Amey joins Buy Social Corporate Challenge to support social enterprises

Amey has joined the pioneering initiative –Buy Social Corporate Challenge- in order to help some of the UK’s largest companies use their spending power to effect positive change in different districts The challenge, which was introduced a year ago at Downing Street, sees businesses committing to collectively spend £1 billion with social enterprises by 2020. The initiative was founded by partners Interserve, Johnson and Johnson, PwC, Santander, Wates and Zurich, and has now been joined by Amey and Robertson Group. With many businesses aiming to become more socially responsible in their operations, the money that companies spend through their supply chains has become a key area in which they can have a positive impact. Whether it be working with a software testing social enterprise providing sustainable jobs for people with autism, or sourcing water coolers from a company which donates all its profits to clean water projects, the challenge is showing the wonderful impact businesses can have if they shift their supply chain spend towards social enterprises. Social enterprises are businesses which use their profits to help tackle pressing social or environmental issues. Through purchasing from them, businesses are helping to address social inequalities, thus creating a more inclusive economy. John Cully, Chief Procurement Officer at Amey, said: "Amey are delighted to be joining the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, an initiative that sees a group of businesses choosing to leverage their significant buying power to support, grow and trade with social enterprises. We’re committed to working with organisations like SEUK and their partners to help us connect to social businesses that we know bring about positive change in our local communities – ultimately helping us to deliver our goal at Amey of creating better places to live, work and travel.” About The Corporate Challenge The Corporate Challenge is an initiative organised by Social Enterprise UK, the membership body for social enterprises with the support of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community. One of its key objectives is to demonstrate that businesses in any sector can buy from social enterprises, going beyond traditional conceptions of CSR to embed them into core business spend.