From the beginning of 2021 it has become a requirement for all government suppliers to incorporate social value into their contracts in order to “level up” the UK.
Delivering impactful social value is at the heart of successful, forward thinking organisations, who seek to promote and inspire positive change in the world. The Government’s social value in procurement model assesses potential suppliers against key areas of value, therefore a social value strategy is vital for businesses wanting to secure public sector contracts.
APL are proud to have been investing in social value initiatives over the years – being a progressive, people-oriented organisation is part of our business core values, and ensuring a wider impact for our communities is at the heart of our mission. Below are just some examples of the types of areas APL have delivered social value over the years, and continue to do so even in the COVID-19 era.
- Tackling economic inequality – we create new jobs every year for university students to complete a paid industrial placement with our experienced teams of specialists, with many students invited back for permanent positions following their graduation. We provide full learning and development opportunities to ensure that even students with limited, or no work experience, are able to thrive in our teams.
- Fighting climate change – We take climate change very seriously and have green office spaces, from a biomass boiler, car sharing schemes and a paperless office environment. We have rewilded the green spaces surrounding our headquarters in Yorkshire, to offset our carbon footprint and to provide a natural habitat for pollinators and wildlife.
- Equal Opportunities – We provide equal opportunities for all, making every effort to minimise employment gaps and to tackle workforce inequality of pay, skills and employment. Our staff handbook includes our equal opportunities policy to reinforce this message across our business, and we regularly share this with clients as part of our commitment to providing opportunities for all.
- Supporting the Covid 19 Recovery – Our flexible working capabilities meant APL could quickly enable our colleagues to work from home to ensure their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst still delivering a low risk recovery audit solution to clients worldwide, including our public sector customers. During this time we have retained all of our staff, and been fortunate enough to continue with our usual recruitment and training, provided virtually by our in-house teams. Virtual coffee mornings, quizzes and team building activities are scheduled within the working day to focus on the mental health and wellbeing of our teams throughout the periods of lockdown.
