Beyond the bid file – how social value has moved from compliance to brand strategy

Regulation governing the construction sector doesn’t stand still – and the procurement system for public-sector construction projects is no different. When it came into effect in 2025 the Procurement Act 2023 brought in new public-sector procurement tools and introduced new flexibility to the process. Now the latest tranche of updates focuses on transparency.

For years, social value was about demonstrating compliance, which meant bid teams filling out frameworks then filing them away never to see the light of day again. The latest regulations made under the Procurement Act have changed that, however, by putting in place a system that will make it clear to everyone how contractors have delivered against their social-value promises. Public-sector buyers will now be able to see whether a contractor delivered on the commitments it made – as will journalists, auditors, competitors and communities. 

Measuring social value

Long before the Procurement Act came into force, the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 urged local authorities and government departments simply to consider social value as part of public procurement. That was a light touch responsibility. But in 2021, the Social Value Model was put into action, providing guidance on assessing social-value contributions at the tender stage. Along with Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20 – requiring central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to apply a minimum 10% weighting to social value – this marked the initial steps to applying consistency to the system. For the first time, instead of simply being tracked by actions and intentions, quantitative as well as qualitative metrics were used to translate community impact into tangible data and monetary values.

Now the focus is on greater transparency and holding bidders to account over the social-value objectives they set; and monitoring is going hand in hand with management to ensure activities are delivered.

Of course, the same information can also be turned outwards. The performance data that holds contractors to account can give them a marketable record of delivery, too.

Contract performance

Under the latest changes brought in under the Procurement Act, a new central digital platform Find A Tender was launched in April 2026. This gives contracting authorities a single place to publish procurement notices, contract performance information, and payment data, against key performance indicators (KPIs).

As per PPN 002: Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts (February 2025) and the Social Value Model, at least one social-value KPI must be included in high-value contracts. Basically, a contractor must include social-value objectives in its bid, and it should be prepared for its performance in that KPI area to be assessed at least annually, then rated on a published scale from “good” to “inadequate”. There is no place to hide. This information, included in the contract performance notice under Section 71 of the Procurement Act, will now be in the public domain, linked to named contracts and named suppliers, and visible to audit bodies, the media, and parliament.

Getting social value right

What will separate the firms that will get this right from those that won’t is less about reporting capability and more about whether social value has been written into the brand strategy.

The latest market intelligence survey carried out by multi-disciplinary consultancy Pick Everard is an authentic indicator of the construction industry’s experiences of the new era of transparency. Nearly half (49%) of respondents reported no noticeable impact in its first 12 months, with a quarter (24.5%) believing it was too early to reflect on its effect on the industry. Gareth Osborne, associate marketing director at Pick Everard, said, “Get it wrong and we’re talking failed tenders and long-lasting reputational damage. Leave it too late to give social value proper attention and it’s a missed deadline. But get it right and businesses can look forward to growth activity, attracting new talent, and securing the trust of contracting authorities.”

That is the procurement-side view. From a marketing seat, we would add a third risk, and it is the one we see most often in the contractors we work with: treat KPIs as paperwork and you end up with social-value programmes that don’t translate into anything a buyer or a journalist would recognise as a brand story.

The differentiated offer

The contractors getting ahead have stopped treating KPI design as a compliance task. They are using it to shape the competitive position they want a buyer to remember. Commitments to benefits such as employment opportunities, sustainability and community engagement shouldn’t just be plucked from an environmental, social and governance (ESG) report or alluded to in an outdated corporate social responsibility (CSR) vision. To outperform rivals, social value should be consistent across everything from marketing campaigns to recruitment advertising, outlining a value-led proposition reflecting real brand values and buyer priorities.

In practical terms, that means making sure that the same social value story appears in the case study submitted into a bid document, on the careers page and in media articles quoting a company spokesperson. One story told consistently so buyers, recruits and journalists all see the same thing.

Brand building tools

The new Procurement Act regime raises the stakes for suppliers across the built environment. The documented processes mean any deviation from KPIs becomes immediately visible. And with “low cost” no longer a viable bidding point for many contracts, this is the time to focus on “high impact” instead.

In our view, the marketers who are treating this as a comms job are getting it right. The ones waiting for procurement to tell them what to say are not.

Alexander Swann is managing director at B2B marketing agency for the construction sector Lesniak Swann