Supplier Development Programme - Meet the Buyer Event

The Supplier Development Programme have an upcoming Meet the Buyer Event due to be held in Edinburgh in May.

Scotland is open for business! You are invited to attend Scotland’s largest national free Meet the Buyer 2023 event to be held at the EICC on Wednesday, 17 May 2023. Now in its 14th year, the Scottish Government, Scotland Excel and the UK Department for Transport are headline partners of this annual event.

The Meet the Buyer 2023 event will give Scotland’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses and social enterprises suppliers unprecedented access to buyers and decision makers from across the Public and Private Sectors ,more of which are signing up to participate every day. You will be able to meet procurement teams from local councils, alongside other public and private sector buying organisations and can talk face to face to those who purchase goods and services.

In addition, your business can meet with larger trade and construction contractors that are connected to public sector projects. These primary contracts want to support you, as a local business, to get into their supply chains and Community Wealth Building opportunities related to 'project delivery on site'. So, even if you don't think you work in a particular sector, but your small business can provide peripheral products and services nearby - for example, MOTs, food and drink, cleaning services, security services, local B&Bs, grounds maintenance, for example - you can't afford to miss out on the chance to connect at Meet the Buyer 2023.

With plenty of break out and networking areas, why not use Meet the Buyer to connect with other organisations and raise the profile of your organisation too. To support you the Supplier Development Programme has created a helpful guide on what to do at the Meet the Buyer event.

For micro, small and medium sized businesses, social enterprises and charities, the public sector is the best customer to have because there is no debt risk: payment can be made on a received invoice within 10 days if there’s a cash flow need, and within 30 days as the legal maximum. Meet the Buyer allows businesses of all sizes to introduce their solutions and products, face-to-face. For primary / Tier 1 type contractors with supply chain opportunities, Meet the Buyer is a chance to exhibit and connect with hundreds of small businesses and social enterprises that can learn how to get involved in the delivery of larger contracts anywhere in Scotland.

To book your free place please visit the website

I do hope you will take this open-door opportunity to attend this free “all under one roof” public sector flagship event and take advantage of public sector contracts and business growth opportunities which were worth last year £14.5bn.

We look forward to seeing you there.