The new Procurement Act and SMEs: Turn Words Into Actions
Talent Lab can create and improve public sector engagement programmes to deliver on SME targets.
SMEs make up over 99% of the UK’s 5.6 million businesses, employ around 60% of those in the private sector workforce and generate half of its turnover. However, the 2024 SME Procurement Tracker by Tussell reports “direct spending with SMEs of.. public sector procurement spending was only 20% in 2023, the same as 2022″. The spending dial with SMEs is still firmly stuck. But how can we shift it – and why?
The challenge
Bidding and winning opportunities in the public sector is a challenge for small businesses. The average SME contract win is £32k from direct tendering, while a SME can turn over up to £25M. There’s a disconnect between SMEs and the public sector. Private sector success doesn’t always translate to winning public sector work, where the rules and language around procurement can seem obtuse, unfair and not worthy of the investment needed to submit tenders only to lose.
Enhancing awareness of tenders won’t drive real change. Yet, the government knows that UK PLC is missing out on the qualities that SMEs can bring as suppliers to national and local government, the NHS, defence, education, infrastructure and construction, especially as employers, innovators, and socially conscious businesses committed to reducing their environmental impact.
How we can help
As directors of Talent Lab and Urbano, we understand SMEs and can create or improve programmes to help smaller companies to win work. We can also help deliver on targets such as sustainability, ED&I, innovation, local employment, anti-slavery, compliance, and regulation.
If you and your organisation is looking for ways to engage, inform and support SMEs to become suppliers to the public sector, download our Capability Statement on how we can help: Procurement and SMEs