Scottish Government SME spend way ahead of Westminster

Almost half of public sector spending north of the border is going through SMEs

Statistics released by the Scottish Government have shown that 46 per cent of its public sector spend is with what it classes as SMEs.

This figure is significantly higher than that of the central UK government's 26.1 per cent. Breaking this down, data from the Cabinet Office shows it spent 10.3 per cent directly and 15.8 per cent indirectly with those businesses.

The central UK government has previously acknowledged that there is still work to do in this area, opening up a refreshed version of its Contract Finder site – which allows enterprises to search for government contracts worth more than £10,000 – back in February.

Piers Linney, co-CEO of Outsourcery and member of the government's SME Panel, commented at the time: "We know government business has been incredibly complicated and costly to bid for in the past, and that was reflected in the tiny proportion of spend going to SMEs."

Alan Quinn, executive chairman of VAR Capito, has praised the Scottish Government's increased support of SMEs, insisting that it continues to improve.

"I think the support for SMEs is improving exponentially, or has improved over the last five or six years," he said. "I was on one of the boards to try to help Scottish procurement to improve how they interface with SMEs and engage SMEs to do more of the work and business."

When asked why the UK's SME spend was so much lower than in Scotland, a spokesperson from the Cabinet Office told CRN: "We use specific calculations to come up with our figures, and Scotland may use different ones. This could include how they gather the data."

He added that our Scottish neighbours might also use a different definition of SME, which could somewhat explain the difference in results.

For its part, the European Commission has concluded that a company qualifies as an SME if it employs 250 staff or fewer.

Capito's Quinn pointed out that as a small company it pays off – if possible – to work with the public sector: "It takes a lot of work and effort but it gives us an opportunity to interact with the public sector, not just in Scotland but beyond Scotland."

When asked about the benefits for Capito working within the public sector, Quinn revealed: "You get a fair crack at the whip. If you're in the mix and you are delivering successful projects, having that reference ability gives you strength in your proposal."