Updata is onto the government's connectivity framework for the PSN and has been successful in securing a .

However, Bennett has highlighted a number of flaws in the procurement process at a local government level that make it hard for SMEs - flaws that he argues are getting worse and aren't fair on small players.

Benett said: "Procurement is difficult full stop. I haven't really seen any great movement in favour of the SME, other than what I have read in the newspapers. I haven't seen it on the ground."

He went on to provide an example of when Updata bid for a contract with Buckinghamshire County Council.

"It wasn't a small contract, it was potentially worth tens of millions of pounds. Our written responses for that contract ran to 571 pages, we had to provide 72 different financial scenarios, and our appendices ran to a further 1,200 pages. It shouldn't be that long, it just shouldn't," he said.