SME Procurement Survey

SMEs make up over 99% of the UK’s 5.6 million businesses, employ around 60% of those in the private sector workforce and generate half of its turnover. However, “direct spending with SMEs of.. public sector procurement spending was only 20% in 2023" (SME Procurement Tracker 2024, by Tussell).

The new Procurement Act went live just over 100 days ago, with a pledge to increase the share of public sector spending with smaller businesses. We would like to examine the reality for small businesses in the UK in winning work from the public sector and project supply chains. We will then publish the data to help those who commission to reflect on the results and address any issues highlighted.

We invite all SMEs, including those which have never tendered, to complete our survey on their experiences and perceptions of SMEs and public sector procurement.

We would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete this survey on your company's behalf (or forward it to the person responsible for bidding or new business development in your firm). Once we have collected and analysed the results, we will share them with all respondees and others.

New deadline for survey completion: Friday September 5th, 5pm

Click on link add your experience to the survey, which takes an average of eight minutes to complete: SME Procurement Survey

* The government has just announced a consultation on further reforms to public procurement, inviting feedback on planned changes designed to ensure SMEs win a greater share of work from across the public sector.

Deadline for submissions, Friday September 5th: Public Procurement Consultation

Mark Herring and Caroline Brock
Co-Directors, Urbano Network and Talent Lab