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Social value: The power of the portfolio

In a previous [1] article, we set out our approach to driving social value, which puts our clients’ activities, assets and development ambitions at the core of understanding how to embed best-practice social value from the outset of their projects.

We’ve had numerous conversations over the past few months with clients who want to do the right thing, not only in terms of driving up the social value that can be generated through their new projects, but also ensuring that their current and ongoing activities at existing assets are captured, measured and maximised.

Clients are increasingly interested in ‘social value portfolio review’ that assesses the positive impacts being generated by existing developments. This can be key towards understanding where organisations currently stand and identifying areas for enhancement in their social value strategies, for both new and existing assets.

What are you already doing? Capture, measure, maximise

One of the things we’re struck by is that, when starting conversations about social value, many organisations are already delivering a wide range of positive initiatives, so we’re almost never working from a standing start. If a prospective client is delivering thousands of homes per year, providing millions of sq ft of employment floorspace, or operating hotel rooms numbering in the tens of thousands, then there is significant social value out there waiting to be captured, measured and reported.

Most clients can think of a ‘stand out’ project that their organisation has delivered which has got them thinking about how to continue delivering positive impacts for local communities, for example through:

• Delivering bespoke employment and skills initiatives, that have supported people from all walks of life to access new work and training opportunities, including apprentices and people getting back into work after long-term unemployment;
• creation of new spaces that promote wellbeing, such as health and education facilities, community centres, green infrastructure and play space; and
• investing in sustainable design and construction that minimises overall resource usage, utilises renewable energy technologies and cuts carbon emissions.

And from a single-project launchpad, it’s not too big a step to start considering ‘whole portfolio’ impact.

This is something that we term ‘the power of the portfolio’.

The power of the portfolio

Thinking about the social value generated by multiple projects can also be helpful in overcoming potential limitations of single schemes. For example, a forthcoming project might be anticipated to perform strongly in one area (such as employment and skills), but maybe cannot make a contribution in other areas (such as community infrastructure) – in this scenario, an organisation’s social value credentials can be bolstered by demonstrating their track record of delivery across a wider suite of social value themes and indicators.

By scaling up to the whole portfolio, we can see the bigger picture; at this scale, many organisations are delivering substantial social value through their delivery of housing, employment floorspace and social infrastructure, through their investment in education, skills and training schemes and through their supply chain expenditure.

This can be presented alongside the impacts of individual projects to provide the wider context of an organisation’s social value agenda and demonstrate that the proposed new physical spaces and accompanying initiatives will make a valuable contribution to the ongoing viability of the positive impacts that they are already making.

Through an assessment of individual projects alongside a view of the whole portfolio, it is possible to not only capture and measure the social value already being generated, but also identify gaps and opportunities where social value can be further maximised.

Presenting the power of the portfolio alongside the social value benefits of an individual project has the potential to change the conversation with key decision-makers, political leaders and local communities. It builds buy-in and trust by showcasing widespread benefits achieved elsewhere, providing the strongest case possible for supporting new projects in new locations.

Sometimes, a detailed audit of activities and projects will often uncover new and notable contributions to people and places beyond what organisations normally report.

This insight lays the groundwork to elevate an organisation's social value across all projects, ensuring each initiative contributes meaningfully to the development of broader, cohesive social value strategy.

So, as we move into 2024, our encouragement is to think big, and to consider the power of your portfolio and its ability to drive your social value ambitions.

Please get in touch with Tom Ellis, Richard Laming or James Simondson if you’d like to discuss how we can help you uncover the power of your portfolio. Visit our social value page to learn more about our work.

6 February 2024

[1] Now more than ever, we need to focus on social value in the built environment