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637 250£65.2MILLION
£5.5MILLION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
100%
Corporates feel social enterprises are higher or equal quality to their
mainstream competitors
SPENT TO DATE WITH SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
PROFIT REINVESTED INTO SOCIAL MISSIONS
£261KDirect jobs created Social enterprises currently
delivering to the corporate partners
Average spend per social enterprise
CONTENTS A. INTRODUCTION
Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social purpose. In the UK, there are approximately 100,000 social enterprises contributing £60 billion to the economy and employing nearly 2 million people. One of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, social enterprises are currently starting up at three times the rate of mainstream businesses. Yet buyers in both public and private sector are still barely scratching the surface when it comes to taking advantage of the incredible economic opportunity they present – to deliver goods and services within competitive markets, but using their business model for societal good rather than personal gain.
The Buy Social Corporate Challenge was created following a year’s consultation with businesses from every sector of industry to tap into this opportunity. The initiative launched at 11 Downing Street in April 2016 with 7 founding partners and a simple objective – to collectively spend £1 billion with social enterprise suppliers. Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), the national body for social enterprise, has led the Challenge with the support of the government’s Inclusive Economy Unit and Business in the Community. A package of support was created to help businesses understand their existing spend with social enterprises and maximise the opportunity to increase it.
We are delighted to present this impact report, three years on from the Downing Street launch. We now have 15 Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners, a number that is growing all the time. Between them, they have now spent in excess of £65m with 250 social enterprises, an incredible achievement. More important than the spend figure is the impact this spend is having – this year has seen the direct
employment created to date by this spend double to 637 jobs, as has the amount of money reinvested into positive social purpose, now standing at £5.5 million to date. At a time when businesses are crying out for innovation, the 250 social enterprises supplying these businesses are innovating at nearly twice the rate of their mainstream peers. This is an initiative that makes business sense, as well as achieving myriad wider benefits that will be outlined in the coming pages.
We would like to thank all of our corporate partners, and in particular their procurement teams, for their ongoing energy and commitment. Procurement is not always seen as a function at the cutting edge of the responsible business agenda, but in this case we truly believe it is.
Most of all, we would like to thank all of the social enterprises out there running incredible businesses that deliver transformational social impact. You truly are the future of business.
“Social enterprises enhance the fabric of our society by providing opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable people to build confidence, experience and self-belief, enabling people to live more fulfilled lives.”Su Pickerill, Group Community Investment Manager, Wates Group
A. INTRODUCTION PAGE 5
B. KEY HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 6
C. THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SUPPLIER BASE PAGE 7
D. IMPACT ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES PAGE 8 - 11
E. IMPACT ON CORPORATE PARTNERS PAGE 12 - 20
F. THE FUTURE PAGE 21
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B. KEY HIGHLIGHTS
This report is designed to summarise the extraordinary work that has gone on in the past year, as well as to aggregate achievements of the three years. Our findings come from a survey of Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners and a number of social enterprise suppliers working with them. These include:
C. THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SUPPLIER BASE
i. Delivering on quality and price – 100% of corporate partners feel social enterprises are higher or equal quality to their mainstream competitors, whilst 20% are cheaper than mainstream incumbents. This has been consistent over the 3 years of programme.
ii. Significant increase in number of social enterprises delivering to the corporate partners– from 125 in year 1 to 250 this year.
iii. Increase in the number supplying to multiple corporate partners – average number of corporate partners being supplied has increased from 2 last year to 3 this year, suggesting social enterprises are building links with multiple clients that will make them more successful and resilient businesses.
iv. Significant increase in impact – profit reinvestment to date now stands at £5.5m having been £3m for the first two years, and employment figures have also nearly doubled from 329 for the first two years to 637 direct jobs created to date.
v. The programme is having a significant impact on the personal development of staff within corporate partners – 100% rated the programme beneficial to their personal development.
250 social enterprises have supplied our corporate partners in the past year.
As with any supply chain, their scale ranges from small local businesses up to multimillion turnover multinational companies. They represent a wide variety of business sectors and are delivering a huge range of social good through their employment, ownership and what they do with their profits. Figure 1 gives a sense of some of the key sectors social enterprises have delivered in this year:
Fig 1 Some Products/Services offered by social enterprises
Fig 2 How do you deliver social impact?
Co-operative
Gifts its profits to a separate social cause
Reinvests profits into its own social/
environmental programme
Trading arm of a charity
Delivers public services
Impact through who it employs
Business support/consultancy
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Community development
Employment and skills
Web design, print and fulfillment
Environmental recycling, re-use, awareness etc
Cleaning product and services
Retail
Telecommunications
Food and beverages
Office supplies
Signage
Engineering and architectural services
Team building
Miscellaneous
All social enterprises have a principle social mission, written into their governing documents.
How they go about achieving this mission can vary quite considerably. The below table highlights the ways in which each supplier achieves their impact:
We have also for the first time included three “key learnings” which we believe demonstrate some of the unique ways in which this programme is creating value. See pages 10, 14 and 16 for these 3 key learnings.
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D. IMPACT ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
A. Social impact
As part of the impact measurement of the programme, we have been tracking two key metrics for the past three years – employment creation and profit reinvestment. On both of these metrics, we have seen significant increases in the past year.
What is key of course is what this employment and reinvestment means and what social impact is being created. Figure 3 gives a sense of the extraordinary range of good that is being created by social enterprises through this programme. This really is at the heart of what makes the programme special – the alchemy of turning the fairly mundane spend areas outlined in figure 1 into significant impact on people, communities, economies and the environment. Our reporting on profitability demonstrate that £5.5m has now been reinvested to date into the below areas, a significant increase on the £3m of the first two years.
Fig 3
B. Business impact
Supplying goods and services to large businesses can be extremely challenging, but also has a significant payoff in terms of business confidence, growth and ability to win new contracts.
All of the social enterprises we surveyed are expecting turnover to grow next year as a consequence of corporate contracts, with 20% expecting turnover growth of 40%. To put this in context, just 34% of mainstream small businesses nationally are expecting growth over the next year.
The “ripple effect” of having a blue-chip client is also hugely significant – over half of the 250 suppliers have won new business with other clients this year as a result of references from existing corporate partners.
Most excitingly, corporate relationships are helping social enterprises co-design and develop new products and services to take to market. 50% of surveyed social enterprises have extended their product/services offer due to their contracts with corporate partners, a huge increase on last year’s 20%.
Beyond profit reinvestment, who social enterprises employ is the other major route to impact as outlined in figure 2. 78% of social enterprises recognised a positive impact on their employment due to corporate procurement spend. The past year has seen 308 jobs created directly or indirectly
as a result of corporate contracts, nearly as many as the 329 in the previous two years combined. Overall, this means that the £65m spend has now created an impressive 637 jobs, many of which are for those furthest from the labour market.
“Joining the Buy Social Corporate Challenge has focused our commitment internally and opened the door so we can work together with other companies who have a similar drive and passion as us”Sarah Fraser, Head of the Willmott Dixon Foundation
Social issues addressed
8 9
Working within corporate supply chains encourages and supports social enterprise suppliers to build resilience and diversify their offer to clients. We are seeing this happen through geographical expansion, new product/service lines and the delivery of existing products/services in new ways.
MedioriteOne organisation which has worked closely with corporate clients to enhance their provision is Mediorite, an award-winning creative agency with over 10 years’ experience in producing films that look good and do good. Founder and Director Lucy Ferguson was inspired to use knowledge and skills gained in the commercial sector to help tackle youth unemployment, and every job Mediorite does creates paid work and industry experience for young people who face barriers to the labour market.
Working with corporate clients is helping Mediorite to expand into more complex areas of film: filming with drones, use of green screen studios and cloning people who appear on screen. As a result, the Mediorite showreel now has much more variety, setting them apart from many other agencies in bidding for new work, and the firm now has five Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners onboarded as clients – Linklaters, LV=, PwC, Wates and Willmott Dixon.
“The Buy Social Corporate Challenge programme has been transformational for Mediorite. We were previously reliant for our income on low-value, one-off jobs with smaller clients but our corporate partnerships mean a much smoother income flow, which means we are able to support more and more young people from diverse backgrounds to gain experience and work in the creative industry.”
Lucy Ferguson, Director, Mediorite
Key learning 1- CORPORATE CONTRACTS ARE HELPING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES TO DIVERSIFY THEIR OFFER
WildHearts GroupWith WildHearts Group, procurement professionals have helped with guidance on where to develop the business, which originally led to diversifying WildHearts Office (a stationery business) to sell printing, furniture, corporate gifts and more janitorial and hygiene supplies. This collaboration with clients also led to the setting up of Wildhearts Horizon, a document management enterprise specialising in offsite storage, outsourced mailroom and secure destruction services.
Expanding into document storage has allowed Wildhearts to become a more global company and other Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners are looking to include Wildhearts Horizon in their RFPs. The increased profits go directly towards equipping young people in the UK with key employability skills and providing women in the developing world with access to finance and enterprise training.
Amey’s contract with Wildhearts Office had a value of more than £1 million over the last year, and the firm has identified an opportunity for Wildhearts Horizon to tender for future business later this year.
“Amey is delighted to be working with Wildhearts, knowing that every pound spent increases our social impact.”
John Cully, Chief Procurement Officer, Amey
“Driving social impact through service line diversification has been fundamental to the growth of WildHearts Office and WildHearts Horizon, and our customer’s professional procurement advice in this regard is a privilege.”
Colin Downie, Sales and Partnership Director, WildHearts Group
Clarity & CoClarity & Co. is one of the UK’s foremost social enterprises, employing, training and supporting people with disabilities since 1854. The company crafts ethical luxury bath and beauty products, everyday cleaning and toiletry products from their unique semi-automated premises in East London.
Determined to not just challenge but to change the status quo, in recent years they have focused on building brands with impact. The latest brand BECO., was launched in summer 2018 in collaboration with two Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners.
BECO. – a readily biodegradable foaming hand wash and organic triple milled bar soap in three fragrances - stands for Better Considered; better for the people that use it, for the people that make it and for the environment - each 5 litre container saves 1,760 litres of water compared to liquid soap. The product has since been taken up in washrooms UK-wide, including Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners such as LV= and Zurich.
Since its launch in July 2018 sales of BECO. have created around 900 days of employment for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
“Developing products that are innovative and ethical is one thing - bringing them to the attention of influential businesses that inspire others to take up the cause and bring
in revenues is altogether another challenge. However, our job is made that much easier when we have the backing of members of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge.”
Camilla Marcus-Dew, Head of Sustainable Growth, CLARITY & Co.
Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing CompanyLarge businesses often require service provision at a national or international scale, and we are seeing corporate demand driving social enterprise suppliers to expand geographically to meet this demand. Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company, a social enterprise run by Royal British Legion Industries, employs Armed Forces Personnel and people with disabilities or health conditions in their factories, giving them the necessary skills and support they need to regain their independence. The company offers a range of products, from road signs to wooden pallets and direct mail to assembly. A strategic, operations-led decision by Amey to pursue more social enterprise opportunities in Scotland brought about a commercial market opportunity for a new social enterprise to open north of the border. Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company opened in summer 2018, and will help to ensure that Scottish Armed Forces veterans have the same kinds of training and employment opportunities as their counterparts in England.
“We are delighted with our relationship with Amey, which continues to develop and grow each year. We are now very much looking forward to increasing our trading with Amey in Scotland through our fantastic new social enterprise Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company.”
Geoff Streetley, Managing Director, Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company
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E. IMPACT ON CORPORATE PARTNERS
1. Strategic Alignment
At a top line level, the Buy Social Corporate Challenge is a recognition of the huge role supply chains play in the impact that big businesses have on society. To give a sense of this, the infographic below compares a FTSE 100 business’ procurement budget with what it spends on corporate social responsibility:
Average spend of FTSE 100 company on CSR and on procurement
In effect, supply chains, rather than being viewed as areas of risk which create negative impacts (modern slavery, environmental damage etc) have an opportunity to substantially contribute to the positive impact businesses have. This is a win-win for business and society.
Diversity and inclusion is a good example of this. Whilst diversity in who a business directly employs is of course incredibly important, a far greater impact can be had through the supply chain. As our regular State of Social Enterprise survey shows, a much higher proportion of social enterprises are led by women or people from a BAME background compared with mainstream SMEs. It is rewarding to see that 86% of respondents saw this programme as contributing strongly to this.
The high-level strategic benefits of involvement in the Buy Social Corporate Challenge can be seen in feedback from businesses. 64% had recognition from senior leadership of the positive role of the programme, whilst 57% had positive feedback from key external stakeholders. One respondent commented that their involvement in the programme “… improved awareness and opportunity of how I can make a difference. Good to know we can help no matter what our role or company.”
CSR SPEND £10,000,000
PROCUREMENT BUDGET £4,000,000,000
64% 57%
86% of respondents saw the programme as contributing
strongly to supplier diversity.
64% of businesses had recognition from senior leadership of the
positive role of the programme
57% had positive feedback from key external stakeholders
“BP’s engagement with its supply chain partners is important to the delivery of its corporate goals and strategy. Engaging with SEUK helps to further enrich our supply chain with a more diverse range of socially responsible suppliers, extending how we contribute to the communities in which we operate.Alex Thomson, Head of GBS Procurement, Global Business Services, BP
86%
12 13
Social procurement allows businesses to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive advantage in key markets. Buyers in both the private and public sector are asking more and more questions of the businesses they buy from, and the imminent extension of the Social Value Act means that commissioners are now looking for more evidence of social value in tenders for public sector contracts.
Willmott DixonWillmott Dixon is one of the biggest construction companies in the United Kingdom and has been passionate about leaving the right sort of social, environmental and economic legacy since it was formed in 1852. The company has now joined the Buy Social Corporate Challenge and has an increasing number of social enterprises in its supply chain, such as Recycling Lives, a nationwide waste management company with 40 years’ experience in the recycling sector. Recycling Lives creates social value by reducing reoffending, supporting homeless men and redistributing food to support community groups. Willmott Dixon sees a clear link between its commitment to social value and the firm winning work, and believes this has been the deciding factor in a number of high-value bids and tenders.
“Being part of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge adds an additional depth to our Social Value offering in recent bids and tenders.”
Liz Taylor, Foundation Coordinator, Willmott Dixon
Key learning 2 - SOCIAL PROCUREMENT IS A POWERFUL WAY TO ENGAGE YOUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Robertson GroupCommitments to social value and social procurement are also opening the doors to far broader opportunities for our Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners. Robertson Group are gaining access to new project opportunities by virtue of successfully signing up to the National Construction Framework developed and run by Scape Group, a public-sector partnership dedicated to creating ongoing efficiency and social value via the built environment. Each delivery partner is required to employ at least one social enterprise on every Scape project, to help integrate social enterprises into their supply chain.
“In their bid, Robertson were able to demonstrate their ability to commit and deliver to both businesses and communities alike, proving their ability to engage with and have a positive impact upon the communities in which they work. Robertson Construction are committed members of Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), participating in the ‘Buy Social Corporate Challenge’. The above was evaluated as part of their wider commitment to Social Value.”
John Simons, Head of Procurement, Scape Group
WatesSocial value is also playing a part in some very high-profile projects, such as the restoration of sections of the parliamentary estate. Wates has been appointed framework contractor for Parliament’s £650m Northern Estate renovation programme. The work will help restore and protect some of Parliament’s listed heritage buildings in Westminster, delivering a parliamentary estate with reduced running costs, increased environmental performance and improved safety and accessibility.
Parliament as a client places great importance on social value and sustainability. The Houses of Parliament operates a Sustainable Procurement Policy, which includes a mechanism to facilitate and monitor the presence of social enterprise contractors and subcontractors in the supply chains of each House.
Wates made specific pledges to ensure the benefits of the Northern Estate Programme are felt across the country, including a commitment to invest £1 million in social enterprises by giving them access to the project. Commitments such as this played a part in the contract awarding decision.
“We are delighted to have Wates on board, joining Lendlease as partners on Parliament’s Northern Estate Programme. Both firms have not just a proven track record of working on significant historic buildings, but also show a commitment to people, skills and sustainability which will be at the heart of Parliament’s estate work in the coming years.”
Ian Ailles, Director General of the House of Commons
Johnson & JohnsonEngaging with social enterprises also brings clear benefits to businesses in the increasingly competitive market for talent. Social enterprise engagement draws a clear link between a company’s aspirations and actions on purpose. A survey of staff at Johnson & Johnson demonstrated the impact of this link as shown in the following comments:
“Our work with social enterprises inspires our employees as a reminder that we are working for a company that helps people, impacts society and our wider customers. This is what genuine responsibility is all about.”
“It is about having a purpose. It brings a sense of inclusion to people working at Johnson & Johnson.”
ZurichZurich’s commitment to corporate responsibility and social procurement is highlighted in the marketing events used by the firm for graduate recruitment.
“Working with Social Enterprise UK and some of the great suppliers they introduce to us has really inspired my team. I am convinced this helps with staff retention. It
adds another dimension to the job, showing procurement professionals their work can have a positive impact on society.”
Janette Evans-Turner, Head of Sourcing & Procurement UK & IOM (Enterprise Services), Zurich
LinklatersIn some cases, working with specific suppliers can make a significant difference in terms of employee engagement. auticon UK is a social enterprise which exclusively employs IT consultants on the autism spectrum, and the firm was selected by Linklaters’ technology team in London to undertake a data analysis requirement. The engagement with auticon saved time for several teams in Marketing and Knowledge and Learning, as they effectively automated a huge volume of labour-intensive data analysis which would otherwise have needed to be carried out manually.
90% of auticon’s consultants were unemployed before joining the company, with half of them unemployed for more than five years despite being highly skilled. According to the National Autistic Society, only 16% of autistic adults are in full time employment despite 77% of people with autism on out-of-work benefits wanting to work. The project with Linklaters has supported the direct employment of autistic consultants and has also helped auticon to expand their offering – the organisation has now proven its ability to run projects with a dedicated team that manages and delivers the project from specification to planning through to delivery.
“It’s really been a pleasure to work with auticon. We’ve been impressed by the professionalism of their consultants. It’s been a positive and eye-opening experience.”
James Pilgrim, Senior Knowledge Systems Manager, Linklaters LLP
“We are delighted to have Linklaters as one of our UK clients. As a true innovator among global law firms, Linklaters recognises the value of neurodiverse talent and have worked with us to provide the right conditions and a great welcome to our consultants. By engaging with auticon, City firms can not only address the unemployment issue among autistic adults but also benefit from our consultants’ market-leading skillsets on complex IT projects.”
Ray Coyle, CEO, auticon UK
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2. Talent Development
The battle for talent is a hugely significant business driver. As seen above, the Buy Social Corporate Challenge has clearly had a positive impact and 93% of our survey respondents see procurement team engagement as one of the key drivers.
As one respondent commented
“In our experience, internal social enterprise campaigns that we’ve run have resulted in engagement from staff. As a result of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge we have been working closely with the procurement team and our suppliers in an attempt to bring more social enterprises on board.”
The personal impact of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge should also not be underestimated. Whilst strategic and business drivers will always be significant in terms of making the case, it has been rewarding to see the personal impact that the Challenge has had on those involved. 100% of procurement staff who responded to the survey agreed that working with social enterprises has had positive impact on them personally.
In many cases, the Corporate Challenge provides an opportunity for procurement professionals to engage in a very different way to the opportunities they would get with a traditional supplier. Again this can be seen in the responses from businesses, with comments in feedback such as
“I now buy socially for myself and I encourage friends and family to do so too.”
“I love this work, it’s rewarding and allows me to make a difference to society.”
3.Innovation
The programme is also leading to a fresh approach to innovation.
From a social enterprise perspective, the suppliers to partners are innovating at a much higher rate than their mainstream small business peers (50% vs 33%).
From the partner perspective, 20% saw social enterprises as a key way of directly bringing innovation to the supplier base. Indirectly, 50% of respondents saw the opportunity to innovate through their supply chains as a consequence of the programme, as key learning 3 emphasises:
“PARTICIPATION IN THE BUY SOCIAL CORPORATE CHALLENGE REINFORCES OUR COMMITMENT TO THIS AGENDA AND GIVES US ACCESS TO A NETWORK OF LIKE-MINDED BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS TO HELP ‘RAISE THE BAR’ COLLECTIVELY”
Jeremy Willis, Director of Procurement, PwC
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In order to win contracts with large businesses, especially those with a highly centralised procurement function, suppliers often need to build an indirect relationship via a provider that is already in the supply chain of the end-user client.
In other words, a social enterprise supplier (as with any supplier) will often be a Tier 2 or Tier 3 or even Tier 4 supplier rather than a Tier 1 provider. These indirect relationships with social enterprises are providing businesses with an opportunity to develop a very different relationship with major providers in their supply chains.
For the Tier 1 organisation this commitment to social enterprises can be a significant differentiator in winning and retaining contracts. When it comes to the buying organisation, we are starting to see tenders which invite Tier 1 providers to give evidence that they sub-contract with social enterprise suppliers.
Johnson & JohnsonJohnson & Johnson identified this opportunity long ago and developed a strategic, values-driven partnership with its facilities management provider, Sodexo. A key pillar of the relationship is a shared strategy to engage with social enterprises and the two firms have worked together to develop a framework which embraces social procurement. When the service contract between the two firms came up for renewal it included a commitment from Sodexo to direct 3% of the spend to social enterprise suppliers. The result is a number of successful and well-embedded supply relationships with social enterprises such as Belu Water, Divine Chocolate and Fruitful Office, and the high-visibility of these products brings powerful benefits in terms of employee engagement.
Key learning 3 - SOCIAL ENTERPRISES ARE DRIVING A MORE STRATEGIC COLLABORATION WITH TIER 1 PROVIDERS
“Sodexo has been instrumental in introducing our service and value proposition to the different J&J offices throughout the UK, including regularly communicating different elements of our social message (e.g. Tree Planting in Africa campaign and excess fruit policy) in our highly visible fruit baskets.”
Vasco de Castro, Director, Fruitful Office
“The engagement around social enterprises has brought a very strong partnership between J&J and Sodexo based on trust. Employees at both companies are really engaging with these programmes. It is very powerful for us.”
John Magner, Global Program Integration Lead for Facilities Management , Johnson & Johnson
PwCPwC are building a similar relationship with BaxterStorey, one of their hospitality and catering services providers. By inviting 6 or 7 social enterprises to come in to pitch to BaxterStorey in an environment where pricing, distribution models, product & service roadmaps can be discussed in depth, onboarding can be accelerated. Toast Ale, Snact and Forty Hall Vineyard are examples of social enterprises who have been introduced into BaxterStorey’s client supply chains via this route.
“BaxterStorey share PwC’s commitment to social enterprise and it’s a real point of differentiation for them. It’s very important to have business partners who align well with our corporate values”.
Jeremy Willis, Director of Procurement, PwC
LV=Another of our corporate partners, LV=, found a way to transform its relationship with a number of Tier 1 providers through one event. They held a special one-day conference in November 2018 to drive social enterprise engagement through its supply chain. The event brought together LV=’s top 80% of suppliers by spend with a selection of social enterprise leaders and key LV= business leaders. The aim of the event, held at Coin Street Conference Centre in London, was for LV= and key suppliers to develop a shared commitment to buying social.
“We can’t deliver this just by ourselves at LV=. We need all of our supplier partners to play their part in this incredible journey.”
Karl Poulsen, Chief Procurement Officer, LV=
“I have come away absolutely buzzing. It has really inspired me. I’m really, really amazed at what LV= are already doing in this area. I want to raise this in our agenda and have it as one of our top priorities going forward.”
Lorraine Carolan, Partner, DWF Solicitors
One supplier which benefited from the event is From Babies With Love, a social enterprise which donates every penny of profit from their ethically sourced baby gifts to support vulnerable children around the world and supplies its unique parental leave gift service to HR functions. They now have two new clients live already, directly attributable to the event, and are expecting another to go live very soon.
“I thought it was a great event. Such a brilliant way for Buy Social Corporate Challenge members to grow their impact in yet another way that creates value for them.”
Cecilia Crossley, Founder, From Babies With Love
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F. THE FUTURE
As we embark on our fourth year there are a number of exciting developments that will further enhance the breadth and depth of opportunity in this space. Some of the key trends we see looking forward include:
Sector focus – we are delighted to see new businesses signing up and we invite more forward-thinking businesses to join the Buy Social Corporate Challenge. We are pushing to achieve representation in every sector of the economy. This is vital to demonstrate that this is something any business can do. Sectors of particular interest include retail, telecommunications and manufacturing.
Global development – an increasing number of partners are beginning to look at social procurement as a global opportunity rather than just a UK one. SEUK are working with global equivalents and technology partners to ensure this opportunity can be realised.
Collaboration – one of the refreshing aspects of the programme is that this is seen as an area of collaboration for mutual success amongst traditional competitors. A number of partners within the built environment sector for example are looking at how they can work together to drive up spend for all their benefits.
Development of new suppliers – we are having exciting discussions with partners and investors about how we can develop suppliers that meet the exact requirements of buyers. This could create massive opportunity for social enterprise growth and impact as well as solving the supply chain challenges of partners.
COMMUNICATIONS
External Communications
The Buy Social Corporate Challenge provides large businesses with an opportunity to not only embed social change into their supply chains but also to use the initiative as a platform to secure media attention around their commitment to responsible business.
Awareness raising is an important part of the Challenge and in the last year the campaign received 29 media hits (print and online).
This year saw more Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners actively seek out press coverage in their own sector’s trade publications and outlets which previously covered the initiative also featured it more regularly with pieces often focused on the
particular work of an individual partner. This was particularly the case with Supply Management and the free City of London newspaper, City Matters. The launch of year 3 was covered by the Mail Online and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Challenge Partners have also taken part in SEUK’s external facing campaigns such as Social Saturday and #WhoKnew.
Internal Communications
As well as getting press coverage, arguably the more important element of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge is to raise awareness about social enterprises internally with staff and other stakeholders to move the conversation beyond the procurement and CSR teams.
Social procurement was heavily featured at the annual conference at Janssen UK (a Johnson & Johnson company), with an employee of social enterprise Inside Job Productions being interviewed on stage by Janssen UK Managing Director, Mark Hicken in front of hundreds of employees.
As part of the worldwide Social Enterprise Day campaign, Linklaters invited social enterprises into their central London office to exhibit outside the central staff canteen, LV = hosted a day long conference on transforming procurement and
Lendlease invited SEUK and social enterprise, WildHearts to address staff at a breakfast event. Longstanding partner, PwC also continued to put on events through their Social Entrepreneurs Club and ran a Social Enterprise Christmas Market.
Corporate Partners were also given a tailored version of SEUK’s Social Enterprise Christmas Gift Guide to be shared internally amongst staff.
These future developments will complement the existing Buy Social Corporate Challenge support package:
DIAGNOSTICS Running partner vendor lists through SEUK’s database to baseline spend and make recommendations across priority spend categories.
TARGET SETTING Helping partners set appropriate spend and impact targets.
TRAINING Half-day workshops upskilling procurement teams and business leaders on social enterprise and social procurement.
COMMUNICATIONS Both internal to engage business, and external to raise awareness.
CONSULTANCY SUPPORT 6 days dedicated support per business to drive engagement and impact.
PEER TO PEER LEARNING Quarterly meetings of procurement leaders to share best practice across the network.
TIER 1 STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT Working directly with large sub-contractors to support them to buy social.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE INTRODUCTIONS Both individual recommendations and also collective Meet The Buyer events within specific categories.
LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Roundtable dinners for senior executives at House of Lords to drive strategic business engagement.
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We are delighted to be joined by 5 new partners in 2019/2020:
ABOUT THE CORPORATE PARTNERS
Amey works with public and regulated sector customers to design, build, maintain and invest in services and infrastructure such as roads, railways, schools, waste disposal, airports, energy and water, helping to ensure safer, smarter and more sustainable environments.
Linklaters is an international law firm that puts clients at the heart of everything it does with a common focus on innovation, efficiency and agility.
Nationwide has had the same purpose now for over 130 years: to help ordinary people buy their own homes and save for their futures. Put simply, those who save with Nationwide help those who mortgage through them. They are committed to building society - for the good of their members and the communities in which they live and work.
BP is a global energy business, involved in every aspect of the complex energy system that drives our world. Thanks to their reach and incredible human resources, they are one of only a very few companies equipped to deliver light, heat and mobility on a global scale.
LV= is a leading financial services provider and a mutual. They believe everyone deserves to Live Confident and their approach to corporate responsibility is all about putting customers at the heart of their business, looking after their people, investing in their communities and caring about their impact on their surroundings.
SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best. 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system.
ENGIE is a leading energy and services company focused on three key activities: production and supply of energy, facilities management and regeneration. They employ 17,000 people who combine these capabilities for the benefit of individuals, businesses and communities throughout the UK & Ireland.
Johnson & Johnson is the world’s largest and most broadly-based health care company, committed to using its reach and size for good, improving access and affordability, creating healthier communities, and putting a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere.
PwC is a leading professional services firm, providing assurance, tax, legal, deals and consulting services to clients around the world.
Over the past 160 years Willmott Dixon has grown into an industry leading business. In 1852 John Willmott undertook his first contract for the sum of £1. Since then, Willmott Dixon has grown into a £1 billion business that remains privately-owned. They create value for customers, stakeholders and communities by working in a sustainable and responsible way to shape the built environment and make a positive impact to society’s well-being.
Robertson is one of the largest independently owned construction, infrastructure and support services companies in the UK, covering the entire built environment lifecycle and adding lasting value to local communities.
Wates is one of the UK’s largest family owned construction, development and property services companies which believes business can be a force for good by making a lasting legacy in the communities in which it works.
Zurich UK, part of the global insurer, provides general insurance and life insurance products to retail and corporate customers.
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services.
Lendlease is a leading international property and infrastructure group, with approximately 13,000 employees across operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, their employees help to create places that leave a positive legacy with a focus on health and safety, our customers, innovation and sustainability.
We worked with 10 partners in 2018/19:
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ABOUT SEUK
FIND OUT MORE & CONTACT USsocialenterprise.org.uk | @SocialEnt_UK | 020 3589 4950 | [email protected]
We are the national body for social enterprise - business with a social or environmental mission.
Our members come from across the social enterprise movement – from local grassroots organisations to multi-million pound businesses, as well as private and public sector organisations. Together with our members we are the voice for social enterprise. We believe that social enterprise is our best chance of creating a fairer world and protecting the planet.
To find out more about becoming a member of Social Enterprise UK, visit socialenterprise.org.uk/about-membership
Company number 4426564. The Social Enterprise Coalition CIC is a community interest company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, trading as Social Enterprise UK (SEUK).
THIS REPORTThis report was written by Charlie Wigglesworth, Jennifer Exon, Neha Chandgothia and Andy Daly.
It was designed by social enterprise The Champion Agency - thechampionagency.com
It was printed by social enterprises DTP - dtp.co.uk and Trojan Mailing Ltd - trojanmailing.org.uk
BUY SOCIAL CORPORATE CHALLENGEThe Buy Social Corporate Challenge is led by Social Enterprise UK with the support of the Inclusive Economy Unit (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) and Business in the Community.
