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Quest to help small firms beat barriers
Thu 22nd Jan 2009, 10:15am
A GOVERNMENT report looking at ways to get more small and medium enterprises successfully pitching for public sector work has been handed a number of solutions by the region’s leading business group.
The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) has submitted a response to the inquiry which outlines the many barriers smaller companies face when trying to win contracts with local bodies.
In March of this year, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, asked Anne Glover, chief executive of Amadeus Capital Partners, to lead an independent inquiry into the issues faced by small firms looking to supply goods or service to the public sector.
The Glover Report will conclude its consultation period this Friday before compiling recommendations to go to the Government.
NECC is advising the Glover Report that issues exist around the publication and awareness of tenders, the timescales for such opportunities and the ‘one size fits all’ approach to legislation surrounding contracts that are up for grabs.
The NECC submission states: “In order to maximise the use of SMEs the visibility of contracts needs to be much more open and clear. Many contracts are not advertised or go through framework agreements that are not visible to smaller suppliers who are not already involved in a supply chain. An obligation on public bodies to advertise small opportunities on their internet site would be helpful to smaller businesses. “
NECC has also suggested that public sector bodies should develop pipelines of tendering opportunities with indicative timescales, updated annually at budget time, which will give SMEs longer lead times that will give them enough time to write competitive bids.
The need to address the different size and complexity of tenders is also a must, according to NECC. In its submission, it outlines how one local authority, Northumberland County Council, is setting the standard by gauging the risk of each contract with lower risk work requiring considerably less information from suppliers.
NECC’s submission added: “While still recognising the authority’s duties, contracts are categorised as high or low risk and decisions are taken during the process to identify the level of information required. This approach could be encouraged across all of the public sector.”
Joanne Lavender, NECC policy adviser, said: “SMEs are keen to work with the public sector but there are an incredible number of barriers preventing them doing so. The Glover Report is an important step forward in pulling down these barriers and we hope it will take on board the recommendations we propose.
“If we can overcome these difficulties, it will have a profound impact on the regional economy and enable our smaller businesses to grow and to deliver excellent service to local bodies.”