Consultation with SMEs

v Most SMEs would like to have the opportunity to bid for more work with the public sector.

v Most SMEs who regularly quote for and win public sector business believe that the key to their success is maintaining contacts in the right places. Some openly admit that they obtained an initial "foothold" through good fortune – being in the right place at the right time.

v Many SMEs see a number of deterrents to doing business with the public sector. These include:

· Bureaucratic culture

· 'Tick-the-box' mentality of buyers

· Heavy emphasis on compliance with requirements many of which are not seen as relevant to all SMEs (diversity, environmental issues, health and safety)

· Slow decision making

· Tortuous and expensive bidding process

· Differences in procedure between different authorities

v In general, public sector organisations were seen as good payers.

v About a quarter of the businesses interviewed were making significant use of ICT and saw it as essential to the future of the company. About half were making little use of ICT and had few plans to increase their usage significantly.

v Few businesses saw greater use of ICT as being a key to winning business in future with the public sector. Most thought that it would be some long time before the public sector was ready to trade with them electronically. In the meantime, they remained happy to wait to see what happened.

v Very few of the businesses interviewed said that they needed further ICT support

v Many of the businesses interviewed said that they would be happy to become involved in any initiative taken by LSEP to promote e-enablement and closer working with the public sector.