Recent initiatives to encourage larger organisations to procure more services from social enterprises and SMEs have been welcomed by the director of an FM consultancy.
Julian Fris, director of Neller Davies, an independent facilities management consultancy, told FM World that to keep sectors like catering or FM healthy, there needed to be a good mix of established larger players with smaller independents in it.
Fris said larger companies have grown 8.2 per cent since 2006 while there has been no overall growth of smaller firms that have less than £2 million annual turnover.
In light of this, he welcomed the recent challenge laid down by Social Enterprise UK and the Cabinet Office to big businesses to spend £1 billion with social enterprises, saying: “[It] will be music to the ears of many who’ve struggled to break into contracts usually reserved for the bigger players in the FM and catering markets.”
He also welcomed the move in the government’s latest budget, which also pushed business rate exempt gains tax concessions and pending cuts in corporation tax for SMEs.
“Both initiatives will give social enterprises and SMEs much to cheer,” said Fris. He added: “The trick is for FM companies not to treat the SMEs or social enterprises like another supply chain supplier (except for the safety, vetting and other statutory issues, of course).”
