On 17 June, D3IP hosted one of its most engaged webinars to date. More than 80 registrants joined us as we hosted Andy Webling from the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Defence Office for Small Business Growth (DOSBG) for a practical briefing on how SMEs can access, compete for, and grow within the UK defence market. The turnout itself was a signal: appetite among innovative businesses to engage with defence is high.

However, the session took place against a backdrop that many attendees will have been tracking closely. For SMEs trying to navigate the UK defence sector, the gap between strategic ambition and practical opportunity can feel significant, particularly as we await the significantly delayed publication of the Government's Defence Investment Plan (DIP). Sessions like this one, direct and frank, are exactly the kind of access that makes a difference.

Why the DOSBG Was Created... & Why It Matters

The DOSBG was established in January 2026, directly in response to a government commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and a new target to grow SME spend by an additional £2.5 billion by March 2028. That latter figure represents a 50% increase on current SME spend — and it covers both direct MoD contracts and indirect spend through the prime contractor supply chain.

The DOSBG's mandate, as Andy explained, is straightforward: make it easier for SMEs to find, compete for, and win defence work. Its work spans four areas...

• Shaping procurement from the start to include more SME-friendly practices
• Advising on routes to market
• Helping SMEs grow through exports and business enablement.
• Holding the MoD and its strategic partners accountable for delivering on SME commitments.

Routes into the Defence Market

A significant portion of the session focused on the practical mechanics of accessing defence opportunities — territory that many SMEs find opaque. Andy walked through the primary routes available, anchored by the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP), where the MoD advertises tender and contract opportunities above £10,000. Free to register, the DSP also publishes pipeline notices, market engagement events, and contract award notices — the last of which can be a useful tool for SMEs looking to identify supply chain openings with prime contractors after a major contract has been awarded.

Andy also covered government framework agreements (both open and closed) and dynamic markets as structured routes to market, and highlighted the importance of engaging with the MoD's 17 strategic supplier partners directly — given that the majority of SME spend flows through the supply chain rather than through direct MoD contracts. For technology-led businesses, he pointed to UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), Innovate UK, NATO DIANA, and the NATO Innovation Fund as routes combining funding, access, and validation.

The Harder Questions

The Q&A opened up some of the sector's more persistent challenges. Attendees raised questions about accountability — how the MoD intends to ensure that prime contractors improve access for SMEs in their own supply chains, and how specific direct and indirect SME spend targets will be set and monitored. Andy was candid that much of this work is still in progress, with detailed targets and accountability mechanisms planned for when the DOSBG reaches full operating capability (FOC) in December 2026.

The challenges are real. Many SMEs report that accessing defence opportunities — whether direct contracts or prime supply chains — involves considerable time, cost, and uncertainty for businesses that can least afford it. The DOSBG's anonymous barrier-reporting form, available on their website, is the current channel for raising specific instances of procurement barriers or unfair commercial practices by primes. It is a starting point, with more structured mechanisms to follow.

An important near-term milestone is the MoD's forthcoming SME Action Plan, which will set specific spend targets and commit to concrete steps to reduce barriers to entry. At the time of the webinar, Andy anticipated publication within weeks.

Preparation Is the Best Response to Uncertainty

The broader landscape may be uncertain, but the direction of travel is clear: the MoD has made ambitious commitments to SMEs, new mechanisms are being put in place to enforce them, and — as the turnout for this webinar demonstrated — the appetite among innovative businesses to engage with defence has never been stronger.

For SMEs, that means the preparation done now — understanding procurement routes, building relationships, registering on the right portals, and raising barriers through the right channels — will matter when the investment picture becomes clearer and opportunities accelerate.