The move is being hailed by Government as a major step forward in its drive to push more public spending into the hands of smaller firms.
The deal means that the contractors can bypass their established supply chain arrangements for the open tendering approach now favoured by Whitehall for subcontractor packages.
Cabinet Minister Francis Maude outlined the new arrangements on Government works contracts today as he announced progress towards channeling 25% of procurement spending to small and medium sized firms by 2015.
Maude said Balfour and Amey are among nine major companies across all industries “opening up their supply chains to greater competition by advertising their sub-contracting opportunities on Contracts Finder.”
He said: “It’s very simple – if you allow more businesses and more business models to compete- you find better value solutions.”
The Contracts Finder website gives businesses a single place to survey everything on offer from Government and currently has 97,000 viewings per week.
Latest figures show that of the 6,132 contracts posted to date, over a third, 2,133 have been awarded to SMEs.
The contracts finder website can be found at: http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/