Facilities Management businesses that work with the public sector know all about the importance of creating – and measuring and reporting on – social value.
And it’s increasingly important in winning and retaining private sector contracts too as investors, markets, and potential customers take more and more notice of social value and ESG reports in their decision-making.
If you’re new to the topic and why it matters to Facilities Management, read our introduction to social value and this list of the ten most important things to know about social value to get up to speed.
But if you’re a Facilities Manager looking to up your game, here are five focus areas where Thrive customers have had great success and – just as importantly – been able to prove it with data!
1. Energy Management Helps Fight Climate Change
“Fighting Climate Change” is one of the headline Themes in the 2021 Social Value Model. That’s been carried forward into the 2025 version (PPN 002) under the Mission “Make Britain a clean energy superpower: to cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero.”
Good news, because energy efficiency in managed premises and sites is a key goal for most Facilities Managers.
So, core elements of Facilities Management work feed directly into social value goals by optimising energy use, contributing to sustainability, cutting waste, and promoting recycling.
For example, our customer Mitie was able to:
- Support Lloyd’s Banking Groups Net Zero journey by overhauling lighting at their Edinburgh premises – cutting energy use by 93% and saving 28,000kg of carbon emissions
- Reduce Royal Mail’s energy usage by 53.2 GWh over two years by improving the performance of HVAC and lighting, saving £5.4 million
- Set up an on-site waste recycling facility at Euston Station for Network Rail, improving recycling rates from 10% to 81%, saving an estimated 11,242 tonnes of carbon per year
And it’s not just energy management at clients’ sites that contributes.
Bellrock – another Thrive customer – is working towards 100% of its electricity consumption coming from renewable sources this year and 50% of its commercial fleet being zero-emissions Electric Vehicles by 2030, amongst other goals.
2. Vendor Management can build supply chain resilience and boost local economies
Facilities Management businesses are also well-positioned to promote social value through the vendor and supplier management processes that frequently sit at the heart of their work.
The selection and management of partners for services like cleaning, maintenance, security, waste disposal, catering, and more can boost a number of social value objectives:
- Enlisting local businesses as suppliers can help communities tackle economic inequalities (a key priority in both the 2021 and 2025 Social Value Models) by keeping money circulating in the vicinity of your projects
- Ensuring that business supply chains become more resilient and that economic activity promotes social cohesion by bringing in a wider range of providers, including social enterprises, VCSEs, startups, minority-owned and operated businesses etc
- Insisting that suppliers observe high environmental and workforce welfare standards in awarding your own contracts (for example, the Social Value Models call for widening sign-up to the Mental Health at Work Commitment as an important goal)
For example, Amey RAMS (Regional Accomodation Maintenance Services) is working towards spending 60% of its Central supply chain spend with SMEs and social enterprises. Using the Thrive Platform and The Impact Evaluation Standard’s metrics that are built into it, the company’s annual social value report shows that this figure stands at 44% as of April 2024.
One way Amey did this was by reviewing payment practices and signing the Prompt Payment Code. This has made it easier for small entities to work with them, and has led to 95% of invoices being paid within 30 days.
Mitie is working with a whole host of organisations to ensure diversity in its supply chains, including Minority Supplier Development UK, Social Enterprise UK, the Supply Chain Sustainability School, and others.
Using Impact Evaluation Standard proxy values, its 2024 ESG report shows:
- £985,610,000 spent with SMEs, creating £226,690,300 of social value
- £3,360,000 spent with VCSEs, creating £2,016,000 of social value
3. Staff wellbeing and user wellbeing
As companies that are often responsible for high numbers of employees and contractors directly – and for the workplace experience of those who use the sites and premises managed indirectly – Facilities Managers are well-positioned to promote the Social Value Model’s “Wellbeing” Theme and “fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer” Mission.
.
On the staff and contractor side, there are ample opportunities to prioritise wellbeing. Looking just at mental health, for instance:
- Adhering to the standards set out in the Mental Health at Work Commitment and the “Thriving at Work” report, and pressing suppliers to do so as well
- Ensuring there are sufficient mental health first aiders at all locations
- Promoting mental health awareness and a mental health at work plan
- Auditing internal processes to ensure that recruitment, access to opportunities, etc do not discriminate against those with mental health problems
Let’s take a look at examples from two more of our Facilities Management customers.
FCC Environment went so far as to set up a wellbeing “one-stop shop” called WellNet, collating resources and advice on mental and physical health, sleep, diet and nutrition, a toolkit for managers, and an Employee Assistance Programme provides 24/7 GP access, bereavement services, and relationship counselling. On top of that, appointed champions are responsible for ensuring the wellbeing messages get through to the entire workforce.
NHS Property Services is killing two birds with one stone by granting two volunteer days per year to employees: not only does this do great work for community projects, but volunteering has been shown to have a measurable impact on mental and physical wellbeing.
Remember, you don’t have to restrict access to initiatives of this sort to employees. The Social Value Models are very clear on contract workforces being a key target as well.
4. Partner up with your clients’ social value initiatives
Indeed, because Facilities Management companies are often managing activities and locations on other business’ behalf, they are especially well-positioned to align their social value policies and practices with those of their clients.
For example, Bellrock and a number of Legal and General Investment Management’s other suppliers received recognition for their “Hidden Workers” collaboration at the 2024 IWFM Impact Awards.
The scheme aims to make sure that security, maintenance, and cleaning staff employed by third parties have access to the same protections and benefits as the workforce of the businesses whose premises they look after.
Having a clear, strong commitment to social value goals at the corporate level can make all the difference when it comes to bidding for contracts with organisations that share similar objectives.
Even more importantly, being able to demonstrate your proven track record of achievement – by using a recognised, credible set of criteria like those provided by the Impact Evaluation Standard and a software platform like Thrive which enables you to track, categorise, and present the impact of your work – showcases your business as a reliable partner that can help contractors to meet their own social value obligations.
5. Review all your activities for unreported social value benefits
We’ve already covered some of the everyday activities of the Facilities Management sector that can be treated as contributing to social value (eg promoting energy efficiency, supply chain management).
But there are other things your business is very likely already doing – but which you may not be counting or measuring – that have an impact as well.
Schemes to increase opportunities for young people, people from marginalised and hard-to-reach groups, care and prison leavers, ex-armed forces personnel, etc all have a strong, quantifiable impact for social value purposes.
For example:
- Mitie runs a number of Diversity Networks for different groups. Mitie Military, for example, has ensured that the percentage of its workforce from armed services backgrounds remains above the population average (at 4.2%)
- Bellrock operates a “Learn and Earn” programme for young people Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEETs)
- In 2024, Kier had 666 apprentices in its workforce
Many of the training, workforce development, and community, service user, and educational outreach that Facilities Managers are routinely engaged in can all have a social value ascribed to them – including:
- Workforce volunteering
- Consulting with local people and service users on service design and delivery
- Organising and attending careers events for young people
- Providing learning opportunities to address skills shortages and address economic inequalities
And there are even opportunities to drive social value through basic company admin – minimising office printing, switching from disposable to reusable cups in work kitchens and canteens, switching energy suppliers, replacing general waste bins with facilities for sorting waste, etc.
In Conclusion
Those are just some of the ways that Facilities Management businesses can generate and demonstrate social value in their activities. We hope it’s given you some inspiration and ideas of how to make sure that your work has as much impact as possible – and that your business gets the recognition it deserves!
If you’d like to find out more about how Thrive has helped other Facilities Management companies, take a look at our case studies. And if you’d like to know how we can help your business…
Alan Boyce
Senior Researcher More articles by Alan >
