24 March 2009 – Mermaid Conference Centre, London

Engaging with SMEs

The GO SME National Procurement Conference provided delegates with valuable information on how small and medium-sized enterprises and third sector organisations can engage with the public sector, explains GO Features Editor Morven MacNeil.

It is difficult for business not to be affected by the current financial situation, but such times also present an opportunity to develop better, more effective or innovative commercial approaches, break into new markets, and challenge business preconceptions.

The GO SME National Procurement Conference – Engaging With SMEs, held recently at the Mermaid Theatre, London and organised by BiP Solutions, was about seizing these opportunities, and seeing the public sector as a rewarding customer for enterprises of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds to engage with.

Speakers at the conference included Naomi Davy, Senior Policy Advisor and Programme Manager of the Glover Review, Office of Government Commerce; Phil Adams, Interoperability Manager, Supply2.gov.uk; Ross Armitage, Finance Director, The Camden Society; Patrick Elliott, Chief Executive, Business Link in London; Leon Clarke, Head of Olympic Business Legacy, London Development Agency; Ken Cole, Efficiency Advisor, Capital Ambition; Jillian Lilico, Programme Manager, Pera/Supply London; John Marshall, Policy Manager of Public Service Delivery, at the Office of the Third Sector; and Gary Welch, Programme Director, London Procurement Programme.

Chairing the conference was GO Managing Editor Grahame Steed. He informed delegates: “The opportunity to engage with the public sector is enormous – and government has taken a number of significant steps in recent years to ensure that opportunities are easier to find and respond to. The Supply2.gov.uk website, established in 2006, now has around 140,000 registered suppliers and has provided free access to thousands of contract opportunities covering virtually every sector imaginable in the UK.

“The CompeteFor service, launched in 2008, has also benefited suppliers by publishing London 2012 Olympic Games-related opportunities, opening up the supply chain from both the public and private sectors. And the Glover Review, published in November last year, has set government the task of increasing transparency and engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises still further.”

The Glover Review was a far-reaching examination of how government could better engage with the SME community, in order to build a stronger supply base for the public sector. Conducted by Anne Glover, co-founder and Chief Executive of investment firm Amadeus, the Review saw all of its recommendations accepted by government.

Ms Glover was asked to put together a committee which spoke to businesses, looked at best practice in other countries including the EU, and conducted a consultation process – in all, around 1300 SMEs spoke to the committee. The committee made several recommendations in the Review, including improving skills for procurement staff. Speaking at the conference, Glover Review Project Manager

Naomi Davy said: “We know that we need to build the skills of procurers across the public sector. We know that they need to address the perceptions about the risks of working with SMEs, so we are going to embark on a series of training for procurement professionals across government.

“There is a joint team working on the recommendations from the OGC and BERR. We also have a programme team working together, a programme board and a stakeholder forum, which is a group of individuals who responded to the original consultation.”

Phil Adams, Interoperability Manager at Supply2.gov.uk, talked to delegates about the background to the service, its current status and how customers can maximise the benefits by using the resource to its full potential. Supply2.gov.uk was launched in response to criticism that government was not doing enough to help small businesses win government contracts. Supply2.gov.uk is the only official UK government-wide lower-value contract opportunity portal, and includes opportunities from central government, local government, health, education and the MOD.

Ross Armitage, Financial Director at The Camden Society, provided a case study of how Supply2.gov.uk has helped them find opportunities. He said: “We have been using the Supply2.gov.uk website for two years now and it acts like a great search engine for us; we can put in a whole range of keywords to identify all the opportunities that are available across London and beyond. It has saved us an awful lot of management time and speeded up the whole decision-making process about whether or not we bid for something.”

Leon Clarke, Head of Olympic Business Legacy at the LDA, gave a detailed account of the CompeteFor service. He said: “One year on, we have almost 20,000 businesses based in London registered on the system and over 60,000 nationally. Over 2000 business opportunities have been on the site to date, and that figure is increasing month by month.”

Ken Cole, Efficiency Advisor at Capital Ambition, gave delegates advice on how to remove barriers to the engagement process. He said: “Another thing to look at is to consider partnering and linking up with bigger organisations. Don’t forget, a lot of bigger organisations often have an army of people who go into organisations and do nothing but sell. They could be your eyes and ears.”