Crown Representative for Small Businesses

Last updated
United Kingdom
Crown Representative
for Small Businesses
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
since 19 February 2024
Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom
Appointer His Majesty The King
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length At His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation2011
First holder Stephen Allott

The Crown Representative for Small Businesses in the Government of the United Kingdom is an appointed position with responsibility in the field of procurement for the relationship between the UK Government and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). [1]

Contents

The position was established in 2011 and is currently held by Shirley Cooper OBE. [2]

Responsibilities

The UK Government describes the Crown Representative as being responsible within the procurement field for leading on "the overall relationship between the government and small businesses, making sure the government gets best value from SMEs, and that they in turn have the best possible opportunity to work with the government." [3]

History

Following the formation of the Cameron-Clegg Coalition Government, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a report, Backing Small Business, which committed to an aspiration of 25% of government procurement spending being made with SMEs by 2015. Upon publication in 2010, this figure stood at 6.8% of government procurement spending. [4] To support the delivery of this target, in 2011 the Cabinet Office announced the establishment of the position of Crown Representative for SMEs.

The first Crown Representative, former president of Micromuse and founder of the Cambridge Computer Lab Ring Stephen Allott, launched the Innovation Launch Pad in 2011 to seek out new suppliers for government. [5] Allott promoted the creation and adoption of the UK Government G-Cloud, a framework targeted at easing procurement of information technology cloud services. [6] By 2013, of the 700 registered suppliers, 80% were SMEs. During Allott's tenure as Crown Representative, the SME share of central government procurement spend rose to 27%, including direct and indirect spend. [7] In 2023, SME share of central government procurement spend had fallen to 20%. [8]

In 2016, co-founder of StartUp Britain Emma Jones was appointed the new Crown Representative following Allott's move to leading G-Cloud business development in 2015. [9] During Jones' tenure, the position title changed from Crown Representative for SMEs to Crown Representative for Small Businesses.

In 2019, Jones was succeeded by Martin Traynor OBE, a business executive who was chair of the King Richard III Visitor Centre and former president of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce. [10] Traynor held a central role in the development of the Procurement Act 2023, an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to overhaul public procurement law in the United Kingdom. [11]

The current Crown Representative since 2024, former chair and president of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, Shirley Cooper OBE, is involved in the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023. [12]

List of Crown Representatives for Small Businesses

Originally titled Crown Representative for SMEs, there have been four office holders since the position was established in 2011.

Crown Representative for Small Businesses

Crown RepresentativeTerm of officeReporting toPrime MinisterMinistry
Stephen Allott [13] 20112015 Permanent Secretary

to the Cabinet Office

David Cameron Cameron-Cleg I

Cameron II

Emma Jones [14] 20162019 Permanent Secretary

to the Cabinet Office

Theresa May May I

May II

Martin Traynor OBE [10] 20192024 Permanent Secretary

to the Cabinet Office

Boris Johnson

Liz Truss

Rishi Sunak

Johnson I

Johnson II

Truss

Sunak

Shirley Cooper OBE [15] 2024Incumbent Permanent Secretary

to the Cabinet Office

Rishi Sunak

Keir Starmer

Sunak

Starmer

References

  1. ↑ "Crown Representatives and strategic suppliers". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  2. ↑ "New expert will champion small businesses across Government". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  3. ↑ "New expert will champion small businesses across Government". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  4. ↑ "House of Commons - Government spending with small and medium-sized enterprises - Committee of Public Accounts". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-13.
  5. ↑ "Government opens up contracts to small business". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  6. ↑ "Innovation Launch Pad". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  7. ↑ "Government's spending with small and medium-sized enterprises". National Audit Office (NAO). 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  8. ↑ "Government Contracts Still Out of Reach for Many SMEs - British Chambers of Commerce". 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  9. ↑ "Government is open for business, says SME Crown Representative | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  10. 1 2 "Martin Traynor OBE". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  11. ↑ "How Public Procurement Review Service helps supplie..." The Gazette. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Government appoints entrepreneur to role aimed at increasing public contracts won by small businesses". Enterprise Nation. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  13. ↑ sa333 (2025-02-24). "Stephen Allott". www.cst.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "[Withdrawn] Emma Jones - Small Business Crown Representative". GOV.UK. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  15. ↑ "Government appoints entrepreneur to role aimed at increasing public contracts won by small businesses". Enterprise Nation. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
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