Real-world cost
When awarding government contracts, I wonder whether anyone checks what proportion of the bidder's profits are taxed to the benefit of the UK exchequer..? The real cost of a contract is the amount paid to the provider, minus the proportion of that sum paid back to the government in tax by the provider. Big companies are much better at tax avoidance and offshoring, so it would be easier to justify awarding contracts to small companies if this was taken into consideration.
No icon because .. there's no beancounter icon! How about it El Reg? It would sit nicely between Spawn of Satan and the flame....