Could it be beneficial to be an SME in Scotland?

If you're considering buying a small business it might help to look at what's on the market in Scotland rather than just in England.

According to research published in a consultation document from the Scottish government, SMEs win around 78 per cent of public sector contracts in Scotland, compared to just 13.7 per cent from central government and 49 per cent from local government in England.

However, Scotland is hoping to make things even easier for SMEs, new businesses and third sector organisations to access public contract opportunities, claiming that SMEs have “greater access to procurement spend than their significance in the wider economy”.

In the UK as a whole this is not the case, with SMEs accounting for 50 per cent of turnover but only winning around 6.5 per cent of central government procurement spend, compared to the 37 per cent of Scottish turnover accounted for by SMEs and the 45 per cent of the country's procurement spend they enjoy.

Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, commented on the data: “Public sector spending on goods and services across Scotland amounts to over £9 billion per year.

“Good public procurement is a vital contributor to growing the economy and done well it can be an effective lever in supporting delivery of the government’s priorities whether that is job creation, infrastructure development, strengthening our communities or supporting our transition to a low carbon economy.”