Fishwick (pictured) says there has been some progress but call for tenders should be open to smaller companies
PSNGB EMS Director, Ian Fishwick, says it will be a "tough ask" to hit the Government's declared objective to give one-quarter of all contracts to SMEs, by the end of the current Parliament.
The Association of suppliers of public service network has tried to break down the barriers-to-entry for years and received a Boost when the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, announced the initiative to give more contracts to SMEs.
However, SMEs still face problems in meeting the eligibility criteria, as well as excessive demands of sub-contractors and Fishwick, chief executive officer of Adept Telecom, says more needs to be done.
"In terms of direct (contractor), the most common way of stopping SMES offering stopping work is, in a race that will be a list of products that you need," he says.
"If you're a wi-fi specialist ... suddenly, there is the area of expertise because they can do things like wiring of buildings. We have to convince people to let you bid on what you can do, because if you make product choices too broad, you end up with BT again. "
There has been some success in some parts of the procurement process, but still believes the Fishwick hardest job lies ahead in trying to tap into the largest government contracts.
He adds: "there was some progress, things like reduce the values of your certificate of insurance, but are a bit how to reduce the size of the 17TH precinct on Grand National. If you cannot get past the first two, it is useless. "
"If you look at the G-Cloud, the purchase of products via the internet to the Government, you'd see a significant proportion of the products going to SMEs.
"Where is much slower are giant contracts, universal credit for the DWP, there is a danger that you will get more than 25 percent of small things, but none of great stuff and this is the challenge."
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