Government is one of the largest, most reliable customers in the UK — and recent reforms are deliberately tilting the field towards smaller suppliers. If you run an SME and have never bid for public work, here's how to start.
At a glance
- The UK public sector spends around £385 billion a year on goods, works and services — a vast, stable market.
- Reforms under the Procurement Act 2023 are designed to make bidding simpler and more SME-friendly.
- Government has set targets to channel over £7.4 billion a year directly to small businesses by 2028.
- Winning starts with the basics: register once on the Central Digital Platform, then target the right opportunities.
- Small contracts are the natural way in — and they're advertised more openly than many SMEs realise.
The market is bigger than you think
UK public bodies spend roughly £385 billion a year. That includes everything from IT and consultancy to construction and cleaning — and a great deal of it is well within the reach of small suppliers. Crucially, authorities must advertise contracts above £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (wider public sector), so a lot of modest, winnable work is published openly. (See Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender for the thresholds.)
The rules now favour SMEs
The Procurement Act 2023 was built partly to open public procurement to smaller businesses — simpler processes, more transparency, and a single platform to register on. Alongside it, government has set a clear ambition: departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, aiming to deliver over £7.4 billion a year to small businesses by 2028. (There's no single blanket percentage across all of government — targets are set department by department — but the direction of travel is firmly towards SMEs.)
Step 1: Register on the Central Digital Platform
Your first practical step is to register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (the enhanced Find a Tender service). You enter your core details once — company information, financials, declarations — and reuse them across bids via a share code. See our step-by-step guide to using Find a Tender.
Step 2: Find the right opportunities
Don't try to bid for everything. Win rates come from focus:
- Target your niche. Filter by the sectors and CPV codes that match what you do (see CPV codes explained).
- Start small. Lower-value contracts have less competition and lighter requirements — a sensible place to build a track record.
- Watch early notices. Pipeline and planned procurement notices give you time to prepare a strong bid rather than a rushed one.
Be honest about how much of this you will actually do. Monitoring several portals daily, then writing a full submission inside a three-week window, is a part-time job on top of running the business — and it is the reason most small suppliers who intend to bid never submit anything. If that is the wall you keep hitting, bidding as a named partner alongside a prime who does the writing is a legitimate way in.
Step 3: Bid well
A place on the shortlist comes down to answering what's actually asked:
- Read the specification and award criteria carefully, and structure your response around them.
- Be specific and evidence your claims — buyers score what you can demonstrate, not what you assert.
- Take social value seriously — it carries real weight in scoring (see what is social value).
Our guides to writing a winning tender response and how bids are scored go deeper on the craft.
A note on payment
The public sector is required to pay suppliers within 30 days, and those terms are meant to flow down the supply chain. For a small business managing cash flow, that reliability is part of what makes public work attractive.
Frequently asked questions
Can a small business really win government contracts?
Yes. Reforms under the Procurement Act 2023 and SME spend targets are deliberately aimed at smaller suppliers, and much winnable work is advertised openly above £12,000–£30,000.
Where do I start?
Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (the enhanced Find a Tender service), then target opportunities that match your niche — ideally smaller contracts first.
Is there a target for government spending with SMEs?
Government has set targets to deliver over £7.4 billion a year directly to small businesses by 2028, with each department setting its own three-year target. There is no single across-the-board percentage.
How quickly does government pay?
The public sector is required to pay suppliers within 30 days, and those terms should pass down the supply chain.