Social Value

Designing compelling social value propositions, articulating their benefits, and aligning outcomes to commissioner requirements

Our experienced bid professionals support organisations to develop their Social Value offer, focusing on the key themes of people, communities and environment. Social Value is a vital requirement for all organisations, with most Social Value questions being weighted as a minimum of 10% in public sector bids, increasing to 20% with the introduction of the Procurement Act (2025). 

We work with a range of organisations, from large multi-national companies to local, community organisations to develop and challenge their Social Value offer. This includes removing any myths or misconceptions around Social Value and supporting organisations to develop the metrics and mechanisms needed to evidence the impact of their approach. 

Our approach

Our approach is tailored to the individual needs of each organisation. Some organisations, for example, already have a well-developed Social Value offer in place, but need support writing a compelling response that effectively describes its benefits. We are skilled in working collaboratively with clients’ teams to collate and organise all relevant information into a winning response. 

For organisations without a mature Social Value strategy, we explore how an effective approach can be developed and embedded within their business. We support organisations to develop initiatives and commitments which are then reflected in their bid response.

Our services

  • Analysis: Conducting detailed evaluations of the question, specification and wider policy requirements, including delivering insight on the policy outcomes, themes and Model Award Criteria (MACs).  

  • Review: Working in partnership with organisations to understand their current Social Value offer and how it can be improved, offering practical solutions on how to deliver, measure and report on Social Value initiatives.  

  • Design: Developing and designing a set of strong, measurable and realistic commitments that form the basis of the bid response.  

  • Articulate: Delivering a high-quality bid response that describes Social Value proposition benefits, aligned to commissioner requirements.  

“50 Degrees supported Lawmed with our framework bid for NHS Scotland, working on the Social Value parts of the response. They used our existing corporate social responsibility work to craft bespoke responses, drawing on their expertise and previous experience on social value bid questions. They kept us well-informed throughout the process and were easy to work with. Their support greatly contributed to the strength of our submission. Just don’t work with our competitors!”

John Black, Commercial Director, Lawmed

Sarah Mohan: Social Value Lead

“The key to developing a great Social Value response is working in partnership with the bidding organisation to co-design an approach that brings Social Value to the forefront. Developing tangible measurements of success, aligned to commissioner requirements is also crucial.

“I believe that any organisation can develop and deliver a great Social Value offer. We excel in working with our clients to help them understand what they’re already doing in the Social Value space. We then enable them to build on those foundations to create a compelling proposition and bid response.“

If you’re interested in learning more, we’d love to talk to you about how 50 Degrees can support your organisation. Please use the link above to send us an email and we’ll get right back to you.