Our commitment to small and medium enterprises

Last updated: 14 November 2007 11:00 UK

The Small Business Friendly Concordat

This is a voluntary, non-statutory code of practice, that sets out what small firms and others supplying local government can expect when tendering for local authority contracts.

It is not intended that smaller suppliers automatically be given a competitive advantage when tendering for local government contracts due to the Concordat, but identifies certainly steps that all contracting authorities can take to ensure that suppliers of all kinds are treated equally.

The Concordat also sets out the standards that public sector buyers should expect from their suppliers.

As part of our commitment to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Councillors Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Mike Hancock, together with the Strategic Director for Economy, Culture & Community Safety and the Head of Procurement signed up to this Concordat in front of some 70 local SMEs, a number of main contractors to the authority, and representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses.

The signing took place at the Mountbatten Centre on the January 30, 2006 and a full copy of the signed document can be viewed below together with a copy of the Good Practice Guide and its Addendum.