wales: Major Events Unit and bilingual delivery
Welsh event funding is delivered by the Welsh Government's Major Events Unit and by Visit Wales. Regional money also flows through the city and growth deals and through Cardiff Capital Region.
Two differences shape the proposal. Welsh language output is a contractual requirement on most publicly funded campaigns, so price it as production work rather than a courtesy. The duty behind it comes from the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which places statutory duties on the use of Welsh in public services and establishes the Welsh Language Commissioner. The Commissioner issues each public body a compliance notice setting out which Welsh language standards it must meet, so ask the buyer which standards apply to the campaign. Assessment also weighs community benefit, so the measurement plan needs participation and wellbeing data alongside reach.
Larger commissions appear on Sell2Wales, so register and set an alert before you need one. Use each tender notice and the buyer's documents to confirm the contracting body, eligibility, required evidence and submission timetable.
Example: splitting eligible and ineligible costs
An agency promotes a three-day event on a £180,000 marketing commission. The figures below are illustrative, not a quoted price.
Splitting eligible and ineligible costs
| Cost line | Amount (illustrative) | Funder treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign media buying | £48,000 | Eligible, promotion |
| Welsh and English creative production | £9,500 | Eligible, marketing |
| Visitor survey and impact report | £12,000 | Eligible, evaluation |
| Permanent staff retainer unconnected to the event | £15,000 | Ineligible, core cost |
| Design completed before approval | £4,000 | Ineligible, retrospective spend |
Move the £19,000 of ineligible spend out of the grant budget. Fund it commercially or agree a written variation before the work starts. Each eligible line needs a tracking method attached, because the funder will ask how the number was produced.
Reporting dates and retention
The offer letter sets the dates, and they are conditions of payment. Typical funded event conditions run like this:
- within 30 days of each funded milestone.
- within 60 days of the event closing.
- within 90 days.
- six years, the baseline HMRC applies to tax records.
Build those dates into the plan and the fee. A proposal that treats monitoring as unpaid admin loses money on the first contract. The fee structure follows the same logic, and the retainer versus project fee comparison shows how each structure handles staged payment.
Under UK GDPR and PECR the client is usually controller and the agency processor, so name the lawful basis, consent route and retention period. Publicly funded event marketing is still advertising, and claims about visitor numbers are judged against the CAP Code, so the advertising codes govern the wording.
Bidders are checked before scoring. Buyers use the Companies House register to confirm a company exists, is active and has the directors it claims.
Common questions
Do we need a base in Scotland or Wales to bid?
No. Local presence helps where a brief scores regional delivery or community links, and many funders accept UK-wide bidders with a credible local plan.
Can we bill for work done before the funding is approved?
Rarely. Retrospective spend sits outside the funded period and cannot be claimed.
Does the Procurement Act 2023 apply in Scotland?
No. Scotland keeps the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. England, Wales and Northern Ireland moved to the Procurement Act 2023 in February 2025, on the same financial thresholds.
Are Welsh language costs eligible?
Yes on Welsh Government funded campaigns, and they should appear as a production line rather than absorbed into creative fees.
