New research from Barclays reveals strong appetite among UK businesses to grow their defence involvement – but funding barriers, skills shortages and procurement complexity remain significant obstacles to unlocking the full potential of the Defence Investment Plan. Four in ten UK businesses expect to increase their involvement in the defence sector ...
The Ministry of Defence has set out its most comprehensive commitment to small and medium-sized enterprise growth in a generation, with a 50% increase in SME spend targeted by summer 2028 and a new Office for Small Business Growth leading delivery. The Ministry of Defence has published its SME Action Plan, ...
Lord Coaker and Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard used keynote speeches at Farnborough to deliver the clearest ministerial signal yet that SMEs and the wider supply chain are central to the UK’s defence ambitions – backed by record investment, structural reform and a new SME Action Plan. Two ...
The UK National Defence Procurement and Supply Chain Summit returns to Manchester’s Kimpton Clocktower Hotel on Thursday 22 October 2026, and the second in our series of session previews turns attention to a part of the defence supply chain that rarely gets the spotlight it deserves: the mid-tier. The session, titled ...