Winning Public Sector Contracts: A Practical Guide for SMEs (WCBS 2026)

Could the public sector be one of the biggest markets your business is overlooking? Government and public bodies spend around £400 billion every year, buying everything from food, care and construction to technology, training and professional services – yet many SMEs either assume those contracts are not for them or only start thinking about an opportunity when the tender appears.
In this fast-paced, practical session, Steve Pinnell will cut through the jargon and show how smaller businesses can approach public-sector growth more intelligently. You'll discover where opportunities really come from, why winning often starts long before the tender is published, how to decide whether an opportunity is genuinely worth bidding for, and what public-sector buyers are really looking for when they evaluate your response. Steve will also break down common procurement myths, highlight costly mistakes to avoid and demonstrate a simple technique for turning weak, generic tender answers into evidence-led responses that give buyers confidence.
You'll leave with a clearer view of whether public-sector contracts could be right for your business and practical steps you can take immediately to start exploring the market.

Speaker

Steve Pinnell, Sphere6
Steve Pinnell is Founder and CEO of Sphere 6, a specialist consultancy that helps businesses understand, pursue and win public-sector opportunities. Sphere 6 has helped customers secure more than £23 million in public-sector contracts, supporting organisations from ambitious SMEs to established technology and healthcare businesses. Steve brings more than 20 years' experience across engineering, technology, healthcare and complex public-sector delivery. His practical approach focuses on what really makes the difference: understanding where the market is, choosing opportunities worth pursuing, building compelling evidence and giving buyers confidence that you can deliver. He is passionate about making public procurement understandable and accessible to good businesses that may previously have assumed government contracts were too complex, too difficult or simply not for them.
Find them at Stand 69.

In the Seminar Hall 3 (top left of the floor plan).