A chartered building consultancy owner who is among a panel of 24 entrepreneurs advising the government on how it can make Whitehall contracts more accessible to SMEs is keen to hear industry concerns.
Farooq Mohammed MCIOB MCMI, director of consultancy es-p, is working with 23 other business people from across different sectors and government to ensure that by 2020 £1 of every £3 invested by Whitehall in goods and services goes to SMEs.
If met, the target would mean almost £3bn of new business up for grabs each year, either directly or through the supply chain. The panel met for the first time last month.
Mohammed said: “The panel will be looking at barriers around procurement that inhibit SMEs from winning work and then working with the Cabinet Office to influence procedures and bring about change. I think things have moved forward, but not to the degree the government would like.”
Mohammed, whose own company is involved in helping other companies around procurement and winning work said: “The government is keen to help encourage SMEs which are far more agile and bring more innovation than bigger companies. I’m certainly keen to hear from small companies in the built environment to hear about their experiences.”
Other SMEs from the built environment include CF Architects and the Building Engineering Services Association.
The Cabinet Office has estimated that 27% of the government’s procurement spending, or £12.1bn, reached small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2014-15, surpassing its target of 25%. An advisory panel supported this work and a number of its members are continuing to work with the government towards its aim to increase its spending with SMEs to 33% by 2020.
Ben Gummer, minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, said: “The business experts will play a vital role to help us increase spending with SMEs, which are the lifeblood of the UK economy. Government is firmly on the side of entrepreneurs and we will do everything we can to make their lives easier. That’s why we have asked business experts to work with us towards our aim that £1 in every £3 of government procurement spending should go to SMEs by 2020.”
John Manzoni, chief executive of the Civil Service and permanent secretary for the Cabinet Office, said: “Government is open for business and wants to work with more smaller businesses across the UK. These 24 business experts from across the UK will help government improve the procurement process so it is simpler, clearer and faster for SMEs.”
Those wishing to report their experiences in terms of being excluded for government construction contracts should contact Mohammad farooq farooq@es-p.org
