Public Sector Frameworks
Why the Public Sector works right now.
The private sector is tough. Margins are being squeezed, payment terms are getting longer, and clients are harder to pin down. Meanwhile, billions in public sector contracts are awarded every year — to businesses just like yours.
Here’s what most trade SMEs don’t realise: the government has actively redesigned public procurement to favour smaller contractors. The frameworks are there. The contracts are there. The question is whether your business is positioned to access them.
Under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force in February 2025, 30-day payment terms are now implied into every public sector contract by law. The government’s target is to pay 90% of SME invoices within 5 days, with 100% paid within 30 days. That’s not a promise — it’s a legal requirement.
Guaranteed revenue. Contracted terms. No chasing invoices.
Compare that to chasing a main contractor for 90 days on a private sector job.
Move up the chain. Keep more margin.
Most trade contractors sit two or three steps down the supply chain — doing the work, absorbing the risk, waiting longest for payment, and earning the thinnest slice. Getting onto a public sector framework changes that. Direct award status means you’re contracting with the client, not a middleman. Better margin, better terms, and a pipeline you can actually plan around.
The opportunity is significant — and most of your competitors aren’t looking at it.
In 2024, 5.45 million micro and small businesses accounted for 99.2% of all UK businesses — yet the majority have never submitted a tender or applied for a framework place. The barrier isn’t capability. It’s knowing the process.
That’s exactly what we fix.
There are frameworks covering construction, fit-out, dry lining, facilities management, cleaning, rope access, maintenance, and dozens of specialist trades. Many have rolling application windows. Some award contracts directly without a competitive tender once you’re approved.
You’ve been paying into the system for years. It’s time to get some of it back.