MOD to help small British businesses win defence contacts

Mace | 5th February 2026 | Politics
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 27: A sign outside the Ministry of Defence building on February 27, 2025 in London, England. On Tuesday, British PM Keir Starmer announced he was accelerating his country's defence spending target to hit 2.5% of GDP by 2027, three years earlier than planned. The increase, which was made ahead of a meeting between Starmer and US President Donald Trump, was to be paid for by cutting the UK's foreign aid budget. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 27: A sign outside the Ministry of Defence building on February 27, 2025 in London, England. On Tuesday, British PM Keir Starmer announced he was accelerating his country's defence spending target to hit 2.5% of GDP by 2027, three years earlier than planned. The increase, which was made ahead of a meeting between Starmer and US President Donald Trump, was to be paid for by cutting the UK's foreign aid budget. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A new team dedicated to supporting small British businesses to win more defence contracts has been established by the Defence Readiness and Industry Minister, Luke Pollard MP, on a visit in late January to the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

Pollard has established the Office for Small Business Growth (OfSBG), designed to assist with SME’s bidding for Defence contracts.. It will support small and medium UK firms to bid for and win more defence contracts. The ambition is to reverse the decline in Ministry of Defence (MOD) spend on SMEs, as identified in the Defence Industrial Strategy. This will also help deliver on the Government’s pledge to increase defence spending with SMEs by 50% by 2028 and is a significant vote of confidence in around 12,000 SMEs across the UK, marking an important step in removing barriers faced by SMEs at a crucial time for national security and innovation. The team will help to simplify and speed up cumbersome processes, provide advice to SMEs, and encourage private sector investment, supporting the Defence Secretary John Healey’s pledge to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a defence business. The OfSBG will oversee a comprehensive programme of change, ranging from policy ...

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