Drawing on our State of the Nation report, which analyses the UK’s most robust Social Value dataset to date, we spoke to Anna McChesney-Gordon about what £32bn of validated Social Value delivery reveals, why the figure matters, why it is only part of the story, and what the data tells us about delivery maturity, procurement design, accountability, and validation.
Because Social Value is never only a number, it is worth pausing on what delivery looks like in practice.
The monetary value is significant because it helps us understand the cumulative scale of Social Value being delivered across contracts, projects, and organisations. It gives us a way to evidence impact and benchmark what good delivery looks like.
But it is only part of the story. What matters most is the effect behind the figure, namely the real people and communities impacted through hiring, volunteering, local investment, skills, wellbeing support, and community activity.
In the last five-plus years, organisations have evolved their approach to reporting and benchmarking Social Value. The growth in the number shows that organisations are focused on positive outcomes, but also on reporting effectively and being accountable for the impact they create.
It also reflects increasing intentionality. Social Value is becoming part of organisations’ core purpose, not separate from it. There’s a more deliberate, strategic focus on where efforts are directed, and a clearer intention to deliver real impact.
One of the biggest surprises was how many organisations were going above and beyond their original commitments, delivering more than 100% of what they set out to achieve.
It shows that clear target setting really matters. When organisations have something to work towards, they become more proactive and intentional in how they deliver it.
There’s also a strong link to accountability. When targets are intentionally set and tracked, organisations are more likely not just to meet them, but exceed them.
It highlights the importance of having a clear baseline. When organisations set targets and measure against them, they can see whether they’re delivering, exceeding, and where there’s room to go further.
Reaching 100% raises an important question: does that mean the target was right, or that more could be achieved? That’s where maturity comes in. Measurement allows organisations to compare year on year, build on what’s working, and push their ambition further.
We’ve seen that progression over time. A few years ago, organisations might have been reporting against a narrower set of Measures. Now, they are expanding that scope and becoming more sophisticated in how they approach Social Value delivery. Page 9 of our State of the Nation report shows that the proportion of businesses using more than five different Social Value Measures in their projects increased from 15% in 2021 to 19% in 2024, while average delivery per initiative also rose significantly.
That kind of progression builds confidence, shows that the fundamentals are in place, and creates space to innovate and ask what comes next.
In procurement terms, Social Value-Add measures the Social Value delivered as a percentage of the contract value. For example, a £100,000 contract delivering £20,000 in Social Value would have a Social Value-Add of 20%.
The 16% Social Value-Add figure is the median across our procurement dataset and benchmarking analysis. That figure highlights the importance of contract design in shaping the type and scale of Social Value delivered. There isn’t a single benchmark that works everywhere, because different sectors and suppliers have different capabilities.
Strong contract design meets suppliers where they're at and creates space for them to contribute in ways relevant to their industry, whether that’s local employment, skills, environmental outcomes, or other forms of impact.
A higher percentage doesn’t always mean greater impact. A 10% Social Value-Add in one contract could reach as many people as 20% in another, depending on how it’s designed and delivered.
What this emphasises is the significance of being intentional in creating place-based and localised approaches. When Social Value is built into contracts in a way that reflects real capability and context, it translates to more meaningful and achievable outcomes.
Social Value reporting is not straightforward, and no organisation gets it perfect from the start. Independent validation helps address that by strengthening what’s being reported and gives stakeholders confidence that the evidence isn’t one-sided or selectively presented.
Ultimately, impact is only credible if it can be trusted, and validation is what turns reported activity into something decision-makers at policy and board level can rely on.
📘 For more on rigorous Social Value data validation, check out this interview with our Data Quality Manager, Ridhima Madaan.
A shift in how we use measurement. Not as an endpoint, but as a guide toward better decisions and outcomes.
Impact doesn’t always come from the biggest initiatives or the highest numbers. It often starts small, and the key is to test, learn, and build the case from there. Measurement helps organisations understand what’s working, where progress is being made, and how to scale it.
Rather than focusing on headline figures, the opportunity is to use data as an indicator. To pilot approaches, assess their impact, and scale over time.
Real progress happens when organisations use measurement to improve the good they want to do. That’s what moves you closer to delivering outcomes that matter to the communities who need them most.
What £32bn of validated Social Value delivery shows is a clear shift in how organisations approach impact. Social Value is being embedded into decision-making, supported by better measurement and stronger accountability. Organisations are moving beyond setting commitments to delivering more consistently, exceeding targets, refining contract design, and improving data quality.
But numbers are only part of the story. Their real value lies in what they help make visible - that may be someone accessing mental health support at a moment of crisis, someone returning to work after years out of employment, a community benefiting from locally rooted delivery and much more.
That is why the most meaningful Social Value practice brings both together, pairing credible data with outcomes that matter in communities and people’s lives.
👉 Read the full State of the Nation report to explore these findings in detail.
👉 Check out the impact case studies mentioned in the quotes above from Vita Health Group and Compass Group.
If you’re looking to apply these practices into your own organisation, explore more success stories to see how Social Value is truly being delivered to communities.