Ready to Supply the City (London)

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Ready to Supply the City is an initiative to support and upskill small and micro-businesses based in the City of London to become supplier-ready.
What are the main aims and objectives?

The "Ready to Supply the City" program by the City of London Corporation aims to empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing them with the necessary skills, knowledge, and opportunities to compete effectively for procurement contracts within the City of London. The initiative set an initial target of assisting 200 local businesses become fit to supply the City, while helping another 250 on their journey towards being fit to do so, through support from a dedicated City Buyer engagement component, delivered by GLE oneLondon and HBV Enterprise. Ultimately, the objective is to enhance business turnover, efficiency, and effectiveness, enabling these small enterprises to submit high-quality bids and win contracts with various entities, including the council and private companies.

How does the program work?

The program works by supporting and refining the supply chain of selected local SMEs through:

  • Facilitating roundtable discussions and networking events aimed at building relationships with City procurement professionals.
  • Assisting micro and small businesses to gain accreditation.
  • Training micro and small businesses in producing compliant bids to better compete for business in the City.
  • Helping micro and small businesses improve their management structure.
  • SMEs are provided with opportunities to network with procurement professionals from the City of London Corporation and other large organizations. This helps in building relationships and understanding potential business opportunities.
  • The program offers access to essential resources and guidance materials that help SMEs become "tender ready." This includes information on compliance, best practices, and other critical aspects of the procurement process.
  • The program organizes workshops and training sessions that offer practical advice and information on how to tender for contracts. These sessions are designed to help SMEs understand the specific requirements and procedures involved in the procurement process.

The program works with enterprises, each of which receiving at least 12 hours of support including: assisting micro and small businesses to gain accreditation, training businesses to produce compliant bids and more competitive bids, and helping businesses to improve their management structure. The program also involved events such as ‘Question and Answer sessions’ which brought experienced City buyers to roundtables to discuss the opportunities and challenges in accessing the City supply. These events aimed to help businesses better understand what City firms were looking for from potential suppliers, and how any challenges raised could be overcome.

Micro and small enterprises registered on the program are able to benefit from a range of activities ranging from Meet the Buyer events to a number of roundtables that will enable the discussion some of the opportunities and challenges in accessing the City supply chain and how these can be overcome.

What is the overall cost?

There is no available information on the cost of Ready to Supply the City. 

How was it implemented?

Ready to Supply the City is a programme funded by the City of London Corporation in 2012, which aims to assist local micro, small and medium companies in becoming ‘fit to supply’ to the City’s businesses and their supply chains.

What impact has been measured?

There is no available information on the impact of the program

CURATED BY

Simona Bielli

Research Programme Coordinator – Digital Startups
Nesta
United Kingdom