Figures from the cabinet office have revealed that the Government has hit its SME procurement target for 2014/15. They have exceeded their target of 25% set in the last parliament, meaning 27.1% of central government procurement spend was with small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s). This £12.1bn spend portrays the Government’s desire to propel its ambition for working with small businesses. A new target has now been further stretched for 2020, increasing this quarter spend to a third.
Being an SME, competing against those larger corporations may appear to be somewhat daunting or impossible. However, The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy reveals that the Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock has stated he wants as many SMEs as possible competing for and winning public sector contracts.
In addition, The Department for International Development (DFID) has applied a wide range of interventions to tackle many barriers for SMEs. Measures such as the simplification of the pre-qualification process and making processes more transparent, simpler and faster have been exercised. This is beneficial for small firms, making it less costly and time consuming to work with larger suppliers.
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Thornton and Lowe supports small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to bid for and win public sector contracts by delivering our suite of bid services including:
- Strategic bid support - Having a clear bid strategy is essential, our expert bid managers and bid writing consultants will review all existing associated documentation and through communication with key stakeholders we will agree a best practice strategy, which ensures continuous improvement and increased success rates.
- Bid Management & Tender Writing - Writing a bid or tender is a specialist skill, Thornton & Lowe’s experienced bid professionals who form our bid management team really are experts on tendering. This year alone we will have supported our clients with contracts in excess of £37 billion pounds making us one of the largest bid management expert consultancies in the UK.
- Tender Training - Thornton & Lowe has designed a range of practical training courses, designed to help you write a clear, concise, competitive and compelling bid. Our training courses are extremely popular with clients, as they receive hands on, relevant information, as well as plenty of opportunities to have their questions answered. Plus the course is packed full of constructive tips
