London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth introduces small and diverse businesses to London’s biggest public sector buyers at flagship supplier engagement event
Over 100 of London’s small and diverse businesses met on campus today (19 May) at University of East London (UEL) to learn how to win contracts with some of London’s biggest public sector organisations.
London’s ‘anchor institutions’ have committed to spend up to 30% of their annual procurement budgets with London’s small and diverse-led businesses, in a bid to use their buying power to boost start-ups, create more local jobs and drive local economic growth.
To date, members of LAIN (London Anchor Institutions’ Network), which is convened by the Mayor of London, have spent over £2.7bn collectively with small and diverse-led enterprises placing over 2,800 contracts into their hands.
London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber invited London’s business community to meet with London’s biggest buyers at a flagship supplier engagement event at UEL’s Royal Docks Centre for Sustainability, hosted by LAIN in partnership with MSDUK.
“It is one of our commitments as part of the London Growth Plan to open up contract opportunities for London’s small and diverse businesses. We’re working with major organisations across the city to reserve contracts for small businesses, simplify procurement processes and break down barriers that are preventing London’s businesses from winning work”, he said.
“Today, we made that commitment clear to the small and diverse businesses that came to meet with us. London’s anchor institutions are here to help you get supplier ready and we look forward to doing business with you.”
Reshma Sheikh, Managing Director from MSDUK said:
“At MSDUK, we champion the best of London’s diverse-owned businesses. So, we’re delighted to be partnering with LAIN to host this important event. So many dynamic and innovative business owners joined us today, evidence of London’s entrepreneurial spirit, all eager to sell their brilliant goods and services to the public sector.”
Convened by the Mayor of London, LAIN is the city’s first ever city-wide initiative that brings together some of the capital’s largest organisations ‘anchored’ in London, from the NHS to Transport for London, from the Met Police to London’s universities. It commits institutions to work together, using their procurement, workforce and estate management capacity for social and economic benefit.
The network fosters collaboration to tackle deeply rooted inequalities and address the pressing climate emergency. With a growing membership across the public, private, faith-based, education and cultural sectors LAIN collectively represents dozens of anchor institutions across the city - employing tens of thousands of people, spending billions of pounds a year and managing millions of square metres of real estate.
Lizzie Smith, Director of Workforce, Training and Education, NHS England (London region) and Co-Chair of LAIN reflected on the network’s ambitions to support local economic growth;
“There are more than one million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in London. The success of these businesses is critical to London’s economy and communities. That’s why we’re so committed to supporting inclusive economic growth by getting more of these businesses into our supply chains. In just three years, collectively we’ve awarded £2.7bn worth of contracts to businesses like these, through innovative thinking, positive procurement practice and direct outreach, and we have ambitious plans to do more.”
Attendees at the event were able to access business support services, tour a marketplace of buying organisations and meet with like-minded business owners and founders. Representatives from anchor organisations gave top tips on how to access contract opportunities and win work with them. There was also a panel discussion and presentation on how the new Procurement Act is opening up more public sector procurement opportunities for SMEs.
Speakers included leading procurement experts such as Helen Linklater - Co-Chair of LAIN’s Procurement Working Group and Commercial Director, Enablement and Performance at the Metropolitan Police Service, and Robert Vaughan, SME Lead, Assurance and Supply Chain Management, Group Commercial Directorate, Department for Transport. They were joined by founders of small, diverse-owned businesses like Hakan Elbir – CEO and Founder of Dialogue Hub Café UK who spoke passionately about the growth opportunities that come from small businesses supplying anchor organisations.
Hear what attendees thought of the event in this short video.
Access LAIN’s useful resources:
Learn more about LAIN’s Procurement Working Group and LAIN’s impact to date
Businesses can access tailored support with Grow London Local – a free one stop advisory service to help your business grow and thrive.