Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role as the fundamental industrial units of the UK economy. A number of them are the second or the third tier suppliers in manufacturing industry. Despite the importance of SMEs in the supply chain, they are likely to have limited resources to implement supply chain management (SCM) to develop their performance in order to improve customer service level and catch up with large companies. Collaborative support from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) is required to assist SMEs to improve their capabilities. In this study, the SCM situations of the SME and the OEM in the automotive and food industries are studied, focusing in particular on the supplier-customer relationships to provide overview of these relationships within these two industries. Furthermore, supplier development activities that OEMs could adopt to improve SMEs’ capabilities are identified. The adoption of SCM practices by SMEs and OEMs are investigated. Lastly, the differences and similarities of the situation in the automotive industry and the food industry are also compared.