There are currently 109,500 contracts from public sector buyers advertised on the supply2.gov.uk website looking for someone to carry them out. There are 3,000 or so more added every month and in a year they add up to billions of pounds worth of work.

In a year when it looks like being difficult to find work, it could be worth a look. And as the average contract advertised is worth about £100,000, these are the sort of contracts that might suit small and medium sized contractors (SMEs).

The contracts are posted by all kinds of public sector bodies, including local government, health, education and housing authorities, emergency services and the Olympic Delivery Authority.

The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), which runs the site, is urging small firms to sign up.

More than 123,000 companies have already registered. They receive advice on how best to access government contracts and a free daily email alert notifying them of new opportunities that are relevant to their business and location.

Although the government wants to help companies, the idea is also to help itself, because small, local firms can often carry out jobs less expensively and more promptly than nationals.

If you have looked at the site before and found it too complicated, you might like to try again as it has been revamped to be a “more user friendly platform where registrants can benefit from increased information and better navigation”, according to Marketing Brand Manager Fiona Campbell.