Attempts to dismantle barriers that have prevented smaller businesses from winning government contracts appear to be bearing fruit
Alex Williams thought winning public contracts would help expand his cleaning company, but found his tenders were consistently being rejected.
It turned out that his business, Tiger Cleaning, did not have the right accreditations.
He then discovered Supply Connect, a programme run by Enterprise Nation, a community of small businesses and advisers, which launched a year ago. The advisers helped get him an ISO 9001 quality standard certification and Constructionline Gold, a construction industry accreditation.
Less than a year later, Tiger Cleaning has won four tenders valued at between five and six figures each, including a window cleaning contract connected with the HS2 rail line and companies such as Balfour Beatty, Amazon, Holland & Holland and Gama Healthcare.
“Once we received these accreditations, that opened up the doors,” Williams said. “It is a couple of thousands for each [accreditation]. Obviously, for an SME, it does add up to quite a lot. But you won’t be able to get your foot in the door unless you have those certifications and accreditations.”
Supply Connect has helped small businesses gain more than £3.5m worth of public sector and supplier contracts so far. Contracts ranged in value from five-figure local authority work to six-figure, multi-year services deals with public sector suppliers.
Direct public sector spending with SMEs reached a six-year high in 2025, worth £45.2bn, up from £43.9bn in 2024 and £32.3bn in 2020, according to the British Chambers of Commerce and Tussell’s SME Procurement Tracker 2026.
Jayne Unalkat, founder of the Be Social Consultancy, has also used Supply Connect. She wanted marketing work in the public sector but found herself unsure how to approach the tendering platform “Find a tender”.
“It was a bit intimidating at first, looking at the whole process of the tenders. It can come across as quite complicated,” Unalkat said.
An adviser from Supply Connect helped Unalkat break down and understand the language used on tenders. She has since won two contracts for her Deeside-based business working on the Business Support Consultancy Panel to deliver marketing support and webinars to SMEs across Wales.
“Now I have the confidence to apply for these big tenders and potentially compete with bigger agencies. It has opened my eyes to this world of opportunity with the public sector,” Unalkat said.
John Healey, the chancellor, has said he wants public procurement to back British businesses and goods. This is part of a wider attempt to dismantle barriers that have prevented smaller businesses from winning government contracts as part of reforms under legislation brought into effect in 2025.
The Cabinet Office said in August that it is doubling the credit given to companies bidding for central government contracts that provide “social value” through local employment, and also scrapping rewards for net zero and diversity.
