Guide to help SMEs get government contracts

The “Selling To Government Guide” will give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) essential information on how to bid for and win government contracts including advice on where business owners can look online for government contract opportunities and also tips on how SMEs can make sure they are showcasing their strengths during the bidding process. This will be backed up by online webinar sessions for small businesses.

There are more than £50 billion worth of public contracts for which SMEs can bid including things such as supplying hospital equipment to providing public sector pensions, which are tendered each year.

The guide also gives guidance on how businesses can secure work through supply chains by working with larger companies to help deliver things such as long-running IT or catering projects.

It also advises how the government considers social value when choosing suppliers. This will then allow agile, smaller enterprises to highlight the work they do in their communities and ultimately offer them a better chance of winning government contracts.

In the most recent figures, SMEs won more than £15 billion in government contracts.

The Cabinet Office Minister, Lord Agnew, said the government is also bringing in sweeping procurement rules changes, to make it easier and more flexible for SMEs to win government work.

“The Cabinet Office has previously announced other measures which aim to level the playing field for SMEs in the Transforming Public Procurement green paper. The changes contained in the paper will completely overhaul the current EU rules, removing barriers for smaller suppliers by getting rid of unnecessarily complicated regulations,” he said.

“We are simplifying the bidding process to make it easier for SMEs to secure contracts by creating one single central platform which suppliers have to register on, so they only have to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector procurement.”

The Small Business Minister, Paul Scully, said as well as the £352 billion in support provided to firms to help them through the pandemic, the government is also helping small businesses level up through the Help to Grow schemes.

Help to Grow: Digital will provide business leaders with the advice and funding they need to embrace digital technology and help their business grow through discounted software and free advice and support, while Help to Grow: Management offers business leaders management and leadership training. Designed to be manageable alongside full-time work, businesses receive 50 hours of training across 12 weeks as part of the Help to Grow: Management course provided at participating business schools.