Research · SME tracker

How much public sector work goes to small firms

Every central government department now has a published target for spending with small and medium-sized enterprises. This tracker shows who is giving small firms the most work, by department, council, NHS trust and region, counted the same way every month and free to use.

53%

of council contract awards went to SMEs

2025/26, 12,910 awards with the winner's size recorded

53%

of NHS trust contract awards went to SMEs

2025/26, 3,638 awards with the winner's size recorded

35%

of central government contract awards went to SMEs

2025/26, 6,023 awards with the winner's size recorded

From Contracts Finder, where 82% of 2025/26 awards recorded the winner's size. A share of contracts won, not of money spent: see how it is counted.

SME champions, 2025/26

The public bodies giving small firms the most work

Councils

Central government and agencies

NHS trusts

Biggest improvers since 2024/25

North East Lincolnshire Council62% → 88%
Wakefield Council6% → 30%
DVSA - Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency11% → 32%
Office for National Statistics22% → 38%
Department for Business and Trade25% → 41%
Kent County Council58% → 73%

By type of buyer

Councils give small firms more contracts than anyone else: 6,799 in 2025/26

Share of contract awards won by SMEs, where the winner's size was recorded. NHS trusts and councils lead on share, both at 53%. Central government gives SMEs 35% of its contracts but only 17% of their value: small firms win many of its smaller contracts and few of its large ones.

Type of buyer	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27 so far	By value, 2025/26	Awards counted, 2025/26
NHS trusts	58%	53%	53%	49%	3,638
Councils	50%	53%	43%	39%	12,910
Housing associations	56%	40%	39%	85%	714
Universities	53%	40%	39%	25%	956
Schools and academy trusts	29%	35%	75%	13%	104
Central government	34%	35%	43%	17%	6,023
Police, fire and ambulance	36%	33%	37%	13%	979

Central government

Each department beside its own target

Each department's published target and its own latest result are a share of spending, as the departments report them. Our figures are the share of contract awards won by SMEs. They measure different things, so read them side by side: a department can give most of its contracts to small firms and most of its money to a few large ones.

Department (with its agencies)	Target (spend)	Own latest result (spend)	Contracts to SMEs, 2025/26	By value	2026/27 so far	Awards counted
Cabinet Officeaction plan	30% by 2027/28	22.5% (2024/25)	46%	24%	54%	154
Department for Business and Tradeaction plan	18% by 2027/28	18.1% (2024/25)	43%	12%	35%	281
Department for Culture, Media and Sportaction plan	33% by 2027/28	49% (2025/26)	32%	10%	44%	117
Department for Educationaction plan	10% by 2027/28	12.3% (2025/26)	28%	6%	37%	554
Department for Energy Security and Net Zeroaction plan	29% by 2027/28	28.7% (2024/25)	Too few	–	–	23
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairsaction plan	20.0% by 2027/28	17.5% (2025/26)	36%	36%	41%	309
Department for Science, Innovation and Technologyaction plan	40%	Not yet reported	48%	14%	33%	150
Department for Transportaction plan	5.75% by 2027/28	7.8% (2022/23)	14%	8%	19%	1,156
Department for Work and Pensionsaction plan	8% by 2027/28	3.3% (2024/25)	31%	23%	54%	107
Department of Health and Social Careaction plan	15% by 2027/28	12.86% (2024/25)	54%	33%	56%	622
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Officeaction plan	14% by 2027/28	20.2% (2024/25)	Too few	–	–	0
Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Service)action plan	No own target	Not yet reported	35%	35%	32%	197
HM Revenue and Customsaction plan	8.00% by 2027/28	6.9% (2025/26)	35%	3%	22%	172
HM Treasuryaction plan	22% by 2027/28	14.4% (2024/25)	42%	9%	57%	38
Home Officeaction plan	10% by 2027/28	4% (2025/26)	23%	2%	19%	322
Ministry of Defenceaction plan	Cash target, not a %	Not yet reported	29%	9%	32%	877
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Governmentaction plan	27.5% by 2027/28	28.3% (2025/26)	26%	15%	–	35
Ministry of Justiceaction plan	22% by 2027/28	21.46% (2025/26)	61%	24%	75%	533
Nuclear Decommissioning Authorityaction plan	9% by 2027/28	9.2% (2025/26)	18%	3%	–	33
UK Export Financeaction plan	12% by 2027/28	9.2% (2025/26)	Too few	–	–	0

Agencies and arm's-length bodies are counted with their parent department, as the targets are set. The Ministry of Defence's target is £7.5bn a year direct and through its suppliers, so it is not a percentage. A department with fewer than 30 awards recording the winner's size shows “Too few”.

By region

Councils' work for small firms, region by region

Share of council contract awards won by SMEs in 2025/26, by where the council is. Scotland and Wales publish mainly on their own portals, which do not record a winner's size, so their figures cover few councils.

Northern Ireland (1 councils)100%
South West (37 councils)67%
North West (40 councils)66%
South East (78 councils)62%
West Midlands (36 councils)53%
Yorkshire and the Humber (16 councils)49%
East of England (47 councils)47%
London (14 councils)47%
North East (16 councils)44%
East Midlands (34 councils)41%
Wales (12 councils)2%
Scotland (5 councils)0%

League tables

Every council and NHS trust we can rank

Ranked by the share of 2025/26 contract awards won by SMEs, among bodies with at least 30 awards recording the winner's size.

Councils (81)

#	Name	2024/25	2025/26	By value	Awards counted
1	Wokingham Borough Council	93%	98%	1%	112
2	North Tyneside Council	81%	96%	95%	95
3	Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council	91%	95%	20%	234
4	West Sussex County Council	79%	90%	64%	329
5	Cheshire East Borough Council	86%	88%	58%	196
6	North East Lincolnshire Council	62%	88%	52%	42
7	Knowsley Council	78%	87%	72%	30
8	Cumberland Council	68%	82%	38%	261
9	Devon County Council	73%	81%	50%	270
10	Gloucestershire County Council	69%	81%	32%	164
11	Halton Borough Council	65%	80%	74%	85
12	Colchester City Council	76%	78%	89%	41
13	Suffolk County Council	–	78%	42%	91
14	Kirklees Council	68%	77%	57%	516
15	Birmingham City Council	68%	76%	37%	197
16	Northumberland County Council	62%	75%	97%	102
17	Nottingham City Council	64%	75%	50%	288
18	Bristol City Council	73%	74%	27%	210
19	Kent County Council (t/a LASER Energy)	–	74%	–	57
20	Redditch Borough Council	67%	73%	43%	60
21	Kent County Council	58%	73%	61%	60
22	Manchester City Council	62%	72%	54%	92
23	Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council	73%	70%	42%	30
24	Bromsgrove District Council	76%	69%	73%	39
25	Sunderland City Council	75%	68%	54%	62
26	Salford City Council	–	67%	28%	49
27	Westmorland and Furness Council	72%	67%	53%	150
28	Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council	57%	67%	69%	36
29	Kent County Council (T/A Procurement Services)	67%	66%	–	173
30	NOttinghamshire County Council	55%	66%	39%	553
31	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	51%	65%	84%	49
32	East Sussex County Council	66%	65%	29%	118
33	Derbyshire County Council	66%	64%	11%	269
34	Wigan Council	61%	63%	72%	70
35	Lincolnshire County Council	72%	62%	4%	275
36	Southampton City Council	62%	61%	34%	41
37	North Somerset Council	52%	61%	13%	74
38	Lichfield District Council	58%	59%	23%	34
39	Staffordshire County Council	69%	58%	71%	118
40	Wolverhampton City Council	54%	58%	13%	119
41	Essex County Council	76%	57%	12%	63
42	Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council	66%	56%	30%	39
43	Derby City Council	48%	56%	22%	197
44	St.Helens Council	46%	56%	54%	50
45	Ashford Borough Council	60%	56%	90%	54
46	South Tyneside Council	70%	56%	23%	54
47	West Northamptonshire Council	60%	54%	37%	89
48	Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council	74%	54%	6%	127
49	Luton Council	69%	53%	88%	64
50	Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council	72%	53%	38%	38
51	Hampshire County Council	61%	52%	36%	450
52	Surrey County Council	62%	51%	33%	49
53	Lancashire County Council	51%	50%	27%	80
54	Bath and North East Somerset Council	57%	50%	29%	70
55	Cornwall Council	62%	48%	86%	52
56	Suffolk Coastal District Council and Waveney District Council	–	47%	20%	59
57	Wirral Borough Council	59%	46%	61%	37
58	Greater Manchester Combined Authority	54%	45%	20%	95
59	Tees Valley Combined Authority	37%	44%	24%	72
60	Walsall Metro Borough Council	–	42%	82%	31
61	Liverpool City Council	37%	41%	5%	148
62	Metropolitan Police Service	53%	40%	2%	82
63	North Northamptonshire Council	55%	40%	49%	53
64	Westminster City Council	53%	39%	4%	82
65	Herefordshire Council	71%	37%	24%	46
66	Leicestershire County Council	36%	34%	15%	552
67	Durham County Council	43%	33%	34%	124
68	Coventry City Council	48%	33%	34%	49
69	Stockton-On-Tees Borough Council	–	31%	21%	59
70	Wakefield Council	6%	30%	13%	30
71	Cambridgeshire County Council	13%	27%	26%	71
72	.East Riding Of Yorkshire Council	22%	25%	23%	207
73	Milton Keynes Council	24%	25%	4%	40
74	West Yorkshire Combined Authority	11%	24%	23%	148
75	West Midlands Combined Authority	40%	21%	45%	223
76	Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council	64%	19%	2%	36
77	Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council	20%	18%	5%	89
78	York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority acting on behalf of itself and the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police	14%	16%	6%	38
79	The North Yorkshire Council	12%	12%	4%	94
80	Darlington Borough Council	68%	11%	7%	265
81	Leicester City Council	7%	7%	8%	1,048

Show all 81 rankedShow fewer

NHS trusts (30)

#	Name	2024/25	2025/26	By value	Awards counted
1	NHS Property Services Limited	93%	92%	96%	171
2	Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust	43%	79%	83%	107
3	Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (‘The Trust’)	73%	73%	77%	45
4	Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust	75%	73%	51%	95
5	Somerset NHS Foundation Trust	70%	68%	76%	73
6	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust	–	67%	21%	39
7	Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	–	67%	77%	33
8	Guy's and ST Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust	–	66%	65%	38
9	East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust	80%	64%	55%	123
10	Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust	54%	63%	38%	48
11	Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust	–	58%	61%	38
12	Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	–	58%	24%	90
13	East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust	–	56%	65%	36
14	United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust DO NOT USE	53%	54%	48%	256
15	London Ambulance Service NHS TRust	44%	53%	77%	95
16	Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	46%	52%	33%	81
17	NHS England	47%	51%	25%	410
18	West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust	–	50%	17%	103
19	Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust	44%	48%	21%	86
20	University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust	42%	46%	45%	35
21	NHS Blood and Transplant	39%	44%	24%	54
22	Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	40%	43%	32%	125
23	Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust	29%	42%	46%	64
24	West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust	59%	42%	33%	91
25	NHS Business Services Authority	51%	41%	5%	71
26	Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	49%	41%	34%	135
27	University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust	49%	40%	38%	104
28	Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	42%	38%	16%	143
29	Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust	–	25%	31%	53
30	County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust	–	6%	3%	49

Show all 30 rankedShow fewer

Central government bodies (40)

#	Name	2024/25	2025/26	By value	Awards counted
1	The Electoral Commission	–	80%	34%	40
2	Information Commissioner’s Office	68%	76%	56%	41
3	NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (hosted by NHS England)	63%	66%	81%	111
4	Care Quality Commission	57%	62%	20%	45
5	Ministry Of Justice	51%	61%	13%	479
6	Competition and Markets Authority	50%	58%	64%	38
7	Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency	–	53%	29%	51
8	Cabinet Office	43%	52%	60%	99
9	Department of Health and Social Care	47%	50%	14%	107
10	Environment Agency	40%	45%	24%	148
11	UK Health Security Agency	54%	44%	35%	225
12	Office for Standards in Education, Childrens Services and Skills	63%	42%	2%	43
13	Department for Business and Trade	25%	41%	14%	128
14	Financial Conduct Authority	–	41%	17%	63
15	Companies House	33%	39%	4%	69
16	The Insolvency Service	48%	39%	7%	46
17	Office for National Statistics	22%	38%	18%	92
18	Crown Commercial Service	40%	37%	35%	182
19	Natural England	72%	35%	57%	40
20	Department For Culture Media & Sport	35%	34%	7%	76
21	Ofcom	33%	34%	43%	41
22	H M Revenue and Customs	33%	34%	3%	167
23	DVSA - Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	11%	32%	21%	62
24	Government Legal Department	22%	31%	9%	35
25	Department for Work And Pensions	27%	31%	23%	106
26	Serious Fraud Office	19%	30%	12%	33
27	Ministry of Defence	31%	29%	9%	796
28	Office for Students	38%	29%	14%	31
29	Met Office	38%	28%	10%	64
30	DVLA - Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency	27%	27%	2%	73
31	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government	44%	27%	15%	33
32	Department For Education	25%	27%	6%	479
33	MCA - Maritime and Coastguard Agency	24%	23%	9%	108
34	Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory	45%	23%	2%	66
35	Home Office	27%	21%	2%	294
36	Government Property Agency	26%	19%	5%	31
37	Department for Environment, Food, Rural Affairs	52%	19%	53%	86
38	Nuclear Decommissioning Authority	26%	17%	3%	30
39	DfTc - Department for Transport	16%	14%	7%	177
40	National Highways Limited	6%	8%	9%	693

Show all 40 rankedShow fewer

Not ranked: winner's size looks recorded by default

These bodies recorded fewer than 3% of winners as SMEs across 30 or more awards, which almost always means the tendering system marks every supplier as large unless someone changes it. Ranking them last would be unfair to them, so they are left out of every figure on this page for that year.

-Royal Holloway and Bedford New College · Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council · City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council · City of Doncaster Council · Hull City Council · Leeds City Council · Mosscare St. Vincent's Housing Group Limited · North Lincolnshire Council · North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium · Partners Procurement Service · Pension Protection Fund · Procurement Assist Limited c/o Integrated Facilities Management Bolton Ltd (iFM Bolton) · Sheffield City Council · UK Atomic Energy Authority

Method

How it is counted

Source. Contract award notices on Contracts Finder, where the buyer records whether the winner is an SME. In 2025/26, 82% of awards recorded it. Find a Tender, Public Contracts Scotland and Sell2Wales mostly do not, so this is mainly a picture of England.
One award per winning supplier. A framework won by twelve firms, eight of them SMEs, counts as twelve awards, eight to SMEs.
Only awards with the size recorded count, on both sides of the share. The SME definition is the government's: under 250 staff and turnover of £44m or less (or balance sheet of £38m or less), as declared by the supplier.
By value uses single-supplier contracts only, because a framework repeats its whole ceiling on every winner, and leaves out values above £10bn as data entry errors.
Financial years, April to March, as the targets are. 2026/27 is the year so far.
Ranked bodies need 30 or more awards with the size recorded in the year. Bodies recording under 3% SMEs across that many are treated as recording by default and left out.
Targets and departments' own results are copied from each department's published SME action plan, linked in the table. Departmental groupings are ours, and corrections are welcome.

Downloads

Departments against their targets (CSV)
Each department with its agencies: published target, its own latest result, and our share of contract awards to SMEs by year.
Councils (CSV)
Every council with 30 or more awards recording the winner's size, with its SME share by year and by value.
NHS trusts (CSV)
Every NHS trust with 30 or more awards recording the winner's size.
Central government bodies (CSV)
Departments, agencies and arm's-length bodies one by one, with the department each is counted under.
By type of buyer (CSV)
Councils, NHS trusts, central government, universities and others, by year.

How to cite this data

Tender Radar (2026) SME tracker: public sector contract awards to small firms [Dataset]. Professor AI. Available at: https://tender-radar.co.uk/research/sme-tracker (Accessed: 7 November 2026).

The figures change as notices are published, so the citation carries the date you read them.

Background: government SME spend targets explained, why councils lead and local spend in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Questions

Do government departments have targets for spending with SMEs?

Yes. Since a Procurement Policy Note in February 2025 (PPN 001), every central government department, agency and arm's-length body must set a three-year target for direct spend with SMEs, running to March 2028, and report on it each year. The targets were published in March 2026 and range from under 10% to 40%. The Ministry of Defence has a separate commitment of £7.5bn a year by 2028.

Which public bodies give the most work to small firms?

In 2025/26, where the winner's size was recorded, councils gave 53% of their contract awards to SMEs (6,799 awards, more than any other kind of buyer), NHS trusts 53% and central government 35%. Measured by spend, the British Chambers of Commerce and Tussell tracker puts councils first, at 34% in 2025, against 10% for central government and the NHS.

Is this the same as the departments' own figures?

No, and the page never treats it as if it were. Departments report a share of their spending; this counts the share of contract awards won by SMEs. A department can give most of its contracts to small firms and most of its money to a few large ones. That is why each department's own target and own reported result are shown beside our figure, and why we never say a department has met or missed its target on our figures alone.

How does this compare with the British Chambers of Commerce and Tussell figures?

They measure money; we measure contracts. The BCC and Tussell SME Procurement Tracker uses the invoices public bodies publish for transparency, England only, and decides who is an SME from company records (Bureau van Dijk, checked by hand, EU definition). We use contract award notices and the supplier's own declaration recorded by the buyer. Theirs answers where the money goes; ours answers how many chances small firms get. Both are true at once: small firms win many of the public sector's smaller contracts and few of its largest, which is why central government gives SMEs a large share of its contracts and a small share of its spend.

Why is my council missing or marked as unreliable?

A body needs at least 30 awards in the year with the winner's size recorded to be ranked. A body recording fewer than 3% of its winners as SMEs across that many awards is taken to have its system set to record "not an SME" by default, and is listed separately rather than ranked: no council genuinely buys 150 contracts without a single small supplier. If your organisation is listed and that is wrong, tell us and we will look again.

Can I use these figures?

Yes, freely, with a link back so readers can see the method. The underlying data is published by public bodies on Contracts Finder under the Open Government Licence. Every table is downloadable below.

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