Entrepreneur Shirley Cooper has taken up a key role to promote the needs of small businesses to government and ensure suppliers seize the benefits of the Procurement Act.
She will lead on the overall relationship between the government and small businesses, making sure the government gets best value from SMEs, and that they in turn have the best possible opportunity to work with the government.
She said: “I look forward to working with colleagues across Government to make sure small businesses can seize the fantastic opportunities available to them in the public procurement process.”
She will also support the commitment to, and delivery of, increasing central government spend on SMEs. This spend has risen every year since 2016/17, and stood at a record £21billion worth of work in 2021/2022. The Government spends around £300billion every year on procurement.
Ms Cooper is a former chair and president of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, and met Parliamentary Secretary Alex Burghart for the first time as Crown Representative for small businesses earlier this month.
They discussed priorities for the next 12 months, with a focus on the implementation of the Procurement Act in October, which will see further benefits for start-ups and small businesses wishing to work with the government. These include simpler processes, greater transparency and access to opportunities, as well as strengthened payment terms which will maximise value for money and innovation in the government market.
