FSB backs Osborne on government procurement for SMEs

The shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, today called on the government to give small businesses greater access to the £125 billion government procurement budget.

The plan which has won the support of the Federation of Small Businesses is deisgned to open up an important source of revenue to Britain’s SMEs as they face an increasingly difficult economic climate.

The four central elements of Tory proposals are to:

– scrap the rule requiring companies to provide three years of audited accounts when bidding for government contracts;

– immediately introduce a single pre-qualification questionnaire for government contracts worth less than £50,000;

– introduce an immediate requirement that all government contracts worth over £10,000 are published online, so that small companies can for the first time find out exactly what contracts are available, and;

– introduce an aspiration that 25% of government contracts should be awarded to SMEs.

John Wright, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses said:

The Government has pledged to offer more procurement contracts to small businesses, but currently only 16 per cent of contracts are awarded to small and medium sized enterprises.

Meanwhile the government today encouraged female entrepreneurs to make the most of WEConnect, an initiative launched earlier this year designed to give women in business greater access to corporate procurement contracts.