The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is trialling a new service which will provide small and medium-sized businesses with the chance to view thousands of public sector contract opportunities.

Between May and the end of July, new registrants will be able to gain free access to public sector contracts valued at less than £100,000 on www.supply2.gov.uk.

Shriti Vadera, business minister, says that many SMEs can provide better value for the taxpayer because they have lower costs and are more innovative than bigger firms.

'Introducing Britain's small firms to government procurement contracts online will provide opportunities to grow that they would not have otherwise found,' she adds.

National chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, John Wright, welcomes the news, saying that he hoped more SMEs would get involved in fulfilling contracts in the public sector.

'But local authorities and government departments must play their part too by making sure that more small business opportunities are advertised on Supply2,' he comments.

Since the launch of Supply2 in 2006, more than 79,000 contracts have been advertised on the site.