Unlocking social value – turning procurement ambitions into a model that delivers

Procurement is becoming more ambitious, with organisations looking beyond cost, quality and delivery to the broader value their decisions can generate for people, communities and the economy.

This shift is already visible across public procurement. Under the Government’s Social Value Model, in-scope central government procurements apply a minimum 10% weighting to social value when awarding contracts. Alongside the Procurement Act 2023, this reflects a growing confidence that public spending can achieve strong commercial outcomes while also creating meaningful social and economic benefit.

There is now real opportunity to build that momentum to deliver mass public good. Procurement is one of the most powerful levers available to government and business for this. Every contract creates economic activity that can support skilled jobs and open opportunities for people who are too often excluded from the labour market.

At Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE), this is central to our work. Through our social enterprise factories across England and Scotland, we provide paid roles within commercial operations, with more than 70% of roles filled by veterans and/or people with disabilities. This access is transformative, as secure work provides financial stability, independence and the foundation to rebuild confidence, skills and long-term prospects.

These roles are integral to our delivery. Our customers need high-quality products delivered at scale, and those contracts create skilled job opportunities. Social value is generated through the work itself – through real demand, real contracts and real customer need. Our teams produce more than 250,000 road, rail, and commercial signs each year for major UK infrastructure projects, as well as print, mail, embroidery, and fulfilment operations.

Commercial performance and social impact can reinforce each other. A contract that supports skilled employment can also build capacity, improve resilience, and help address workforce challenges. A Barclays report found that 75% of manufacturers identify skills shortages as their biggest barrier, while 36% struggle with recruitment and 32% with talent retention.

At the same time, the disability employment gap remains close to 30 percentage points, despite 5.5 million people with disabilities already contributing to the UK workforce. This means employers are facing acute recruitment pressures while a significant pool of talent is still being overlooked. Our own experience shows how strong that talent pool is.

Social procurement can accelerate inclusive employment by showing how commercial activity can deliver better outcomes. The strongest models embed social impact into delivery from the start, connecting jobs, training and progression to real commercial work.