Government forms advisory panel to help boost investment in SMEs

The Government has launched an advisory panel to help boost investment in the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses.

The panel will consist of over 20 prominent business figures and entrepreneurs, who will collaborate with the Government with the intention of making sure that before 2020, £1 of every £3 that Whitehall invests in goods and services will be given to SMEs, which could help to create an additional £3 billion of new business every year.

Lifeblood

The panel will also be working to ensure that over 30 per cent of the Government’s procurement spending will reach SMEs.

According to the Cabinet Office, 27 per cent of the Government’s procurement spending went to SMEs in 2014/15, exceeding the former target of 25 per cent.

This time the panel will be aiming to boost spending on SMEs even further by increasing this figure to 33 per cent by 2020.

According to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Ben Gummer, the business experts will play a vital role in helping the Government to increase spending with SMEs, which he said are the lifeblood of the UK’s economy.

Difference

The entrepreneurs and business experts will be working with Small Business Crown Representative Emma Jones MBE to help the UK’s small businesses to win contracts with the government.

“Becoming a government supplier is a great way to make a difference to your business,” Jones commented. “Companies report an increase in their turnover, higher profits and an expansion of their workforce. In return, SMEs offer innovation and value for money to government customers.”