SEPTEMBER 2024CONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM8IN MYOPINIONSOCIAL VALUE: INVESTING IN THE LEGACY OF OUR PROJECTSBy Suzanne Lutton, Head of Stakeholder & Social Value, Farrans Construction When I first started working in this industry over 20 years ago, social value wasn't a term that had yet risen to prominence. It has become extremely important as more clients are looking for contractors and suppliers that prioritise and demonstrate effective social responsibility and community engagement.Defining social value is far from straightforward, given the many contrasting definitions that exist across public and private organisations; however, we do understand significant impacts can be made on the society, environment, and economy in the area surrounding our projects. Farrans has always been a community-spirited contractor, but we have seen the need to develop a more strategic approach to planning, delivering and measuring the outcomes achieved, and we have made a social impact one of the main pillars of our business. Recent legislation explicitly requires the evaluation of Government tenders to consider social value commitments as part of the award decision. This has led to a step up in clients' expectations around social value delivery, both in terms of proper needs-based plans leading to strong delivery and, ultimately, the provision of robust evidence-based measurement. The winning tender should no longer be just about the lowest price, but the overall added value should be achieved. For this reason, Farrans has invested in our own in-house social value team, responsible for developing and supporting the delivery of all elements of this area within the business. We are a team of dedicated experts providing leadership on social value approaches and activities, educating and upskilling colleagues to create and expand organisational capability to support the delivery of social value.Our team is involved from the very initial stages of a project, collaboratively and innovatively developing a programme of activity which aligns with the priorities of our clients and the local communities. For some, this may be a focus on sustainability or providing employment opportunities, while others will be keen on opening up learning opportunities for young people.We engage with our supply chain to educate and inform them on social value priorities. We empower them through regular knowledge-sharing meetings in the early stages of procurement negotiations to enable collaboration and innovation. This enables us to develop relevant and impactful initiatives together. Suzanne Lutton
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