Bloom Procurement Services deliver £28 million in social value over just 12 months

A new report has revealed that Gateshead-based Bloom Procurement Services has enabled over £28 million in social value activity within one year.

The figure, officially released in the procurement specialist’s new Social Value Report for 2019/2020, highlights the positive social, economic and environmental impact the business has successfully enabled for communities in the North East and beyond. It comes as Bloom celebrates the end of its first year as the exclusive delivery partner of the NEPRO³ procurement solution, the fast and compliant route for the public sector to buy and manage professional services.

The report also revealed that a staggering 88.9% of Bloom’s accredited suppliers are of small and medium business status and £97 million worth of projects have been awarded to local suppliers. By using small local businesses, the public sector can ensure that public money is being invested back into communities and spent in a way that delivers tangible social impact, from the creation of local jobs and opportunities to increasing supply chain resilience.

Despite the economic and employment challenges of COVID-19, the report outlines Bloom’s unwavering commitment to North East job creation, with the company increasing its headcount by 18 since the beginning of lockdown in March.

Sarah MacNab, Head of Social Value at Bloom, commented “We’re incredibly proud of the value we’ve been able to deliver to local communities through this challenging time. Social value has always been a huge priority for Bloom: it’s embedded within our systems, policies and processes, which has had a real positive impact on how we measure, manage and maximise the social value that we offer. We’re committed to making it easier for the public sector to meet their social value goals, and our Social Value Report shows just how much we’re delivering on that mission.”

2020 has seen social value rapidly climb up the agenda for the public sector. As the country builds back from the effects of COVID-19, there is increasing pressure on the public sector to better manage their social value efforts and deliver positive outcomes to the people, communities and economies that need it most.

In December 2019, Bloom became the first procurement specialist to achieve Level Two of the Social Value Certificate, awarded by Social Value International, and is now working towards achieving Level Three. Based on the business’ rapid growth, social value is set to embedded into billions of pounds worth of public sector contracts within the next five years, driving much-needed growth back into local economies.