GUIDE TO WINNING PUBLIC CONTRACTS

THE PUBLIC SECTOR MARKETPLACE
The public sector remains a key marketplace for SMEs, representing a valuable route to a market which each year procures
around £175 billion of goods and services (about one third of all public spending). In today’s economic climate, the fact that public
sector customers traditionally pay promptly makes them excellent clients, offering SMEs stability and business growth.
Organisations across the entire public sector should be viewed as potential customers:
• Local government spends around £27 billion on bought-in goods and services
• Regional spend in the NHS is estimated to be around £12 billion
• Civil government spend is estimated to be around £15 billion
• Up to 600 new contract opportunities are published every week
All public sector organisations buying in goods and services must get the best value for money. This means they must choose the
bid that offers “the optimum combination of whole-life costs and quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet the user’s requirement”.
It is important to realise that bids for public sector contracts will not be considered solely on the lowest price quoted.
Some of the benefits of supplying the UK public sector are as follows:
• Diverse requirements
• Positively inclined towards SMEs as suppliers
• Little or no risk of bad debt
• Prompt payment terms
• Potential for ongoing work
• Responsibility to provide services irrespective of economic conditions
Trading successfully with the public sector will also give you added credibility when dealing with private sector customers.
The Government recognises that in the delivery of goods and services to public sector organisations SMEs can offer real benefits,
including:
• Better value for money – increased competition among suppliers pushes down procurement costs
and SMEs’ lower overheads can also result in lower prices
• Better quality of service – shorter management chains and a focus on specific markets and customers
can mean greater flexibility and a more tailored, personal level of service
• Innovation – SMEs can sometimes respond more quickly to changes in technology and/or
develop new products to differentiate themselves from bigger market players
Some SMEs, however, perceive the barriers to tendering for public sector contracts as insurmountable.

This blog will act as your guide will help you to
overcome these barriers.