Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The Small Business Service (SBS) is the lead department for developing the policy on encouraging small businesses to develop and grow in the UK.

The Policy through Procurement workstream in OGC works closely with the SBS and advises on ways contracting authorities may improve opportunities for small and medium sized businesses in competing for government contracts. This area of work has been informed and developed from the results of the BRTF Programme ,and continues to facilitate the opening of public sector markets to SMEs, increase competition for Government contracts and therefore achieve better value for money for contracting authorities. 
OGC has developed tools and techniques for contracting authorities to use in order to encourage supplier diversity.

• Purchasers can advertise below threshold contracts on a new website http://www.supply2.gov.uk/ to ensure that SMEs can compete on a level playing field for suitable contracts. 
• In order to reduce administrative burden on suppliers, the OGC has developed a standard, simplified pre-qualification questionnaire for lower value procurements .
• The OGC also offers a range of supporting guidance documents to encourage supplier diversity throughout the supply chain. The Opening Up Supply Chains project focused on providing best practice advice to public procurers on opening up supply chains. Information on the project and the best practice guidance is available on the Opening Up Supply Chains webpage.
• In the Chancellor's 2005 Budget Statement, the OGC and the SBS was tasked with conducting an investigation into the public sector's use of accreditation services. The potential positive and negative impacts upon the public procurement market were assessed, in particular from the perspective of accessibility and supplier diversity and consequent impact on achievement of VFM. The report detailing the investigation's findings is now available to download here.

The Policy through Procurement workstream also has an advisory role in improving opportunities for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), Women Owned (WO) and Disabled Owned (DO) businesses to compete for government contracts. This workstream has very close links to the BRTF Programme and OGC is keen to emphasise the relevance of our BRTF work to BME, WO and DO businesses and as a result these suppliers are encouraged to register on www.supply2.gov.uk to receive information on contracts that fall below the OJEU threshold.

The OGC has collaborated with other departments to produce the following guidance documents.

OGC and SBS' Smaller Supplier  Better Value?
OGC and SBS' Tendering for Government Contracts
OGC's Aggregation - Is Bigger Always Better?