Councils could do more to help small businesses
TEES VALLEY COUNCILS should and could be doing more to support local small business by being inventive in their tendering processes.
According to Federation of Small Businesses chairman, John Wright, who runs his own training firm in Middlesbrough, they are putting the local economy at risk by ignoring suppliers on their doorstep.
He said many procurement officers were prejudiced against local firms.
“One of the things small businesses come up against all the time in relation to public contracts is the attitude ‘you have never done it before, so you are not capable of doing it’.”
Only two Tees Valley councils - Darlington and Stockton - have signed the Federation’s concordat on sourcing locally - part of a 2008 campaign to Keep Trade Local.
Mr Wright urged more to join them and challenged councils to rethink procurement policies that aggregated several services or supplies into one super tender.
“Why not break it down into smaller contracts so they can be kept in the local economy? I know it requires more work, but it’s not rocket science.”
And he questioned their definition of ‘best value’ - the phrase that drives procurement in the public sector.
“It should mean what is ‘best’ for the local economy,” he added.
Successful local business bred success, said Mr Wright, and councils should be doing all in their power to hang on to them so others could benefit from the halo effect.
“A classic example is Sage in Northumberland. It started in a local attic and now they are worldwide, but they are still based in Gateshead.”
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