Government spent £3.5 billion with SMEs last year

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has revealed that £3.52 billion (16.7 per cent) of central government spending went directly to 1,525 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) over the last year.

CCS, the UK’s biggest public procurement organisation, has published its annual report and accounts for 2023/24.

72 per cent of the suppliers on CCS's commercial agreements are now either micro (37 per cent), small (23 per cent) or medium (12 per cent) sized enterprises.

At the same time, commercial benefits of £4.9 billion were delivered for customers across the public sector  – an increase of £1.1 billion compared to the previous year.

Eight customers achieved over 80 per cent savings by joining a quarterly mobile voice and data services aggregation.

Chair of the CCS Board, Peter George said: "I’m delighted that 2023/24 has seen continued success for CCS in achieving even more commercial benefits for our customers. Our core purpose is putting customers first and we will continue to do this by strengthening our value offering over the next few years.

"My sincerest gratitude to Simon Tse CBE, our CEO for his contributions to CCS and the journey he has taken the organisation on in his 6 years at the helm.

"I’m looking forward to welcoming our new CEO, Sam Ulyatt, to CCS and working with her to achieve our vision of becoming a world class and leading procurement organisation."

CEO of CCS, Simon Tse said: "2023/24 has seen a focus for CCS on how best we can offer excellent value for our customers. Almost £5 billion in commercial benefits is a significant increase from last year and one that I am proud to announce. It isn’t just about saving our customers time and money. It’s about securing a better future for us all. Improving health care, public services, transport, local communities, the environment and so much more.

"CCS has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, and, as I retire this summer after 8 years within the organisation, I know my colleagues will continue to embrace the changes and opportunities that are coming this year and beyond."