The Department of Finance and Personnel encourages small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete for public sector contracts. The Procurement Board launched the Public Procurement - a guide for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (pdf, 472kb) which provides information for SMEs seeking to widen their customer base to include the Northern Ireland public sector.
A companion Public Procurement - removing barriers to SMEs (pdf, 425kb) examines the barriers SMEs might face in participating in public sector tender competitions. It suggests measures that purchasers might take to reduce or eliminate these barriers and was launched to accompany the guidance above.