Skip to main content
Helping your business to Start, Grow and Develop.

Search

For a successful business, you need a viable business idea, the skills to make it work and the funding. Discover whether your idea has what it takes.

Forming your business correctly is essential to ensure you are protected and you comply with the rules. Learn how to set up your business.

Advice on protecting your wellbeing, self-confidence and mental health from the pressures of starting and running a business.

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

It is likely you will need funding to start your business unless you have your own money. Discover some of the main sources of start up funding.

Businesses and individuals must account for and pay various taxes. Understand your tax obligations and how to file, account and pay any taxes you owe.

Businesses are required to comply with a wide range of business laws. We introduce the main rules and regulations you must comply with.

Marketing matters. It drives sales and helps promote your brand and products. Discover how to market your business and reach your target customers.

Some businesses need a high street location whilst others can be run from home. Understand the key factors from cost to location, size to security.

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

It is likely your business could not function without some form of IT. Learn how to specify, buy, maintain and secure your business IT.

Few businesses manage the leap from start up to high-growth business. Learn what it takes to scale up and take your business to the next level.

New initiative to help SMEs get public sector work

18 April 2023

A programme aimed at UK small businesses promises to improve their chances of winning government contracts by helping them work with bigger suppliers.

A new programme which aims to open up valuable public sector contracts to SMEs has been launched by Deloitte Digital and Enterprise Nation. It comes as the Procurement Bill goes through Parliament promising to give innovative small firms "an even bigger slice of the procurement pie" by mandating larger firms to work with SME quotas on bids.

Deloitte's SME Supplier Eco-system Programme is intended to help talented digital firms to access opportunities to grow their business via public sector contracts. It will enable small firms to become supplier-ready and overcome the hurdles smaller businesses face in accessing large government procurement bids - such as providing evidence of previous contract work or three years of audited accounts.

Getting SMEs "supplier-ready"

Deloitte plans to hold events to help develop a new culture of collaboration and a sustainable pipeline of innovative "supplier-ready" digital SMEs. Businesses signing up to the SME Supplier Eco-system will receive monthly newsletters with notifications on new contract opportunities and join a community of peers looking to scale.

"Accessing public sector work in this way can act like an accelerator for SMEs. Government contracts are solid, they pay within 30 days and small firms get to work with incredible machines like Deloitte. It's a very powerful way to evolve the UK's digital business community and apply the work from some of the UK's most agile and innovative businesses to solve public sector problems. This benefits not just SMEs themselves but the wider community, by saving taxpayers' money along the way." Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation.

The next Meet the Buyer event will be hosted on April 26 with speakers covering current contracts and a founder story of a company that has successfully sold to government via a Deloitte supplier opportunity. The event is online and free to attend.

Andrew McKibbin, partner at Deloitte Digital, said: "We are committed to building a thriving SME community that will bring unrivalled access to exciting opportunities across government, working on complex, large scale programmes that will make a difference to society … We have a rich heritage of working closely with SMEs and I am looking forward to turbocharging that through a diverse and collaborative SME community that will help businesses grow."

Written by Rachel Miller.

Stay up-to-date with business advice and news

Sign up to this lively and colourful newsletter for new and more established small businesses.