Public Procurement and Property

New guidance published on Public Procurement for SMEs and Third Sector Suppliers

June 27, 2023 by Fiona McCaig No Comments | Category Scottish Procurement, SMEs, suppliers

Today is world SME Day! (27 June) 

As set out in our recently published Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland, the Scottish Government and wider public sector has a long-standing commitment to SME engagement, which is embedded in Scottish procurement legislation and sustainable approaches. 

Earlier this year, a Procurement workshop was held as part of the Business in Parliament Conference (BiPC). The aim of the workshop was to discuss opportunities relating to public procurement and agree priorities for the Scottish Government, in partnership with business, to take forward.  

The workshop was chaired by Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, and hosted by Hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES). 

A broad range of leaders, procurement practitioners and subject matter experts from across the public sector in Scotland attended. 

One of the actions from this meeting was to develop one-stop-shop guidance for SMEs, incorporating case studies.  

This guidance has now been developed, and will be disseminated, working collaboratively with FSB, WES, the Supplier Development Programme and other members of the Procurement Supply Group (PSG) and is available to view via the Supplier Journey website.  

Nikki Archer, Head of Procurement and Commercial Policy & Strategy in Scottish Government, said “It was really helpful to get the views of SMEs at the BiPC event, particularly micro, third sector and minority owned, on barriers to engagement. I’m really hopeful that this one-stop-shop guidance, which also includes frequently asked questions and useful links, will help organisations to engage with public procurement.” 

Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, said  “This new guidance shows the importance of listening to SMEs to inform progressive procurement approaches. Sustainable procurement and driving local spend is a key pillar of Community Wealth Building and we are determined to make it easier for SMEs to engage effectively to enable local economic impact.” 

Today (SME Day) we have also published a blog sharing Q&As with SME suppliers on our Marketing Services Framework, giving an insight into their work with the public sector, challenges and opportunities. 

Nikki went onto say: “We are engaging with partners to share this one-stop-shop guidance to ensure that SMEs have the advice and support on hand that they need to bid for and win work within public sector supply chains. We are committed to working with the PSG to include this guidance in a wider SME Action plan.”  

Businesses may also be interested in these upcoming diary dates, as opportunities to meet buyers from public bodies across Scotland: 

• 12 September – Meet the Buyer North 
• 3 October – Meet the Buyer South 
• 31 October – National Procurement Conference / ProcureX 

Stay up to date on these by subscribing to our blog and following us on social media via the links below.  

For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement

Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot

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Tags: procurement, Public procurement, public sector, public sector procurement, Scottish Government procurement, Scottish Procurement, Scottish public sector, SMEs, Supplier Development Programme

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