Social Return on Investment (SROI) has been part of my toolkit for years - and I think secretly also part of yours!

In the private and public sectors, we have all talked about ESG (Environmental Social Governance) long before it became something contract teams, councils, and government departments were expected to firmly prioritise. SROI and social value at its core, is a simple and familiar idea: understand the impact of what we do, and make sure the value we create is measured and visible.

With the Procurement Act (2023) and the Social Value Act (2012) now working together, social value isn’t just a hopeful ambition anymore, it’s a requirement – and a bid winning one at that. Central government departments, executive agencies, and public bodies are expected to assess and reward social value as part of contract awards. The Social Value Model provides a standard framework for how this is done, from addressing inequality to tackling climate change to improving wellbeing.

For those of us that deliver public services, this changes two things.

First, it raises expectations (for all the right reasons).

Second, it strengthens the case for using SROI as a clear revenue-affecting tool – not just through its ability to improve delivery, but to win work through public procurement and social value scoring.

Making Social Purpose Measurable

SROI helps turn social purpose into something clear and accountable. It gives structure to the outcomes we talk about – like improved mental health, reduced debt, or enhanced digital capability and confidence – and helps measure them in a way that makes sense to funders, service users, and delivery teams alike.

It’s not about stretching numbers or adding marketing spin. It’s about knowing what changed, who benefited, and how much of it was down to you and your actions.

At We Are Group, we’ve been supported by Envoy Partnership, who helped us build our understanding of social value and how to embed it in our delivery model. Their guidance gave us a strong foundation in the principles of SROI and has helped us grow into one of the leading community-based service delivery organisations applying SROI practically and at scale.

Backing up the numbers

When you can demonstrate value, you move beyond intention. In 2023 and 2024, we supported over 48,000 people across our programmes. Thanks to our use of SROI, we can show returns like:

• £2.75 for every £1 invested in our Pound Advice programme, supporting L&Q residents to reclaim over £4,100 each on average (We Are Group, 2024).
• £2.52 for every £1 invested in Digital Skills Training, which reached over 5,000 people in 2023 alone (We Are Group, 2023).
• £3.89 for every £1 invested in our Assisted Digital programmes for the Government, helping thousands of people access justice and immigration services through guided form completion (We Are Group, 2023).

These quantitative figures are backed by qualitive data too – real stories; like Robert, who, with our support, secured over £20,000 in entitlements for him and his wife after falling into rent arrears. Or Naser, who overcame language barriers to regain access to his online banking and manage his finances confidently again.

Embedding it into how we work

We don’t bolt social value on after the fact. We build it in.

Every part of our delivery model, from initial triage to ongoing support is powered by our customised Salesforce technology, which we’ve tailored to track outcomes, flag gaps, and capture impact data from the frontline up, and finally send our SROI surveys at the perfect timing to evaluate the impact that has taken place.

It means we don’t just measure success after the fact, we plan for it, track it in real time, and learn from it as we go. That’s especially important now that procurement teams are rightly asking harder questions about how bidders will prove social value, not just promise it (equally it’s important that as bidders we ask appropriate pre-qualifying questions to understand the vendors vision).

We are always confident in our contribution to social impact because we go the extra mile to embed it into our operations. By delivering our services via our 400 hyper-local Community Partners in the third sector, we ensure that support is both personal and locally rooted, which makes all the difference.

Final thoughts

The Social Value Act gave us a framework. The Procurement Act is now giving weight to social value. Together, they are reshaping public sector commissioning. SROI isn’t a luxury under these changes – it’s a necessity.

If you're in the business of public services, now’s the time to embed a social value measurement approach that’s robust, transparent, and authentic. It will improve how you deliver. It will strengthen your bids. And most importantly, it will help prove the difference you're making to people’s lives.

(And if you get stuck – Why not reach out to me, I’ll be happy to talk!)