The Bigger Picture of Social Value: Rethinking Impact Through Procurement

The year 9 report for the Buy Social Corporate Challenge revealed a landmark surge in procurement spending with social enterprises, as 33 big businesses together spent £179 million on goods and services, a 46% year-on-year increase, the highest since the initiative launched in 2016. In total, corporate partners have spent £656 million with 2,100 social enterprise suppliers, creating nearly 6,000 jobs. The premise of the Challenge is simple: working with corporates to use their core business spend to create positive social and environmental impact. Read on to find out more about the transformative impact of social procurement.

This deep dive report looks into diversity within social enterprises, with a focus on women-led and ethnic-minority-led businesses. It shows that social enterprises lead the way when it comes to representation on staff and leadership teams. More social enterprises are led by women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds than is the case for the wider business community. The report also looks at how these groups find access to finance.

Three years ago the Commission on Social Investment founded by our Chair, Lord Victor Adebowale, published its findings. It found some key structural issues within the social investment market including the deprioritisation of social enterprises over the past decade and regional disparities in access to finance. We've just published a review into whether the Commission's recommendations for reform have been delivered.  ‘This report card’ recognises some signs of progress but also highlights concerns in areas such as government strategy, key market institutions and access to funding products.