The rhetoric and reality of SME-friendly procurement

Small- and medium-sized enterprise-friendly policies are central to public procurement. The extent to which these policies have been put into practice has gone largely untested. To address this gap, a survey of SMEs’ reported experiences of policy implementation was conducted. Ireland served as the research context. Policy implementation was found to be limited. Company size was a significant predictor of SMEs’ experiences, with micro-enterprises more negative than small or medium-sized enterprises. The authors explain the policy–practice divide and make recommendations for improvement.