Next government must make access to public contracts easier for small firms

The Small Firms Association is today bringing over 400 small and large businesses together at a special event in the Aviva Stadium. Business Connect provides a platform for small firms to learn how they can win contracts with larger companies and position themselves correctly to deliver value.
 
Speaking at the event, Graham Byrne, Chairman of the Small Firms Association, stated: “Small firms with less than 50 employees account for 98% of the total number of businesses and employ one in every two private sector workers. They are present in every village, town and city in the country. Today’s Business Connect event offers small companies and suppliers’ valuable insights from procurement experts in large companies, State agencies and the financial sector on how to navigate and secure a large indigenous or multinational B2B customer.
 
“Multinationals currently source €4.5 billion of goods and €5.7 billion of services from indigenous businesses. It amounts to 18% of their total spend on goods and 7.3% of their total spend on services. There are huge opportunities for small business to collectively increase that spend, by looking at how we pitch our services, understand how both large and small businesses operate and strive to bring real innovation into our businesses and into what we offer”.
 
Research with buyers suggests that the public procurement market in Ireland is in the region of €19bn. “The upcoming General Election presents the next government with the opportunity to make it easier for small firms to access public procurement contracts,” concluded Mr. Byrne.