Social Value Hub
Welcome to the space where we share thoughts, insights, and practical ideas to create social value.
The Social Value Act: What is it, and why is it important?
A decade on, we spoke to the three key people behind the Act: Chris White, the MP who proposed the Bill and shepherded it through Parliament; Andrew O’Brien, his then Parliamentary Aide who played a key role behind the scenes and suggested social value as a potential topic for the Bill in the first place; and Mark Cook, a leading expert in sustainable procurement and the lawyer who helped to draft the legislation and negotiate its path through the Cabinet Office.
UN Climate Change Conference COP26
Our guide to what businesses need to know about COP 26.
It's five years since the Paris Accord was signed at COP 21, and the upcoming summit will address what has - and hasn't - been achieved since then. It will also focus on setting concrete plans to reach the Paris Agreement targets. In essence, the conference will work as a stock-take on how close countries around the world are limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees; the goal was set back in 2015.
Craig Paterson-Cheyne, Global Sustainability Manager, Wood PLC
Today we're talking to Craig Paterson-Cheyne, Global Sustainability Manager at Wood. Craig shares the benefits of having the Wood sustainability team sit in different business areas, how they aim to educate, empower and enable colleagues across the group to integrate sustainability into their everyday decisions and why we should all be a little more honest about our sustainability and social value journeys.
Alison Taylor, Executive Director, Ethical Systems
Today we're talking to Alison Taylor, Executive Director of Ethical Systems and Professor at NYU Stern School of Business. Her work spans both academia and corporate consultancy, and we discuss business culture, critical strategies for initiating ethical changes in business, and what the solution is when a win-win for business and sustainability is hard to identify.
Nine things ESG and procurement can do together to create social value
The most important thing is to recognise that supply chain engagement forms a key pillar of any sustainability strategy and that it will be impossible to deliver on your social value commitments without having your suppliers onboard. Here are ten things you can do now to create social value by ESG and Procurement working together.
Daisy Powell-Chandler, Director, Public First UK
Today we're talking to Daisy Powell-Chandler, a Director at Public First and host of the podcast for reputation professionals, Why Everybody Hates You. We talk about perceptions of social value, the competence and ethics mix, and risk.
Pheona and Micheal Matovu, Co-Founders, Radiant and Brighter
We speak to Pheona and Micheal Matovu, Co-Founders of Radiant and Brighter, about how and why workplaces should diversify, how you know when you are 'diverse' enough, and why they remain optimistic about our ability to change.
Social Value and Community Benefits: Five things public sector procurers need to know
We love the idea of Community Benefits – the ambition and legislative push to ensure that local communities reap wider rewards from the money spent by their local authority is to be applauded. However, over the past several years, it has become clear that the benefit isn’t always reaching the intended community despite the best intentions.
Angela Halliday, Director of Social Impact, Sodexo UK&I
Today we're talking to Angela Halliday about how she became Sodexo UK&I's first-ever Director of Social Impact, their approach to measurement and evaluation, and how you tell a coherent impact story in a large, complex, multinational, sector-spanning organisation.
Carol Glenn, Social Value Programme Manager, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Meet Carol Glenn, Social Value Programme Manager at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. We talk about perceptions of social value, challenges with measurement, and what makes some suppliers stand out with their social value story.
Eight reasons social value isn't working for your business
Here are our top red flags that social value isn’t working for your business. You may want to rethink your approach if you recognise any of these.
Berry Jordan, Community Investment Advisor, Vattenfall UK
We spoke with Berry Jordan, Business and Community Investment Advisor at Vattenfall UK about windfarm and infrastructure projects, how community engagement is changing thanks to COVID-19, and why businesses benefit when communities do.