Strategic supplier Tilbury Douglas is on a fast-paced social value journey.
This February saw the building, infrastructure, engineering and fit-out group launch its first environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, “Building a better future together” – tying together its diverse business activities under one structured framework, complete with five year targets.
Around the time the strategy was launched, Tilbury Douglas started using the Thrive platform to track and report its social value activities internally. This year is focused on measuring the company’s impact in preparation for its first comprehensive ESG report scheduled for January 2026
Head of Social Value, Laura Marshall, joined Tilbury Douglas in October 2023 to help accelerate that journey of transformation.
We spoke to Laura to discuss how Thrive is enabling Tilbury Douglas to take the initiative with social value and to address the very specific challenges that strategic suppliers have to contend with.
What is a Strategic Supplier?
Tilbury Douglas is one of just under 40 organisations which is a strategic supplier to the UK public sector. .
A company can be designated as a strategic supplier on the basis of the importance of the services it provides or the degree to which the government relies upon it.
Crown Representatives work with strategic suppliers and are involved with collecting, monitoring, and centrally collating data from their partners so as to improve strategic supplier management on a cross-government basis.
But sometimes some organisations are not always well-positioned to deliver on these responsibilities, as they may be diversified and regionalised – often using different systems in different parts of their businesses.
This is what Laura and the social value team, which is under the leadership of ESG Director, Lucy Davies – is working hard to address.
Tilbury Douglas is relatively mature in its social value work.
The introduction of the Social Value Model in 2021 had helped to introduce some standardisation – and Laura is convinced that the drive towards Standard Reporting Metrics, social value KPIs in contracts, and other measures put forward in the PPN 002 Social Value Model have continued that trend.
What Do Strategic Suppliers Need?
In 2024, HM Revenue and Customs adopted the Impact Evaluation Standard as its official and exclusive framework for evaluating social value commitments and achievements across its many suppliers. By incorporating the Impact Evaluation Standard’s metrics and proxy values HMRC’s Commercial Directorate aims to raise the bar for strategic supplier performance.
Since then, several other major government departments have followed suit.
This kind of standardisation is also highly beneficial for the strategic suppliers themselves. To be able to report to the Cabinet Office on the one hand and to internal stakeholders on a companywide basis on the other, a single, credible system of measurement is vital. Laura explained:
“As a company we needed to have a social value measurement standard – regardless of regions. We need to have that one true value. The Impact Evaluation Standard solves that problem for us perfectly”
Of course, some individual customers continue to have their own specific requirements. But when the metrics and proxy values are based on transparent, up-to-date, carefully calibrated calculations – derived directly from, but expanding on, the metrics set out in the Social Value Model – as they are with the Impact Evaluation Standard – that kind of unavoidable “doubling up” is far less of a burden.
“What attracted us to the Impact Evaluation Standard is that it showed us progression from previous values and how they’ve increased over time. The regular updates and the detailed explanations provided to back up amended values was a big advantage”.
By virtue of their scale and delivery over a wide range of geographical and policy areas, strategic suppliers have the scope to generate significant amounts of social value:
- By pinpointing local needs and putting forward proposals that cater to them
- By specialising in particular areas for improvement
For example, Tilbury Douglas has a particular affinity for investing in people, supporting professional development, fostering continuous learning, and widening access – such as , through the Circl dual mentorship programme, gold membership of the 5% Club and encouraging staff to participate in professional bodies. The range of metrics available through the Impact Evaluation Standard provides plenty of scope for Tilbury Douglas to tailor its offerings not only to whatever any given contracting authority requires but also to what best furthers its own mission and purpose (an extract of which is shown below).
Although PPN 002 puts forward “Standard Reporting Metrics” these should not be interpreted as the only legitimate ones. On the contrary:
- SRMs are designed to “standardise the way that frequently offered types of social value are measured, so that suppliers do not have to measure the same type of social value in many different ways”
- Guidance on PPN 002 makes it clear that other policy outcomes and metrics besides those listed can be put forward by contracting authorities (subject to need and pre-market engagement)
- PPN 026 – which replaces PPN 002 from January 2027 – does not include SRMs
The rigour with which the Impact Evaluation Standard Metrics are calculated and the transparent nature of the data and methodology they are based on make it straightforward for authorities and suppliers alike to debate and agree on different deliverables that offer equivalent levels of value.
Why Tilbury Douglas Chose Thrive
Bare figures alone don’t tell a convincing story. And with the emphasis in ESG shifting from outputs to outcomes, the ability of social value teams to build clear narratives is vital. Laura explained:
“We needed something that was a lot more robust, so we could actually track data and properly record the evidence of this data rather than just have a spreadsheet sent to us at the end of every year.”
While of course price was a factor in choosing Thrive over alternatives, the ability to collect and present evidence alongside the data and proxy values was just as important.
“You can capture our spend, but it’s the actual community work and the other outreach that is what we were missing.”
Cultural compatibility also played a part. On Thrive’s team, Laura said:
“I was genuinely impressed by the Thrive team. Unlike many others, they weren’t focused on a hard sell — instead, they took the time to understand our needs and offer real support. When I wasn’t available to assist our internal team, Thrive stepped in seamlessly. Their responsiveness, patience, and hands-on guidance made a significant difference. I was truly blown away by the level of service and commitment they provided throughout.”
Among the other Thrive features that Laura values especially highly are:
- Simplicity for suppliers: Tilbury Douglas’ suppliers don’t need to buy or log in to Thrive – they just get a simple form by email to fill in.
- No hidden costs or extra charges
- Flexibility: Thrive is happy to co-develop bespoke solutions for users’ needs (eg unique metrics) and to deploy them fast
- Quick, simple, instant report generation
Above all, in Laura’s words:
Thrive platform is fantastically easy to use. And since we’ve joined, you’ve already improved and added new benefits.”
What’s Next for Tilbury Douglas?
As mentioned earlier, Tilbury Douglas is aiming to establish benchmarks for social value this year to build on in the future:
“For me, next year is going to be a turning point. It’ll be the first time we have a truly transparent view of what we’ve delivered and what we can clearly evidence. I have a feeling many people are going to be pleasantly surprised by just how much we’ve actually achieved.”
Indeed, communicating and reinforcing the social value message internally has been a priority.
Before this year, when speaking to colleagues, Laura found that they were aware that good things were happening but couldn’t always name some.
Now, the greater prominence being given to social value with Thrive and the ESG strategy will hopefully drive the business to raise the bar even higher. Other companies have seen this effect (see our recent Hippo case study, for example) – where using Thrive to publicise successes internally have had a big “inspiration” effect on diverse teams.
There are still issues to address. Laura expects there to be teething problems with data completeness and assurance in this first year, but she has already found that practice is steadily improving.
“Taking a step back to revisit the basics of what social value really means turned out to be a valuable exercise. It helped reconnect the team with the purpose behind the work and reminded everyone why it matters. Social value isn’t just a ‘nice to have’—it’s a fundamental part of how we create lasting, meaningful impact.”
We can’t wait to see what Tilbury Douglas’ first year report shows, and we’re looking forward to talking to Laura again when it’s published!
At Thrive we specialise in helping companies and public sector bodies track, measure and amplify their social value. If you want to discover how you can measure your social value more effectively and report to stakeholders quickly, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to help you uncover more opportunities to showcase your impact.
Alan Boyce
Senior Researcher More articles by Alan >
