Setting Your SME and VCSE Spend Targets — A Practical Guide

Ambition Meets Accountability: How to Set Targets You Can Deliver On

The PPN 001 guidance is clear: by 31 May 2025, SME spend targets for 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2028 must be signed off by Ministers and sent to the Cabinet Office. VCSE targets follow a year later.

On paper, it’s straightforward. In reality, it’s where ambition often collides with bureaucracy.

I’ve seen it too often: departments either play it safe with lowball targets to avoid

embarrassment, or they go over the top with figures no one truly believes are achievable. Both approaches stall progress.

“Lowball targets waste opportunity. Overblown targets destroy credibility. PPN 001 demands balance.”

Here’s my advice:

• Start with data — Not just “what’s our SME percentage?” but where and why it is what it is. Slice by category, region, and contract size. The gaps will tell you where to focus first.

• Set the trajectory — Your target might be for 2027/28, but if you don’t have milestones every quarter, you’ll be rolling the dice.

“If you only check your progress at the finish line, don’t be surprised if you’re miles off pace.”

Think of it like a marathon — you don’t check your time once at the finish line, you pace yourself throughout.

• Plan the “how” — Splitting large contracts, reducing unnecessary thresholds, hosting targeted supplier events, and onboarding SMEs through flexible routes like DPS. These are the baby steps that accumulate into big shifts

• Be transparent — Share progress honestly. If you’re behind, explain why. If you’re ahead, show how.

Government loves grand launches — but I’ve learned it’s the early adopters, the ones who start now, who are miles ahead when the reporting deadlines hi