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Economy

Social value ensures that our contracts bring about additional economic benefits to the local area that go beyond profit making. The COVID19 pandemic highlighted the importance of building and maintaining local business relationships to support a healthy local economy.  Since 2022, GCC suppliers have delivered a total of £6,763,879 spent in the local supply chain on contracts where we are capturing social value data. Many of our suppliers also spend with small businesses and voluntary organisations, including:   

💷 £5,291,475 Spent with local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
💷 £77,623 Spent with Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) in the supply chain.
💷 Additionally, £10,757 has been donated directly to local VCSEs.

We are really proud of the work that has been done here to encourage spend with local businesses; providing opportunities to smaller organisations across Gloucestershire through our supply chain is a great way of creating secondary (and / or additional) benefit from the money we spend – this is what our Social Value Policy is all about.

Comensura have spent over £1.6 million with suppliers within Gloucestershire, exceeding their original social value targets by 200%. With a strong emphasis on encouraging local business development via close engagement with local suppliers, the majority of Comensura’s local spend has been concentrated in SMEs to support sustainable economic growth within the county.

Some of the SMEs in their supply chain include HoorayWorks, an independent and ethical recruitment company who have a commitment to making a positive impact on the community, and TakeFive Healthcare, a family run recruitment service specialising in temporary and permanent staffing to the care sector. 

Comensura have spent over £1.6 million with suppliers within Gloucestershire, exceeding their original social value targets by 200%. With a strong emphasis on encouraging local business development via close engagement with local suppliers, the majority of Comensura’s local spend has been concentrated in SMEs to support sustainable economic growth within the county.

Some of the SMEs in their supply chain include HoorayWorks, an independent and ethical recruitment company who have a commitment to making a positive impact on the community, and TakeFive Healthcare, a family run recruitment service specialising in temporary and permanent staffing to the care sector. 

WSP, an engineering consultancy who are overseeing Gloucestershire’s infrastructure development for the next 4 years, have committed to and started to deliver on several social value efforts since beginning the contract in April 2025.  SMEs already account for 60% of WSP’s supply chain and they have committed to a figure of £976,000 spent with local suppliers through this contract.

WSP have already begun liaising with the company Ringway about holding joint engineering and construction volunteering opportunities for students, as well as planning to conduct educational visits to local schools to inform students about the engineering field.

WSP, an engineering consultancy who are overseeing Gloucestershire’s infrastructure development for the next 4 years, have committed to and started to deliver on several social value efforts since beginning the contract in April 2025.  SMEs already account for 60% of WSP’s supply chain and they have committed to a figure of £976,000 spent with local suppliers through this contract.

WSP have already begun liaising with the company Ringway about holding joint engineering and construction volunteering opportunities for students, as well as planning to conduct educational visits to local schools to inform students about the engineering field.

Responsible business 

Promoting employee wellbeing and providing additional equality, inclusion and diversity training for staff is important to our suppliers. This aims to eradicate bias and discrimination in the workplace, instead promoting a fair, inclusive and welcoming workplace culture that celebrates people from all background and walks of life.   

To date, our suppliers have delivered:  

⏰ 2,438 hours on equality, diversity and inclusion training for staff and supply chain.

🧠 170 employees provided with multidimensional wellbeing programmes, comprehensive support that encompasses all aspects of staff wellbeing.  

💷 £25,600 invested in mental health campaigns for staff.  Our suppliers have provided a range of mental health resources, stigma reduction workshops and mental health First Aid courses to staff to encourage open dialogue, removing the stigma around poor mental health. 

🔍 £13,872 invested in initiatives to identify and manage risks of modern slavery, ranging from education and training workshops to right-to-work and home checks.