Birmingham and Manchester kick off government outreach to IT SMBs

Roadshow on winning government deals will also take place in Leeds and Edinburgh tomorrow

Smaller IT services providers and vendors have been invited to hobnob with Cabinet Office and Chambers of Commerce execs in Manchester tonight with a view to helping more tech SMBs win government contracts.

The event, at the Midlands Hotel on Peter Street, runs from 6pm until 9pm, and will discuss current opportunities in software, web and app development, cloud computing (including via G-Cloud), infrastructure and vendor management. An event in Birmingham has already concluded this morning.

The government's chief technology officer, Liam Maxwell, will be the host, alongside Stephen Allott, Crown representative for small and medium enterprises.

The event is part of a Cabinet Office roadshow, Doing Business with HM Government, crossing the country with the aim of engaging with smaller tech firms, to explain accessibility to deals and talk through current opportunities "at a high level", according to a Cabinet Office statement.

This is part of the government's "continued commitment" to creating a level playing field when bidding for government work, it said.

Tomorrow, 31 January, the same event will take place at Tech Cube, Summerhall, in Edinburgh, from 6pm; and in Leeds at the Radisson Blu Hotel from 8am to 10am.

A London event has been scheduled for 26 February, from 1pm at the Grange St Pauls Hotel in the City.

CEOs, MDs, sales directors, CTOs and senior executives of SMB IT services and IT vendor companies are all welcome.