Brexit Causes Drop in Public Sector Tenders

Uncertainty around Brexit has caused a slowdown in the number of public sector tenders to the technology sector, according to network provider, hSo.

The firm points to figures from the Crown Commercial Service that show there was been a 20 percent fall in the number of tenders since the UK’s EU Referendum in June. Before the Brexit vote there had been 815 tenders per month on average, but in the subsequent five months there have been only 652 per month (see graph.)

“We saw important infrastructure projects such as Hinkley Point temporarily put on hold straight after the referendum, but we remain optimistic that the news flow around these large scale national infrastructure projects will not impact the government’s tendering process into the New Year,” said hSo managing director, Chris Evans.

Political uncertainty

“However, with the recent political uncertainty presented by Trump’s victory in the US, there are potentially more reasons for inertia to set in at a time when the UK economy needs as much help and stimulus as possible.”

Evans said that while he was encouraged by the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement with its focus on investment in infrastructure, the slowdown was understandable, given the appointment of a new UK Prime Minister and her administration. However, he said, “this shouldn’t prevent them from maintaining the momentum that was evident earlier in the year ahead of the Brexit vote.”

Elsewhere, research surfaced last month that claimed local authorities have only spent £73 million on the government’s G-Cloud digital marketplace since its inception more than four years ago

Although the government is aiming to drive digitisation in public services through the G-Cloud framework, only eight percent of public sector IT executives have used G-Cloud more than five times in the last year.

London-based HighSpeed Office Ltd (hSo)’s customers include GAME, Texas Instruments, the NHS, The Salvation Army and CLIC Sargent.