News

Thrive are delighted to share that Kinovo PLC are using the Thrive platform to track and report their social value endeavours across their business and their 4 subsidiaries; DCB, Purdy, R.Dunham and Spokemead. This is especially exciting as Kinovo have recently gone through a rebrand (formerly Bilby PLC) and as part of that process they have been meticulous with their decision making around their supply chain and partnerships.

With a strong sense of community, family and partnership, the company chose their name carefully. With ‘Kin’ meaning family and ‘novo’ meaning new, Kinovo reflects a renewed family of businesses.

Through the rebrand process, Kinovo realized that, due to the nature of their business and who they serve, social value was always at the heart of what they were doing, but it wasn’t well communicated to staff, stakeholders, clients or even the community where they were helping.

The company focus a lot of their work in the social and affordable housing sector and so to them it is important that the whole company “walks the walk”. Because of this, their work in the community is not limited to the remit of the projects that they carry out; being on the ground on behalf of local authorities and housing associations means they have first hand knowledge of the help people need on a daily basis and staff are encouraged to assist where they can. From providing support to the elderly or isolated, to doing shopping runs for housebound clients – especially during lockdowns – it became clear that the culture was already one of a caring and positive workforce. This is social value in action, on the spot, with benefits being realized there and then.

“We committed to producing a Sustainability report in the last quarter of this financial year and we installed Thrive so that we would have the ability to look back through what we have achieved over the past year. Not only that, but it also provides us with the group’s social value benchmark, which we will improve on.” Lee Venables, Chief Operating Officer, Kinovo.

“Social Value is being given higher weighting in tenders now, in some cases up to 20%. Thrive will give us the ability to provide more tangible information about the social value activities that we carry out, in our bids, which in turn will help us to win more contracts.” Martin Stone, Group Bid Manager, Kinovo.

With ESG and sustainability firmly at the core of this new identity, and with a growing contribution to the UN Sustainability Goals, now more than ever Kinovo need to have an accurate and consistent way to report their progress on their social value objectives. So the next step in engaging a tool to both track and report on the social value activities they are doing is a logical one. It enables them to let more people know about the good work which runs throughout the wider company. Knowing what others in the organization are doing provides motivation and comradery as well as demonstrating to shareholders that this is a company with heart.

Not only this, but using Thrive’s social value measurement tool to be able to see both tangible and fiscal benefits from the decisions they have made – such as the social return on investment of using solar panels and ground source heatpumps – means they continue to make fully informed strategic purchasing decisions, and in this case, helping towards their goals of being a net zero company.

We’ve now been working with the Kinovo team since March; helping them understand just how much of an impact they have already had with their social value work. We are impressed to see how quickly they have been able to implement change and are excited to see what they can achieve in the future.

Gardiner & Theobald (G&T) is an independent construction and property consultancy working across all sectors of the built environment. They deliver Project Leadership, Commercial Success, Construction Excellence and Specialist Consultancy and are now known for being one of the most ethical firms in their sector. Each year the firm and individuals support charitable causes through their social impact programme giving back to the communities they help to build.

They have now gone one step further and launched their Social Value policy providing a framework for delivering their social value activities and they have chosen to use Thrive to capture and measure the meaningful change they create.

Their new social value policy has the following objectives:

• To create opportunities for social mobility for children in areas where they might not otherwise have them
• To address the skills gap in construction and support the next generation of built environment professionals
• To improve diversity and inclusion within the built environment
• To support the development of our employees and improve mental health and wellbeing
• To reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint

Here is what G&T had to say about their use of Thrive:

“To help us capture, calculate and demonstrate our social impact G&T has partnered with Thrive to implement its specialist measurement tool. Thrive provides important governance and a structured process for delivering social value activities helping us to deliver meaningful social value across the UK.

The tool calculates the economic impact of social value activities using the Impact Evaluation Standard which has been developed by social value practitioners and construction professionals and provides the Social Return on Investment (SROI) for each activity. It is derived from government data and respected think tanks, including information from the Office for National Statistics and embraces the five core themes of PPN06/20.”

“It has never been more important for our industry to come together to support the local communities we work in. Our new Social Value Policy and measurement tool will help us to continue to deliver meaningful social value and leave a positive legacy for future generations.”  Adam Glover – Managing Partner

You can read their full Social Value Policy here:

For those of us in the Social Value world, the Social Value UK Members Exchange is an important date in the calendar as it is the time that we can get together with our fellow industry members to see, share and learn about progress across the board.

This year proved to be no different. With 20 sessions held virtually across 4 days, there was plenty of opportunity for discourse on both best practice, and the realities of implementing social value reform across an ever changing social and political landscape.

This year Thrive were proud to sponsor the event. Part of this sponsorship meant we were able to donate a number of tickets for the full 4 days to VCSEs and SMEs, hopefully widening the horizon of social value beyond the remit of councils and large organisations. Social Value is something that everyone can make a difference with, a topic that was reiterated many times throughout the Exchange.

Example of the sessions held include ‘Social Value Frameworks and New Developments from the Built Environment’, ‘A new look at stakeholder engagement: digital tools, participation, and power dynamics’ ‘An insider?s SROI evaluation’ and ‘Social Value and Modern Methods of Construction’ among others. Speakers were drawn from a range of professions; social value consultancies, government bodies and councils, researchers, change makers and even accountants to name but a few, so the wealth of knowledge and practical experience was there to be soaked up and immersed in.

We were especially interested in hearing real life examples of companies and councils who have had social value ideas, turned them into plans, strategies and then results. And with the sector growing at pace, the amount of experience we can draw from at these exchanges will be even more vast next year.

Did you attend the Members Exchange? What did you take from it this year? Have you learned of any new skills or strategies that you hope to implement within your own business? While the virtual event is now over, you can watch replays for the next 30 days here.

If you have come away from this event feeling like you need to learn more about how your company can really report the social value you are providing, get in touch with us for a chat.

Read more about how Social Value tracking is essential for SMEs.

Exciting news for a sustainable future as new measures will require businesses to commit to net zero by 2050 and publish clear and credible carbon reduction plans before they can bid for major government contracts.

Supporting the “Build Back Greener” mantra, this new rule which will come into play in September aids the steps already taken in several areas of public policy, to ensure longevity for the sustainability agenda.

The UK are leading the way here, being the first government in the world to put this requirement in place. At ?292 billion, public procurement accounts for around a third of all public annual expenditure. This new ruling means that the impetus to tackle climate change falls squarely at the feet of both the public and private sector. Private sector firms have a real chance to make a substantial positive long term impact to the social and environmental well being of our community – or be left behind… because firms which fail to implement this will be excluded from bidding for key contracts.

The ruling applies for suppliers bidding for contracts above ?5million a year and all of those bidding will need to comply with the measure, not just those who are successful in winning contracts. This further widens the impact of the measure, as more and more suppliers commit to achieving Net Zero.

Minister for Efficiency and Transformation, Lord Agnew, said:

“The government spends more than ?290 billion on procurement every year, so it?s important we use this purchasing power to help transform our economy to net-zero.”

“Requiring companies to report and commit to reducing their carbon emissions before bidding for public work is a key part of our world leading approach.”

“These measures will help green our economy, while not overly burdening businesses, particularly SMEs.”

The measures will apply to all central government departments and arms length bodies.

Are you affected by this new ruling?

Do you have a carbon reduction plan already in place or will you need to get up to speed before September to avoid being overlooked in contract bidding?

Thrive’s Metrics and Social Value tracking system lets you track your carbon creation and reduction, both internally and down through your supply chain, making it perfectly suited to help you tackle these new government demands. We are passionate about net zero and how our software can help businesses get there.

Learn more about carbon tracking with Thrive Social Value

The Queen officially reopened parliament on 11th May and with that she gave her 10 minute speech on what she envisions for the year ahead, including a new procurement bill.

In her speech, the Queen laid out that her priority was to deliver a national recovery from the pandemic. Not just in health but across many areas of life. “My government will level up opportunities across all parts of the united kingdom, supporting jobs, business and economic growth” she stated. Investing in and improving infrastructure and transforming connectivity by rail and bus were key parts of this plan. Great news for the construction industry!

The addition of the pledge to create legislation to support a lifetime skills guarantee to enable “flexible access to high quality education and training throughout people’s lives” shows that adding social value to the leveling up plan is a key component. There was a reference to the “lost learning during the pandemic” that children have suffered. Thus making sure that moving forward there is an opportunity for those children to now maximise their potential.

Amongst the 30 laws outlined for ministers to pass this year, was a reform in the government procurement process from the private sector.

Now that the UK has left the EU there is an opportunity to do things differently. This new procurement bill which government hopes to have in action later this year is one way of asserting our individuality.

The Queen alluded to laws that would simplify procurement in the public sector. Together with the promise of more homes than ever to be built this year, it seems there is an opportunity for those in the construction sector to take note of the changing regulations around public procurement. No doubt we will hear more now that responses from the government’s green paper “Transforming Public Procurement’ are in.

How do these goals affect you? Do your social value plans include a greater emphasis on the education of the young? Prioritising the early years is now on the agenda, not just training school leavers. Have you considered how young people may grow up during the life cycle of your project?

Are you across the changes in public procurement that have both occurred and are still to be enacted?

Net zero greenhouse gas emissions and racial and ethnic disparities also featured in the speech. Key points highlighted in the Social Value Model which so recently came into play.

Here at Thrive we are able to help you with your Social Value strategy and make sure you are hitting the goals? driven by government.

If you would like to know more, get in touch with us at uk@thrive-platform.com

Osborne is one of the leading construction businesses in the UK. As a family-owned business, they are known for having the freedom and flexibility to take a different approach. They focus on creating structures and spaces that provide an environment for people to thrive in and solutions for customers that provide a better experience during the creation. From rail to road, housing to healthcare, however large the project or contract, Osborne has a diverse range of community involvement. Creating, measuring and improving social value from all their activities is key to Osborne?s approach.?

Here is what Osborne had to say about their use of Thrive:

“Our communities are as important to us as the buildings we leave behind. That’s why we create opportunities to improve local communities, providing a positive social and environmental impact. Social value is considered in all aspects of our business from local recruitment, local supply chain partners, upgrading community facilities, equipment and material procurements, providing works placement, appointing apprenticeships to supporting a local cause. Creating positive outcomes for people and their local area is our key driver and is aligned to our core values and culture.”

To capture the huge scope of our social and environmental impacts we have adopted Thrive as our partner to efficiently measure our performance. Thrive enables us to capture data, understand the financial value and seamlessly demonstrate this to our stakeholders with live transparent reporting/ data.”

Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on the world, businesses, communities and individuals and now more than ever we need a sense of social solidarity to fight back and build our communities again. The Government has issued a PPN06/20 in response to Covid to ensure that public procurement is doing its bit to contribute to society. We are well equipped to support the Government Framework as Thrive has consulted with Social Value experts to adopt the framework in its entirety.”

We are totally committed in supporting our clients to improve people lives through creating opportunities. Our social value programmes are developed with our supply chain partners to deliver positive outcomes that we can calculate and understand the financial value as well as the local personal benefit. Thrive will ensure that our social value data will be captured, enabling us to provide governance around how we collect this information and report on the impact. Our Social Value Steering Group (SVSG) will meet quarterly to review outcomes and review opportunities to improve our standards and to consider the pillars of social value, their impact and review targets?”

Read their full Sustainability Strategy below

The UK Government has released Procurement Policy Note PPN 06/20 taking account of social value in the award of public contracts.

The changes mean that, from 1st January 2021, central government will now be required to go further than the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 to ensure that all major procurements explicitly evaluate social value, where appropriate, rather than just consider it.

The PPN recommends that a minimum weighting of 10% of the total score should be applied to social value in all public procurement contracts.

Read more from the government themselves;

or from the the Construction Index

And find out how you can easily manage this within your own tender process

VolkerWessels UK is a leading multidisciplinary contractor that delivers innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors including rail, highways, airport, marine, energy, water, and environmental infrastructure which posted revenues in excess of £1BN in 2019.

Emma Ward, Head Of Sustainability – VolkerWessels UK, says:

“Thrive has revolutionised the way we collect and demonstrate performance against key sustainability and social value metrics across our business. At VolkerWessels UK, it is our ambition to deliver projects that demonstrate excellence in terms of design, construction and engineering excellence. These projects enhance the way we live, through innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors. The demands of our business ? and our clients ? means we needed a straightforward and intuitive way to capture and report on our Company, and project, sustainability metrics and commitments in line with our People-Planet-Purpose Sustainability framework. Thrive’s software was the only one we found which achieved this. It has helped us overcome data collection bottlenecks by automatically engaging staff throughout our whole group. We have also chosen to use Thrive’s additional modules which track and maximise employee engagement in our volunteering and schools programs. Integrating all these facets together is hugely impactful for us.”

Thrive is delighted to be supporting Volker Wessels UK in its transition to have greater flexibility and efficiency in the capture and reporting of its diverse Community Investment programmes.

Lewisham Homes is a not-for-profit organisation, set up to improve housing in the borough.

As well as managing 19,000 homes on behalf of Lewisham Council, we operate our own maintenance company, build new homes and find valuable ways to invest in the local community.

Lewisham Homes adopted Thrive software to more efficiently manage its Community Fund as well as capture and report on the wider social value generated in its local community as a part of housing construction and refurbishment investments.