Small firms seek bigger slice of £8bn Public Expenditure
Business leaders in the Highlands are to press the Scottish Government for a greater share of the £8billion worth of contracts awarded each year by Scotland’s public sector.
Inverness Chamber of Commerce believes the local economy is missing out on a fortune because big spenders, including Highland Council and NHS Highland, often bypass capable, smaller firms which bid for a share of the goods and services needed.
Its chief executive Stewart Nicol will represent the north at a meeting with Enterprise Minister Jim Mather in Edinburgh next Friday to discuss the issue.
The concern surfaced at a recent Scottish Chambers of Commerce council meeting, which called for urgent intervention to redress the balance.
Mr Nicol, who is currently canvassing the opinions of the Inverness chamber’s 400-plus members, said: “Our concern is that there’s a bias in favour of larger companies and a bias against, typically, the organisations that the chamber represents – the smaller and medium-sized enterprises.
Full article @ The Press & Journal