The UK government has recently announced several initiatives, which aim to help small businesses bid and win more government contracts.
The government is looking to give smaller businesses better access to over £50 billion of public contracts, including services, such as supplying hospital equipment and providing public sector pensions.
The Selling to Government Guide provides SMEs with essential information on how to find government contract opportunities and how to bid and then win them. The guide includes tips on how small companies can demonstrate their skills during the bidding process.
Recent government figures have revealed that SMEs won more than £15 billion in government contracts this year. Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew said: "This guide … will help small businesses navigate what can be a complex world of public procurement."
The guide also advises how small firms can receive work through supply chains, by working with larger companies, to help deliver services, such as IT projects. When the government chooses suppliers, they consider social value, which provides small businesses with the opportunity to showcase their work within the local community and could help improve their chance of winning government contracts.
The government is bringing in "sweeping procurement rules changes", according to Lord Agnew, to make it easier for SMEs to win government work. The measures will remove barriers for smaller suppliers by getting rid of "unnecessarily complicated regulations".
Lord Agnew 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."
Small Business minister Paul Scully commented: "The government is leading the way, supporting firms with this new handbook as well as ground-breaking schemes like Help to Grow: Digital which will help businesses to level up with discounted software and free tech support."
Help to Grow: Digital ensures small businesses have advice and funding, so they can embrace digital technology, helping businesses grow through discounted software and free advice and support, whilst Help to Grow: Management provides management and leadership training. The course is designed to be manageable for those who work full-time, with businesses receiving 50 hours of management training over a 12-week period, delivered by participating business schools.
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