Supported by
Supply2.gov.uk - the national lower-value contract opportunity portal
The Supply2.gov.uk portal was developed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to assist in removing the first barrier small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face when selling to the public sector marketplace – access to contract opportunities, particularly those of lower-value (typically below £100,000) which fall below the advertising thresholds of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
The portal is the first major initiative to unite buyers and suppliers in a single location, making it easier for business and government to work together. Since its launch in June 2006, Supply2.gov.uk has provided small businesses throughout the UK with visibility of in excess of 140,000 contract opportunities nationwide.
Supply2.gov.uk is FREE for public sector buyers to advertise lower-value contract notices and FREE for private sector suppliers to access UK-wide lower-value contracts online. Suppliers can additionally benefit from the Contract Alert service in a free location of their choice. For further information and to register for FREE on Supply2.gov.uk, please visit www.supply2.gov.uk
The challenge for SMEs
There are clear benefits from doing business with the public sector. The fact that public sector customers traditionally pay promptly makes them excellent clients, offering SMEs stability and potential business growth. SMEs are facing significant pressure in the current economic downturn and winning new public sector contracts is essential for their return to growth.
Many SMEs do not fully understand tender documentation or how the public sector procures products and services, and consequently encounter common pitfalls in the public sector tendering process. Once a viable contract opportunity has been identified, for small businesses with limited resources the tender application process can often become cumbersome and time-consuming.
It is therefore imperative that businesses new to selling to the public sector marketplace or seeking to improve their success rate at winning public sector contract opportunities understand both how the public sector procures products and services and, most importantly in today’s economic climate, how to correctly identify the contract opportunities which they have a fair chance of winning.
The Supply National SME Engagement Programme, supported by Supply2.gov.uk, has been developed to equip SMEs with the knowledge and skills they need to increase their chances of winning public sector business.