Small businesses benefited from an increase of £370 million in central government spend over the last year through Crown Commercial Service (CCS).
CCS, the UK's biggest public procurement organisation, reported £3.52 billion (16.7%) of central government spend directly with 1,525 Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) over the last year, as we continue our goal to support SMEs.
CCS yesterday published its annual report and accounts for 2023/2024, which show the rise of £370 million compared to 2022/23.
Throughout the year we have continued to design our commercial agreements to ensure SMEs can benefit, with 72% of the suppliers on our commercial agreements now either micro (37%), small (23%) or medium (12%) sized enterprises.
Significant commercial benefits of £4.9 billion were delivered for customers across the public sector - an increase of £1.1 billion compared to the previous year, achieving record value for taxpayers.
This includes 8 customers achieving over 80% savings (around £1.4million) by joining a quarterly mobile voice and data services aggregation.
Throughout the year, £30.3 billion of direct spend was channelled through our commercial agreements, supporting customers with procurements worth a total annual contract value of over £2.7 billion. Customer service satisfaction scores also rose across the year.
In April, we marked our 10-year anniversary, announcing notable successes such as the choice of approved suppliers on its commercial agreements increasing significantly from 1,700 to more than 10,000, and the scope of its commercial agreements growing to approximately 120 currently live agreements used by more than 21,000 customers.
Chair of the CCS Board, Peter George said:
I'm delighted that 2023/24 has seen continued success for CCS in achieving even more commercial benefits for our customers. Our core purpose is putting customers first and we will continue to do this by strengthening our value offering over the next few years.
My sincerest gratitude to Simon Tse CBE, our CEO for his contributions to CCS and the journey he has taken the organisation on in his 6 years at the helm.
I'm looking forward to welcoming our new CEO, Sam Ulyatt, to CCS and working with her to achieve our vision of becoming a world class and leading procurement organisation.
CEO of CCS, Simon Tse said:
2023/24 has seen a focus for CCS on how best we can offer excellent value for our customers. Almost £5 billion in commercial benefits is a significant increase from last year and one that I am proud to announce. It isn't just about saving our customers time and money. It's about securing a better future for us all. Improving health care, public services, transport, local communities, the environment and so much more.
CCS has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, and, as I retire this summer after 8 years within the organisation, I know my colleagues will continue to embrace the changes and opportunities that are coming this year and beyond.
The year at a glance
- £3.52 billion (16.7%) of central government spend directly with 1,525 SMEs, an increase of £370 million in spend compared to 2022/23.
- Customers who have used our agreements have achieved commercial benefits equivalent to £4.9 billion
- We helped customers with procurements worth a total annual contract value of over £2.7 billion
- £30.3 billion of direct spend was channelled through our commercial agreements
- Our Net Promoter Scores for customer satisfaction over the year were: +67 for Customer Service +69 for Assisted Procurement
Read the full report
You can read CCS's annual report and accounts on gov.uk.
You can find a full list of all the commercial agreements CCS offers, alongside details of how CCS can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.