Open for Business

Government is open for business and wants to work with more small businesses across the UK. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the economy. By 2022, the government plans that one third of its spend on goods and services will be with SMEs, either directly or through the supply chain.

Becoming a government supplier is a great way to make a difference to your business. Companies report an increase in their turnover, higher profits and an expansion of their workforce.

What we’re doing

We are continually listening to what you have to say and we are always trying to making improvements to make it easier for your business to supply to government.

Simpler application processes

We’re making it much easier to become a government supplier. We have listened to what SMEs have to say and made the application process quicker and easier.

Suppliers will be paid in 30 days

You’ve told us that payment and cash flow can be a problem, so we guarantee to pay all valid invoices in 30 days or less.

Listening to your concerns

And if you have a concern you’d like to raise about the procurement process or a problem with payment on a public contract you can let us know via the Mystery Shopper service, and we will investigate for you. You can even remain anonymous if you want!

Update on Third Party Bid Management Organisations

Over recent months the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has become aware of the growth in third party organisations offering to write, submit and manage bids for CCS frameworks. Their target market appears to be predominantly SMEs

CCS has been contacted by a number of suppliers concerned about the claims being made by some of these organisations in their sales approaches and marketing literature

Therefore, for the avoidance of doubt, CCS can confirm the following:

– Nobody can guarantee bidders a place on a CCS framework

– CCS treats all bidders equally and in line with the published procurement procedures for each framework, the Public Procurement Regulations and Public Law

– CCS avoids engaging in framework discussions with either bidders or third parties outside the published processes

– CCS has introduced additional questions at qualification stage to identify those bidders using a third party to write, submit or manage their bid

– Submission of the bid and the content remain the sole responsibility of the original bidder. It is the responsibility of the original bidder to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to minimise the risk of commercial information being compromised, or anti-competitive practice taking place as a result of third parties managing multiple bids

– If CCS is approached by third parties, claiming to act as agents for bidders for forthcoming frameworks, we will direct them to take part in the same pre-market engagement events as all other bidders, in order to ensure equal treatment

The SME advisory panel, made up of 24 entrepreneurs and leading business figures boasting a wide range of experience, is also working with the government to ensure that by 2022, £1 of every £3 invested by government in goods and services goes to small and medium-sized enterprises. Read more about the panel here.

Help for SMEs

Whether you’re new to supplying to government, or have been a supplier for sometime, we can help you win a contract.

You can gain tips for selling to government in a joint guide developed by Emma Jones and CCS.

Read how to become a supplier through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). CCS offers a range of agreements through which central government departments and wider public sector organisations can purchase common goods and services.

Other help includes:

Opportunities to supply

You can also keep up to date with upcoming opportunities: