SMEs are now winning 14pc of all government contracts
THE VALUE of government work going to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) is set to double to £6bn in this financial year, the cabinet office will announce today.
SMEs now undertake 13.7 per cent of all government contracts by value, up from 6.5 per cent just over a year ago, the figures show.
Cabinet secretary Francis Maude is due to give an update on SME involvement in public sector work today.
He will say nine companies including Balfour Beatty, CapGemini and Serco have signed up to the government’s online subcontracting website, which publishes the details of contracts worth more than £10,000 in the name of transparency.
The government will also look at ways to ensure smaller companies are paid more quickly.
“Progress has certainly been made on opening up opportunities to SMEs – but we are neither at the beginning nor the end of this process. And I want you to keep testing the strength of what we’re announcing today and the new ways of working we’re establishing,” Maude will tell business leaders today.
The government last year set a target that 25 per cent of government spending with third party suppliers should go to SMEs by March 2015.