SMEs get free access to public sector contract site

The government has announced that access to its public sector contract website will be free for the next three months.

Normally there is a charge for firms that wish to look for national contracts outside their local area where there is no fee for the search.

But as from 1 May until 31 July 2008, the www.supply2.gov.uk website is running a trial that allows firms free access to public sector contracts valued under £100,000 for the UK and Northern Ireland.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) said that the trial, which is available to businesses registering for the first time, is designed to encourage smaller firms to pitch for government business.

In March, the DBERR set out an Enterprise Strategy to examine ways of overcoming the obstacles that small businesses face when competing for public sector contracts and the practicality of plans that would see 30 per cent of all public sector business awarded to smaller firms within five years.

Business Minister, Shriti Vadera said: “Small and medium sized businesses need our support to expand. Many smaller businesses are more innovative, have lower costs and present better value for taxpayers than larger firms.

“Introducing Britain’s small firms to government procurement contracts online will provide opportunities to grow that they would not have otherwise found. Encouraging more small businesses to register for opportunities will mean buyers benefit from increased competition and access to a wider range of suppliers.”

The DBERR said that more than 3,000 new contracts are available each month on the site and that, since its launch in 2006, it has published over 79,000 contract notices, many of which were under the value of £100,000, making them particularly relevant to SMEs.

Contracts put out to tender come from a variety of public bodies including local government, health, education and housing authorities, emergency services and the Olympic Delivery Authority.

John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The announcement of a free trial for small businesses to get access to public sector contracts is very welcome news. We supported the Supply2 initiative from the outset and we hope that this free trial period will encourage more small businesses to try their hand at delivering goods and services to the public sector.”

However, Mr Wright warned that local authorities and Whitehall departments must play their part too by making sure that more small business opportunities are advertised on the site.

He said: “Opening up public sector procurement to the UK’s 4.5 million small businesses can and should eradicate the false assumption that biggest is always best.”

Once the free three-month trial is over, however, registrants will only be able to use the local area search for free. Those that wish to search nationally will need to pay to upgrade their level of access.

Date:2 May 2008