£250M spent with social enterprises

Figures from the latest Buy Social Corporate Challenge (BSCC) annual report shows some £250M has been spent with social enterprises by 30 businesses since its launch.

The spend has helped create 2,700 jobs in an ongoing programme from Social Enterprise UK.

The Buy Social Corporate Challenge (BSCC) sixth annual report shows that the blueprint of corporates purchasing from social enterprises has resulted in millions of pounds going to support businesses tackling social and environmental issues, as well as creating jobs.

The Challenge sees Social Enterprise UK work with 30 large businesses, ranging from pharmaceuticals to finance, to identify and match social enterprise suppliers across products and services from food and drink to consultancy. Launched in 2016 with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Challenge has a ten-year target of £1Bn of spend and is on track to reach this goal, with more than £91M achieved in the last year, a total of quarter of a billion, over the last six years.

The corporate partners on the programme are Amey, AstraZeneca, Barclays, CBRE, Co-op, Compass/Foodbuy, Deloitte, EQUANS, GSK, John Sisk & Son Ltd, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Landmarc Support Services, Lendlease, Linklaters, LV=, Mitie, Motorola Solutions, Nationwide, Nestle, NFU Mutual, PwC, Robertson Group, SAP, Siemens, Sodexo, The Crown Estate, Wates Group, Willmott Dixon and Zurich.

To be a social enterprise, businesses are governed and constituted to achieve social or environmental impact. As businesses, social enterprises seek to deliver profits, but at least 50% of their profits are reinvested into their mission. Social Enterprise UK estimates that by trading with Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners social enterprise suppliers have been able to reinvest approximately £26.5M into the social or environmental missions.

Pranav Chopra, founder NEMI Teas, a social enterprise supporting refugees, said: “We are currently working with seven partners on the Challenge and are in consultation with two more. Hopefully we’ll be in a third of their partners’ supply chains shortly! It’s because of the Challenge that I’ve been able to directly reach out to other corporates. The Buy Social Corporate Challenge has been remarkable for businesses which have a social enterprise model and the capacity to deliver.”

The report argues that not only does buying from social enterprises make a positive social impact, but that it doesn’t have to cost more: 90% of corporate partners in the challenge reported that social enterprises were cost neutral or even cheaper when compared with other suppliers, while 95% said that social enterprises delivered comparable or higher quality.

Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK, said: “Following higher scrutiny by investors, stakeholders, staff and consumers, mainstream UK businesses are increasingly considering their social and environmental impact when they set strategy and make decisions.

“SEUK welcomes this shift and we believe social enterprise has an important role to play in supporting the wider business community to embrace social value and consider the social and environmental impact of their work.

“There is a group of businesses that are leading the way in leveraging their procurement in service of their purpose. The Buy Social Corporate Challenge (BSCC) partners are demonstrating effectively how their purchasing decisions can help them play their part in achieving a fairer and more sustainable economy.

“What this sixth annual BSCC report reveals is that the Challenge is on track to deliver its ambitious £1Bn target, thanks to the commitment and vision of our corporate partners and the ability of social enterprises to deliver high-quality products and services.”

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