Last week, we hosted a garden party in Oxford which brought together brilliant minds and passionate voices to discuss our shared commitment to co-creating value through purposeful business.
As a team, we recognise that we have a role to play in helping to address the social and environmental challenges affecting the communities where we operate. But we can’t do this in isolation.
Beard colleagues, suppliers, partners and social enterprises came together to explore the idea of co-creating value, and how purposeful collaboration can help strengthen communities and build a resilient future economy.
Attendees heard from guest speaker Grant Hayward, voluntary director of OSEP, a CIC which supports social entrepreneurs, charities and businesses across Oxfordshire who are looking to address social and environmental challenges through their work.
Matt Everett, CEO of Oxford United in the Community, told the story of Match Fit, a co-designed community wellbeing programme that highlighted the power of sport to unite. His words left the room inspired about how sport can unite us, transcending boundaries and having shared goals.
The afternoon was also a chance to celebrate successes, share initiatives and ideas, and build connections around shared values.
Paula Baleson, Social Value Manager
The government’s Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/23 calls for social value to be embedded at a strategic level and across the commercial lifecycle, through the PPN 002 Social Value Model. PPNs are issued by the UK government to provide guidance and communicate new policies for public sector procurement.
We’re grateful to everyone who took time to attend. Thank you to Mark Beard for his thoughtful opening and closing comments, and to our social value team for delivering an exceptional event.
Learn more about our social value framework
