Buy Social Corporate Challenge
The Buy Social Corporate Challenge was launched in 2016 at 11 Downing Street with an aim of getting businesses to spend £1 billion with social enterprises by 2020. Current partners are; Amey, Interserve, Johnson & Johnson, PwC, Santander, Wates, Robertson Group and Zurich. The Challenge is looking for many more forward-thinking companies to open up their supply chains to the UK’s 70,000 social enterprises.
I was recently at an event in Parliament to celebrate the achievements of the first year. Examples given in the first year report include; Belu Water being used by Santander in workplace canteens and dining rooms helping WaterAid, Clarity soaps being used by PwC in washrooms and aiding the visually impaired. Ninety helping agile digital disruption in Zurich Insurance - giving 90% of their distributable profits to water, health, economic development and education projects in Africa.
In this year, £19.8M has been spent by the corporates in the challenge with social enterprises with 35 procurement professionals trained in the characteristics of social enterprises.
Here is a 90 second video about Mediorite - a photography and film social enterprise which trains young people, and their work with Wates:
Is your company up for the Challenge? Could you let your Directors and Procurement staff know about the Challenge? Why not make some noise about this?
Is the purpose of business really to maximise shareholder value or to "foster human flourishing— that it make people’s lives better. In practice, business does so when it fulfils ‘Love your neighbour’ by creating real value for customers, employees, and others." (Tim Weinhold - 'The Purpose and Practice of Business').
The Challenge is one of the ways business can do this. See more details here.
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Geoff Knott, 21/06/2017