Government departments and the Crown Commercial Service will have to lay out how they plan to increase the level of procurement business they place with UK based small and medium sized enterprises.
While figures show that 26% of procurement in 2013/14 went to SMEs, Matt Hancock, pictured, Minister for the Cabinet Office has announced that, by 2020, the Government wants to increase this to a third.
Hancock said: "This is such an amazing opportunity for the country's diverse and innovative small businesses and I urge them to get stuck in. From computers to uniforms – there are so many opportunities for small businesses to work with us and I want to see more of them providing value for money for the taxpayer and benefiting from our spending."
John Allan, National chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "The Government has much to gain from opening up public procurement to smaller businesses and we welcome its commitment to achieve this ambitious target."
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Author
Graham Pitcher
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk