Winning with Social Enterprise

Transcription

1 Winning with Social Enterprise How the UK s social enterprises can deliver world-class London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic contracts sel social enterprise london

2 Contents 03 Foreword by Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise London 05 Introduction 06 World-class products and services 08 Strengthen your contract bid with social enterprise 10 Social enterprise in action 13 Social enterprise engaging in the procurement process Produced for Social Enterprise London by Society Media Printed by Calverts, a social enterprise and workers co-operative, on 100% recycled paper. Cover images courtesy of London 2012 and WPNSA

3 Foreword London s vision for 2012 is ambitious. To achieve this vision, social enterprises must play a key role I believe that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be one of the greatest ever staged, leaving a positive and sustainable legacy across the country. That ambition, however, will only be fully realised if the UK s social enterprises play their part. The aims of the social enterprise movement and those of the Games are akin: both offer a vision of people working co-operatively, striving towards shared goals. They show us the potential embedded within ourselves and our communities. The London 2012 Games is an unequalled opportunity for the UK to set the trend for economic recovery and regeneration built upon the foundations of environmental sustainability and social innovation. A successful Games will be a stunning event where the world puts aside its disagreements, if only for a moment, and dares to hope. In that moment we want to showcase London s Games not only as an inspiring sporting spectacle but, crucially, as the first to achieve the real regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods through training, jobs, new homes and new organisations. Social enterprise delivers because it creates opportunities for those least likely to experience prosperity. Social enterprises are resilient: since the economic downturn began, 56% have increased their turnover from the previous year. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has enormous potential to inspire new wave of social enterprises and to act as a catalyst for successful social enterprises to grow and flourish. There have been discussions about a social enterprise hub in the Olympic Park after the Games, focusing sustained growth and investment in social enterprise alongside the ambitious regeneration of east London. This would certainly give social enterprise a springboard to help ensure the strongest possible legacy. The London 2012 Games is an unparalleled opportunity to position London as a world leader, not only in the stadium and the swimming pool, but in the community raising aspirations and delivering social innovation for a new generation. The social enterprise movement is ready to play its part. Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive, Social Enterprise London Read on for more about how social enterprises can help to deliver world-class 2012 contracts 3

4 Image courtesy of London

5 Introduction London s Olympic and Paralympic Games bid stood apart from others because of its ambitious environmental and social aspirations. Social enterprises are a vital conduit in turning these aims into reality At the heart of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, alongside the running and jumping, rowing and throwing, sit five promises. They are: To make the UK a world leading sporting nation. To transform the heart of east London. To inspire a new generation of young people to take part in volunteering, cultural and physical activity. To make the Olympic Park a blueprint for sustainable living. To demonstrate the UK as a creative, inclusive and welcoming place to live, to visit and for business. It is the extent to which these promises are fulfilled which will make the difference between a Games that exceeds expectations or a Games that is dismissed as yet another missed opportunity. In light of this, bringing social enterprises into the London 2012 supply chain represents an opportunity an opportunity to deliver the 2012 Games to the highest of standards, whilst simultaneously embedding the legacy aspirations which made London 2012 s bid so compelling. The aim of this publication is to demonstrate the why and the how. 5

6 World-class products and services There are thousands of social enterprises across the UK that have the products, services and know-how to deliver for the Games and some are already proving their Olympic and Paralympic Games calibre Social enterprises are businesses that exist to address society s most complex social and environmental needs. They take our biggest challenges and use business to resolve them. They are driven by the multiple bottom lines of achieving financial, social and environmental sustainability, and the results are staggering. Last year E&HCT, a partnership between two of the leading community transport providers in the UK, won the contract to provide coach transport within the Olympic Park, building on their outstanding reputation running a range of buses in London. The profits are used to provide affordable community transport services to local voluntary organisations and disadvantaged people, as well as to train and provide jobs for people who typically face major barriers to employment. Similarly, Arc Theatre was commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority to run an educational theatre programme for schoolchildren about keeping themselves safe in and around the Olympic Park in Stratford. It s revolutionary stuff, and it works. The impact of organisations such as Arc Theatre and E&HCT will be multiplied many times over if more of the UK s 62,000 social enterprises are commissioned to deliver Olympic and Paralympic Games contracts. There are many more social enterprises already engaging in the procurement processes and signing up to CompeteFor, the online procurement portal for the Games. Social enterprise GLL has gone a step further, handing over details of its entire supply chain to CompeteFor to encourage all of its own suppliers to sign up to the portal. This underlines how social enterprises are committed to the highest levels of transparency and fairness in all that they do. GLL runs leisure services in 16 London boroughs, including landmark venues such as Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and Clissold Leisure Centre, delivering to exceptionally high standards. The profit it makes is reinvested to support 6

7 disadvantaged people to access high-quality leisure facilities. As a social enterprise, its commitment and its track record for delivering are second-to-none. Further to this, GLL s academy programme trains hundreds of local young people every year to develop the skills they need to become the leisure managers of the future. Social enterprises transform communities. Environmentally sustainable practices and empowering the hardest to reach groups in society are at the heart of their mission. The five legacy promises can all be directly addressed through commissioning social enterprises to deliver London 2012 contracts so what are we waiting for? The aims of the social enterprise movement are closely intertwined with the aims of the 2012 Games it s an ideal partnership, so let s make it happen. 7

8 Strengthen your contract bid with social enterprise The challenge of delivering the Games and its legacy will fall to a range of London 2012 partners and contractors. With social enterprise in your supply chain, you can both work to ensure delivery on time and on budget as well as directly support the Games to meet its ambitious social and environmental targets The government s five Olympic and Paralympic Games promises are cascading through the London 2012 supply chain via the contracts that are being offered. Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, and Roy McNulty, chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), state in the ODA s Sustainable Development Strategy: The ODA s central job is to deliver the Olympic Park and new venues and infrastructure for the 2012 Games on time and to the agreed budget. Equally important, though, is to achieve this in a sustainable manner, provide value for money, and to leave a lasting social, economic and environmental legacy for east London. So to be successful in bidding for London 2012 contracts, companies must be able to prove that they can achieve a number of key objectives including not only delivering high quality products and services on time and on budget, but also creating a range of social and environmental benefits that leave a positive lasting legacy for the country. Those companies that subcontract to others will be asked to keep the Olympic Delivery Authority informed on how their suppliers and subcontractors perform on the same objectives. While the details of the thousands of different contracts will vary, the core values will be echoed throughout all of them. Time and again, the organisers of the Games have committed to achieving the triple bottom line of successful outcomes for the environment, the economy and society. As businesses rooted in their local communities, with social and environmental aims to the fore, social enterprises offer many of the social and sustainability outcomes that successful Games contractors need to demonstrate. 8

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10 Social enterprise in action Social enterprises bring added value to business. By providing more than just great products and services, they can deliver on the tremendous promises of the Games, ensuring that the world remembers London 2012 as one of the greatest Olympic and Paralympic Games ever held WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND NATIONAL SAILING ACADEMY Product/service: host of the sailing events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Olympic values embodied: environmental responsibility; building a legacy for the sport and the community; engaging with the local community; generating local employment. Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) is proving that social enterprises can deliver the most high-profile Games contracts it won the race to be one of the venues for the sailing events, and was the first Games venue to be completed. WPNSA had to meet high environmental and construction standards for the Games. It uses rainwater to wash boats, generates electricity from sunlight and conserves energy where possible. All financial surpluses are reinvested in 10 Image courtesy of London 2012

11 the sport and it has strong community objectives. In partnership with the Chesil Trust it offers opportunities for young, disabled or disadvantaged people to experience the thrills of sailing this could inspire the Olympians and Paralympians of the future. As chief executive John Tweed points out: The next three years will be an enormously exciting time for everyone associated with the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, but equally important is ensuring a lasting legacy for the sport, for the area and for the community. I want to ensure we have a long-term, sustainable and world class facility for all to be proud of. Ealing Community Transport Group and Hackney Community Transport Group (E&HCT) Product/service: bus transport for employees within the Olympic Park in east London. Olympic values embodied: providing training and employment to disadvantaged local people; building a legacy for communities by providing new benefits. London-based community transport organisations ECT Group and HCT Group joined forces to become E&HCT Group and won a four-year contract, which began in 2008, to deliver bus transport for employees within the Olympic Park. Every day E&HCT transports 4,000 to 9,000 construction workers and office staff around the Olympic Park. E&HCT was up against big hitters established, multimillion pound businesses. E&HCT won because of both organisations excellent track record in delivering quality services across the country as well as providing value for money. Profits generated through the contract are used by ECT Group and HCT Group to provide community transport services to community groups and disadvantaged people in several London boroughs as well as Leeds, Cheshire and Milton Keynes. This reinvestment into the community was seen as a key distinguishing feature of E&HCT s bid, and powerfully demonstrates the added social impact that social enterprises can embed into the delivery of a highly successful Games. ODA director of transport Hugh Sumner says: E&HCT was the successful bidder for this contract due to its commitment to making a difference to the areas in which it operates, primarily targeting the unemployed locally, who they then recruit and train to drive their vehicles. 11

12 Arc Theatre Product/service: to develop and deliver an educational theatre programme for school children aged 9-11 about keeping themselves safe in and around the Olympic Park. Olympic values embodied: engaging with the local community; building a legacy for communities by providing new benefits. Arc Theatre was commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority to develop and deliver an educational theatre programme for schoolchildren aged 9-11 about keeping themselves safe in and around the Olympic Park in Stratford. The theatre company based in Barking was awarded the contract through CompeteFor, a web based procurement tool used by London 2012 to advertise their supply chain opportunities. Arc Theatre is a professional theatre company and social enterprise with over 25 years experience. It specialises in creating high impact drama and theatre-based learning tools for both public and private sector clients. Arc also works on community based projects engaging with young people on a variety of themes from drug awareness, through to careers choices, gender and relationships. Having been based in east London for over 20 years, artistic director Carole Pluckrose was keen to do work in relation to the 2012 Games, with a particular interest in arts-based opportunities generated by the Cultural Olympiad. Carole registered on CompeteFor and to her delight, soon discovered that there were a number of arts based contracts her company could bid for. I was highly surprised to see an educational, theatre-based contract on the website from the Olympic Delivery Authority, which I knew was responsible for the construction work in east London. This was refreshing if unusual. 12

13 Social enterprise engaging in the procurement process Social enterprises across the UK are proactively engaging in the London 2012 procurement process and keeping an eye out for upcoming opportunities, ensuring that they are well prepared and well placed to win contracts around the Games GLL GLL has a wealth of experience in delivering public leisure services: it runs the leisure services in 16 London boroughs including the five host boroughs. It has also been involved as a consultant around the Olympic Park, and it works with schools, clubs and councils to encourage community engagement with the Games. GLL s position as a social enterprise has consistently been a key differentiator over other potential bidders to provide leisure services. John Fahy of Greenwich council says: Because GLL is employee-owned and not for profit, it can invest more time, effort and resource into managing community facilities without pressure from shareholders. Its commitment to social inclusion and engagement has had a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of our local residents. GLL intends bring these values to bear in bidding for London 2012 contracts, ensuring that any services it delivers are a real asset to the East End of London and the rest of the UK for future generations. In not only signing up to CompeteFor, but also handing over its supply chains to the portal, GLL has fully engaged in the London 2012 procurement process and underlined its commitment to transparent contracting and subcontracting as part of its future work. Olympic values embodied: engaging with the local community; providing local employment; leaving a positive legacy for the community. 13

14 NEWCO RBLI Newco is based in Stratford in the heart of the Olympic Park and supplies and installs windows made in the UK and installed by people who live and work in the Olympic borough of Newham. RBLI is a Kent-based social enterprise that started its life 80 years ago as a crafts workhouse for WW1 soldiers recovering from tuberculosis. Today, it employs 120 people, 70 per cent of whom are disabled, and is the number one provider of trackside signs to Network Rail. A service for which it hopes to win contracts around London Over 50 per cent of Newco s employees are disabled. Winning a contract for the 2012 Games means the company would create much-needed employment opportunities for local people who typically face significant barriers to entering the workplace. East London-based Newco is tendering for contracts to provide and install doors and windows in the Olympic Village. Later it plans to tender for the refit of kitchens when the Olympic Village is turned into permanent accommodation. Newco s general manager, Andrew Toomey, explains his company is working in partnership with another to develop world-leading window technology which is currently being patented. Olympic values embodied: promoting equality and diversity; providing employment for local people including those with disabilities. 14 Director of manufacturing Steve Osborne says: We are a commercial enterprise and we have plenty of experience. Osborne points out that contractors gain the added value of supporting disabled and disadvantaged people which fits perfectly with the legacy aims of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Olympic values embodied: promoting equality and diversity; providing employment to people with disabilities.

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16 The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove that the UK can not only stage a stunning sporting and cultural event, but also use the Games as a catalyst to transform communities and leave a powerful, lasting legacy for the whole country. To find out more about how you can harness the power and impact of social enterprise to achieve your goals for the 2012 Games, contact Social Enterprise London. We can put you in touch with the right social enterprise partners for you. Social Enterprise London 3rd Floor, Downstream Building 1 London Bridge London SE1 9BG Telephone Fax info@sel.org.uk Social Enterprise London is a Community Interest Company, no (Cardiff) 16