Social Enterprise talks at Downing Street

Property Services Partnerships Director, Paul Reader, was recently invited to Downing Street to support the launch of Buy Social, an initiative set up by Social Enterprise UK and the Cabinet Office.

The initiative will work to encourage high profiles companies to spend £1billion with social enterprises by 2020. Current partners include Interserve, Johnson & Johnson, PwC, RBS Group, Santander and Zurich and will look to enlist more businesses, from various industries to take part.

Partners will be supported with training on their procurement teams on how to source and buy from social enterprises, and the advantages of doing so. They will also receive advice on measuring the impact of their spend and how to use the data in sustainability reporting and bid writing.

This invitation coincides with the setup of BasWorx, a social enterprise created by Morgan Sindall Property Services to deliver estate maintenance services for Basildon Council.

Paul Reader said: ‘Supporting and developing social enterprises is a hot topic at the moment and BasWorx will hopefully be the first of many social enterprises Property Services’s we will create. Community investment has gone way beyond providing DIY days and painting community centres. It’s now about creating sustainable, legacy projects within the community; one that supports local employment and local issues. I see this being a unique selling point for our business as well as having a positive impact on the communities in which we work.’