Election Shows Up Lack Of Commitment To SMEs

LONDON, April 21, 2010 - Doubts were raised yesterday over the commitment of the major
parties to increase government spending with small and medium sized
enterprises, SMEs. At a panel reception for Women in Public Policy chaired by
Baroness Symons in the House of Lords last night, the Chief Executive of a
major independent employment company criticised all three parties for their
piecemeal approach to government procurement through SMEs.

Joy Nichols, Chief Executive of the CMB2 Group and a spokesman
for The Enterprise Trust, a think tank for industry, said that the
Conservatives were only pledging to widen procurement opportunities for small
and medium sized ICT companies. "They seem to suggest that ICT were in some
way more deserving of greater procurement opportunities than any other SME
businesses. The Labour Party manifesto has only 24 lines on support for
Enterprise and mentioned SMEs only once. The Liberal Democrats in their
manifesto had just four lines on Enterprise and not a single mention of SMEs
or government procurement.

The Enterprise Trust has been calling for a proper debate on
the definition of small and medium sized enterprises; a reasonable share of
all government contracts, and a fundamental change in the law that signs up
the UK to treaties with the World Trade Organisation that specifically
exclude the setting aside of contracts for the SME sector.

Because the SME sector is an ill-defined sector, many
companies are excluded from their rightful share of all government
procurement. Instead, they are dependent on scraps from the large
corporations who gain or in some cases are given these contracts."

Election Shows

The Enterprise Trust now believes that a common denominator in
the policies of the Conservative and Labour Parties is the economic advisor
to the Tories, Sir Peter Gershon. Previously an advisor to the Labour
government he has taken the line that procurement should be aggregated into
large contracts and not broken down for specially set aside funds to be used
for procurement through SMEs.

Also involved were American members of Women in Public Policy
who described the success of small and women-owned business gained through
government procurement systems used in the United States. And they heard that
at least the Tory manifesto admitted that governments in Britain have a
dreadful record in managing procurement with billions of pounds wasted.

For more information www.enterprisetrust.org.uk

Media contacts: Joy Nichols +44(0)20-8746-4800; Malcolm Harrison +44(0)20-7581-8335