Nominations are still open for the 2020 Social Entrepreneur Index, which returns for a second year. Once again we will be celebrating the success of the UK's most inspiring social entrepreneurs and sharing their stories with you.
Social entrepreneurs make a vitally important difference in our society. Our SEI campaign recognises and celebrates the passionate, driven and innovative people behind some of the best socially-aimed businesses in the UK.
The SEI is a celebration of entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes, with the aim of providing recognition whilst also acting as a benchmark for good practice to inspire the next generation.
After last years’ inaugural Index, we put together a list of companies who we feel are Ones to Watch. These entries were selected by our judges as the best of the rest and over the past year we’ve kept an eye on these entrants, as they are set to achieve great things in the future.
We caught up with Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi from Supply Change, a digital marketplace that connects social enterprises to public sector contracts and drives social impact in local communities. They aim to increase the social value of public sector supply chains by being a central place for public sector organisations to find social suppliers.
They are the UK's only procurement tool to help public sector organisations add more social value into their supply chains. They believe that social enterprises have a lot to offer the communities that public sector organisations seek to serve.
By contracting more mission driven organisations, the likes of housing associations and local councils can not only impact their communities, but also save money and diversify supply chains. Supply Change helps by providing a digital platform, akin to current contracting platforms. When we spoke to them last year, their vision was to become the go-to place to find mission driven suppliers for public sector work and to put social value at the heart of public services.
Since we last spoke, Supply Change launched their product (in June 2019) and since then have been working with over 35 suppliers and 5 buyers. Alongside their product, they also launched their consultancy offer which helps buyers get ready to procure from social enterprises.
They are now also working with buyers from the private sector, including banks, law firms and construction companies. Aoise shared with us: “We are excited to work with our private clients, alongside public sector buyers, including Camden Council, Orbit Housing and Coventry City Council. We are also opening up our platform for co-operatives to join too.”
Supply Change are still committed to opening up supply chains across the UK to social enterprise suppliers, who can not only get the job done but provide impact to communities.
You can find out more updates from Supply Change in their latest newsletter or on their website.