North Ayrshire Council, together with East and South Ayrshire Councils, recently held a 'Meet the Buyer' event in Irvine, aimed at informing SME’s of the business opportunities available to them from a variety of public bodies. There were presentations and exhibitors from a variety of public organizations; North, East and South Ayrshire Councils, The Supplier Development Programme, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Scotland Excel, Scottish Procurement Directorate, Enterprise Europe Scotland, West of Scotland Loan Fund, Intellectual Assets Centre, CEIS Ayrshire, Ayrshire Housing Associations, Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and Strathclyde Police.

The event was over subscribed 2 weeks in advance, with 280 business professionals in attendance.

Also in attendance, was Councillor John Reid, depute leader, North Ayrshire Council. Councillor Reid commented on the event; “There’s been a lot of interest in this event, not without reason, for the public sector is a substantial market for small and medium-sized customers. My own Council buys good and services worth £120 million a year from the private sector. Bring in the other two Ayrshire authorities, and all the other public agencies and organisations who have come along to talk about their requirements, and you have a huge potential market. I hope everyone, buyers and vendors, have had a successful day.”

Ann Cromack of IKAT Photography, one of the many local SME's in attendance, stated that she 'found the info regarding “small” tendering opportunities very worthwhile', and that 'the event was an excellent opportunity for networking'.

The feedback from the exhibitors was very positive also. Robert Campbell, Senior Administration and Resource Co-ordinator for Strathclyde Police commented; 'I have spoken to my colleagues and we are all in agreement that your event was an extremely worthwhile exercise. I handed out 200 hundred business cards and have already received a number of enquiries today from SME's we will be able to do business with. It is vital that firms out with the Glasgow area feel they are not excluded from Strathclyde Police's procurement process, and I believe events like yesterdays' go along way to alleviating these concerns.'

For more information on tendering opportunities, visit www.sdpscotland.co.uk or contact Paul Donnelly at 01294 225150/pdonnelly@north-ayrshire.gov.uk.