SMEs and startups won a record-breaking amount of government work worth £21bn between last year and 2021, according to new figures released by the Cabinet Office
The new figures underline the government’s commitment to helping SMEs benefit from government contracts as the £21bn equates to around £3.8k per British business, an increase of £1.7bn on the previous year.
The amount also represents the fifth consecutive year that government work won by small businesses has increased.
Small businesses across all sectors received an increase in contracts – including, but not limited to public infrastructure, education, health, and technology to better meet the country’s evolving needs.
Steven Mooney, CEO of FundMyPitch, added: “SMEs continue to be the backbone of the UK economy, and it’s great to see this being recognised by the government. They all host immense potential to innovate and revolutionise various sectors and sometimes all they need is to overcome the hurdles to accessing finance.
The government should continue to work on initiatives to support SMEs and work on collaborations with investors to better confidence.”
The minister for the Cabinet Office will be meeting with SME supplier Wagtail in Wales later to discuss the benefits of current innovative procurement practices and how the Procurement Bill will ease winning government contracts for small businesses.
It will become a new requirement for all departments and public bodies to consider SMEs when designing their procurements, meaning that more are enabled to compete for and win government contracts through simpler and more flexible regulations.
Sjuul van der Leeuw, CEO of Deployteq, commented: “Seeing the new rules introduced will hopefully unlock more of SMEs offerings, benefitting not only their business but the UK PLC overall as SMEs contribute significantly to many job opportunities and over half of UK turnover. Investing in SMEs and levelling the playing ground in such a way is an important step in helping weather the current turbulent times.
Creative tech companies, in particular, stand to benefit from government support, as they can drive innovative ideas and uses of emerging technologies such as gen AI that continually enhance the marketplace. By nurturing these businesses, we can cultivate a space for new ideas to flourish, leading to groundbreaking services, products and experiences that will mould and shape the way we interact with the world.”
The new rules include:
A new Competitive Flexible procedure, allowing contracting authorities to design more innovation into the process.
Visibility of upcoming work, allowing SMEs to have more time to gear up for bidding
A new platform showing future work in each area.
Creating one single website to register on, rather than the current time-consuming, multiple systems that SMEs have to register on before bidding for work
Reducing unnecessary insurance costs
Strengthening prompt payment so that businesses receive payment within 30 days
Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin, said: “Today’s record-breaking figures demonstrate our commitment to ensure more small businesses benefit from public sector spending, by reducing barriers to entry and encouraging a more diverse market.
One in three pounds of public money is spent on public procurement, which is why through the Procurement Bill we are improving the way it is regulated to save the taxpayer money and drive benefits across every region of the country.”
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