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Scottish Government Showcases Western Isles' Lewis Builders in recent blog

The Scottish Government has released another video case study highlighting rural SME Lewis Builders, which is using the power of procurement to grow its business and bring benefits to its local community.

Lewis Builders have grown its business over the last 30 years from being a small construction company to a multi-trade operation employing nearly 100 individuals on the island today. Its first major public sector contract for the local authorities was the £5 million Ardseileach care home project. It was this project that let Lewis Builders ‘spread their wings’ and paved the way for it to grow the business through public sector contracts.

Lewis Builders are committed to providing opportunities for work and training on the island, developing a strong apprenticeship programme, and bridging the construction industry skills gap. Lewis Builders are a significant local employer, committed to supporting its employees by embedding Fair Work principles within its contract delivery, including paying the real Living Wage – and supporting the Young Person’s Guarantee.

You can view the video on the Scottish Government website.

Download a transcript of this video

Scottish Government "Spreading our wings rural SME showcase with Lewis Builders"00:00

This blog follows on from the Scottish Government’s first case study with Levenseat in rural South Lanarkshire.

Support from the Supplier Development Programme

As part of its journey working with the public sector, Lewis Builders have accessed SDP's free training and events since first registering in 2018. SDP provides expert training to Scottish SMEs, supported businesses, third sector organisations, and social enterprises that have little or no experience of tendering and are often too small to have a dedicated bid and/or tender resources to contemplate bidding for public sector contracts.

Your business can follow in the footsteps of Lewis Builders! If you are new to working with the public sector you should join the 1.1 Working with the Public Sector – All You Need to Know webinar on 19 January 2023 or the 1.2 Using Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) – How to Find and Bid for Opportunities webinar on 24 January 2023.