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Public Contract Access for SMEs

The government has announced that access to its public sector website will be free of charge from now until 31st July 2008.

The website facilitates businesses looking for national contracts in the public sector, and there is usually a charge for the national search service.  The government made access to the resource free to businesses from 1st May.

The contracts are within the UK and Northern Ireland, and are each valued at less than £100,000.  The intention of the trial period is to encourage SMEs to pitch for government business. 

After the three month period, firms will have to pay for national searches, as the scheme will revert to no charge only on searches for local contracts.  However, the trial may pave the way for more permanent changes that benefit the small business sector, with the government placing heavy emphasis on the removal of obstacles for the success of small firms.

This article has been provided by UK200Group.

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