Download this article as a PDFThe Ministry of Defence spent a record £34.1bn in 2025/26. Spending with UK industry rose 3.2% in real terms, an extra £1.1bn going to British firms. For engineering businesses that is a real opportunity. Most smaller firms are still on the outside of it.
The government wants smaller suppliers
It is not only the big primes that stand to gain. The government has set a goal to increase defence spending with SMEs by £2.5bn and grow SME participation by 50% by 2028. A new Defence Office for Small Business Growth has been set up to make the route into defence contracts simpler.
The demand is showing up on factory floors too. September's UK Manufacturing PMI marked an 11th straight month of growth, and higher defence spending was cited as one of the factors supporting production.
Why most firms never get a look in
The money is real. Getting to it is the hard part. Defence buying runs through primes and their tier one and tier two suppliers, each with their own approved supplier lists, procurement teams and qualification steps.
A precision engineering firm can be perfectly capable of the work and still never be asked, because nobody in the right procurement team knows it exists. And defence moves slowly. A first conversation rarely becomes a purchase order inside a quarter. The firms that try once, hear nothing and stop are handing the work to the ones that keep going.
Where to start
Start with a map. Which primes and tier suppliers buy what you make, which programmes they work on, and who handles procurement and engineering. That turns "defence" from a vague ambition into a list of named companies and named people.
Then make it easy to say yes. Put together a clear capability statement: what you make, the machines you run, the tolerances you hold, the accreditations you have and the sectors you already serve. A buyer should be able to see in a minute that you can do the work and meet the standard.
Then keep showing up. Phone, email and LinkedIn, aimed at the right people and followed up for months, not weeks. Before the first call, the free Practical Guide to Working in Defence from Make UK Defence and Lloyds is worth an hour of anyone's time. It covers procurement, finance and how to engage.
Get on the list before the next programme
Defence will not suit every firm, and it is not quick. But the budget is growing, the government is actively asking for smaller suppliers, and the businesses that start now will be on approved lists when the next round of programmes comes up.
That is the work we do at Hayward Miller. We map the market, find the buyers that matter, get you in front of them and keep the conversation going until it turns into an order.
Hayward Miller is a business development and sales agency specialising in the engineering and industrial sectors, based in Norfolk. It provides web development, SEO and GEO, email marketing, outreach and content.
Sources
- The Manufacturer, UK manufacturers benefit from rising government defence spending (Sept 2026): https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/uk-manufacturers-benefit-from-rising-government-defence-spending/
- Gowling WLG, MOD launches new team to boost opportunities for British SMEs: https://gowlingwlg.com/en/insights-resources/articles/2026/mod-launches-new-team-to-boost-opportunities-for-british-smes
- Trading Economics, UK Manufacturing PMI (Sept 2026): https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/manufacturing-pmi/news/588713
- Lloyds Bank, A practical pathway into the defence sector: https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/resource-centre/insight/defence-pathway.html
