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YPO Opening Doors SMEs turn policy into action

News
Ashley Wilkins
27 Nov 2025

YPO recently hosted an event aimed at demystifying public sector procurement processes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The event – Opening Doors: Making Procurement and Social Value Work for SMEs – was led by YPO’s Head of Procurement Services, Michelle Walker, and welcomed representatives from across the UK, exploring how they can better utilise opportunities.

Michelle was joined by two expert speakers: Gillian Askew, founder and director of Go4Growth, and Bryan Simmons, Head of Procurement & Ethical Commissioning Practice at Wigan Council.

The event provided valuable insights into the Procurement Act 2023, which aimed to streamline public procurement processes, enhance transparency and boost opportunities for suppliers – particularly SMEs.

The event placed the new arrangements under the spotlight and demonstrated how to seek out opportunities in the public sector most effectively.

Additionally, it covered the information that participants can expect to receive when engaging in a public sector tender.

Other topics discussed included:

• Social value requirements in procurement tenders
• Improved strategies to maximise benefits of SME proposals for contracting authorities
• Greater insight into the evaluation process, by allowing participants to role play the the job of an assessor and understand how tender responses are scored.

The day concluded with an interactive Q&A session. Jodie Milsom, YPO’s Social Value Officer, provided her insights on all social value questions.

As YPO’s Head of Procurement, Michelle is recognised as a leading industry expert. She brings more than 30 years’ experience in the sector, including roles at Sheffield Hallam University and a long tenure in the NHS.

Gillian Askew is the founder and director of Go4Growth, a fully funded service designed to help SMEs develop and grow by providing practical tools and resources. She also serves as a director at Love Me Tender, bringing unique insight to the event, having previously held the role of Head of Procurement Services at YPO.

Bryan Simmons, Head of Procurement & Ethical Commissioning Practice at Wigan Council, specialises in sustainable procurement and its role in delivering social, economic, and environmental benefits for local communities.

Also in attendance was Robb Sayers, Category Lead for the newly launched YPO Training Academy, which provides tailored procurement training, awarding attendees a CPD certificate upon successful completion.

Reflecting on the event, Michelle said:

“It was a pleasure to work alongside Go4 Growth, Bryan, Robb and Jodie to deliver this event.

“We were lucky to have an engaged and informed group of attendees who made the most of the opportunity to share their experiences, frustrations and take away some valuable insights.

“Social Value continues to be front and centre in public sector procurement. Being able to support SMEs is fundamental to YPO’s principles and values as a leading Public Buying Organisation.”

Ashley Wilkins YPO

Author

Ashley Wilkins

PR and Communications Officer for Public Sector

YPO

Ashley is a PR and Communications officer for the public sector side of the organisation. This involves supporting communications to local authorities, emergency services, housing, NHS and the wider public sector. Ashley is responsible for assisting with PR and media relations, stakeholder communications and public affairs, content strategy and creation, research, as well as corporate comms such as strategic partnerships, sponsorship, events, awards and delivering the annual report.