Amey joins group of businesses campaigning to support social enterprises

12 May 2017

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Amey has joined the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, a ground-breaking initiative that sees some of the UK’s largest businesses use their spending power to effect positive change in communities.

The challenge, which was launched a year ago at Downing Street, sees businesses committing to collectively spend £1 billion with social enterprises by 2020. Founding partners Interserve, Johnson and Johnson, PwC, Santander, Wates and Zurich have now been joined by Amey and Robertson Group.

As businesses seek to become more socially responsible in how they operate, the money companies spend through their supply chains has become a key area in which they can have a positive impact. From working with a software testing social enterprise providing sustainable employment for people with autism, to sourcing water coolers from a company which donates all its profits to clean water projects, the Challenge is showing the incredible impact businesses can have if they shift their supply chain spend towards social enterprises.

Social enterprises are businesses which reinvest the majority of their profits to tackle pressing social or environmental issues. Through purchasing from them businesses are helping address social inequalities and create a more inclusive economy.

The Corporate Challenge is an initiative run by Social Enterprise UK, the membership body for social enterprises with the support of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community. One of its primary aims is to demonstrate that businesses in any sector can buy from social enterprises, going beyond traditional conceptions of CSR to embed them into core business spend.

John Cully, Chief Procurement Officer at Amey, said: "Amey are delighted to be joining the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, an initiative that sees a group of businesses choosing to leverage their significant buying power to support, grow and trade with social enterprises. We’re committed to working with organisations like SEUK and their partners to help us connect to social businesses that we know bring about positive change in our local communities – ultimately helping us to deliver our goal at Amey of creating better places to live, work and travel.”

You can read more about why we feel passionate about supporting social enterprises here.

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