Sutton Council is running a one-day workshop next week for small businesses interested in learning how to tender for council contracts.

The Meet the Buyer – Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) Workshop for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been organised by the council’s economic growth and development division, Opportunity Sutton.

The workshop at the Sutton Holiday Inn on Wednesday 9 September will assist local businesses by teaching them how to navigate the procurement process.

Business representatives will be guided step-by-step through the Sutton Council pre-qualification process to help understand the questions. They will be provided with help and advice on how to structure their answers, and assisted with the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) process so that they will be able to use the system to tender for projects of interest to their business.

Jayne McCoy, Chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee at Sutton Council, said:

“Sutton is a hotbed of enterprise and we want to assist our many small businesses with the procurement process for council work by providing them with the tools they need to tender for council contracts within the borough and across London.

“Our free workshop is open to all businesses but primarily those SMEs new to Sutton’s PQQ process or that have previously been unsuccessful at PQQ stage. They will receive support, advice and training to help them to access council contracts, which some SMEs miss out on because they are unfamiliar with the procurement system.”

To register for the workshop, which runs from 10am to 3pm at the Holiday Inn on Gibson Road, Sutton, email opportunitysutton@sutton.gov.uk or telephone 020 8770 5891.