Partners At Last? The Public Sector And The Small Business Sector In The Wake Of 2010

13/01/10

By Matthew Sanders, Chief Executive of the number-one purchaser of temporary labour de Poel

The government tendering process and its affect on the small and medium business sector has long been a subject of media attention. Two years ago, the Sunday Times ran a campaign urging for a better deal for small businesses tendering for public contracts. They accused the government of letting small and medium businesses (SMEs) down in this area by focusing too much on the needs of big business. Two years on, and the topic is still a focal point, sparking debate, controversy and a renewed interest in the...

...matter.

This article tells how the road to public contracts may be opening up for businesses such as his own, and how he welcomes prospective changes to the system.

In the past, there have been huge and unreasonable barriers to small and medium enterprises tendering for public contracts. The problem has never been a case of SMEs being openly discouraged or barred from participating in the bidding process.

The difficulties have actually been routed in the process itself and the way it operates, preventing small or new companies from being shortlisted and making it difficult for procurement directors to open up their supply base.

In many cases it has been the sheer complexity of the procedure as well as the jargon used, not to mention continuous bureaucracy, unachievable deadlines and an endless amount of time, paperwork and costs involved which small businesses just haven't been able to keep up with. The need for insurances and other documents, the ISO 9000 for example - a quality-standards certificate only ever required by the public sector - also contributes to the hassle for small companies, rendering their problems disproportionately high compared with larger firms.

For de Poel, the biggest obstacle has lain within the pre-qualification... continued on page two >

 

 

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