Partner Article

FSB hails victory for small business procurement opportunities

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has welcomed the Government’s commitment to overhaul the way that small businesses will be able to compete for public sector contracts.

Public sector procurement has long been an issue for small businesses, with 70 per cent of SMEs rarely bidding for public sector contracts due to a lack of awareness of the opportunities that are available and the red tape surrounding the application process.

The FSB said it is pleased the Government has recognised that the barriers exist and that it has committed to making the process simpler.

They say initiatives, such as the reform of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) process and more transparency through a new contracts website, as well as providing a dedicated voice for small firms’ views to be heard, will mean more small businesses having the potential to access work.

John Walker, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said: “These measures will now need to be accompanied by a genuine cultural change within Government procurement in terms of its approach to dealing with small businesses.

“Removing the need to fill in a PQQ for smaller contracts is a bold move but it is vital that something more bureaucratic or confusing does not emerge in its place.

“We hope the promise of a dedicated voice for small suppliers within Government will help to prevent this.”

Recent research into small firms’ access to public procurement markets across the EU places the UK 24th out of 27 member states, with only 24 per cent of contracts going to small firms, compared to 44 per cent in France.

Small and micro businesses do particularly badly in the UK, with only an estimated 11 per cent of the total value of contracts being awarded to businesses of that size.

This is despite the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 49 per cent of the UK’s turnover.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .