The UK government must double its procurement spend with small and medium sized businesses to meet its target of giving them 25 percent of all opportunities.

The government set the target last year the amount of government spending done with SME’s should increase from around 5% to around 25%, to help boost the economy. Prime Minister David Cameron said that in order to achieve this, central government would need to make changes to the way it does business and give support to purchasers who decide to take a chance on smaller suppliers over large companies.

The UK public sector is amongst the lowest in Europe in terms of spending levels with SME’s. France’s public sector makes 44% of its purchasing spend with small businesses, while in Germany this figure is 52%.

The government has launched a range of measures to make it easier for small companies to bid for public sector contracts, including a contract finder website and measures to make Pre-Qualification easier for smaller contracts.