Government bodies account for over a tenth of all spending in the economy. Their procurement budgets therefore represent lucrative opportunities for businesses large and small alike. Despite the enthusiasm towards them, the government often struggles to adequately support smaller businesses throughout the procurement process – with only 10% of total government spending ultimately going to SMEs.
In Access All Areas: Government, published with Enterprise Nation, Aria Babu and Emma Jones look at the barriers SMEs face when trying to sell to the government, and how they might be tackled. Recommendations they make include writing tenders in a way which allows for more innovation from suppliers, working to connect SMEs with previously successful bidders, and better signposting of upcoming procurement to increase certainty over the pipeline of opportunities an SME could bid for.