Business Services:  Leaving a Lasting Legacy in Communities

 

The business services industry has a responsibility to promote inclusive and sustainable growth in communities across the UK, both through individual contracts and also as part of its wider work.

The sector can not only bring inward investment into an area, and scale and replicate innovation and change in service delivery which has taken place elsewhere, but it can also leave a lasting legacy in terms of economic and social infrastructure – the community wealth – in each place.

For example BSA members can help other companies compete more effectively, improve sustainability and the local environment, and help employ and train the local workforce.

All sizes of business and voluntary sector organisations have a vital role to play.  Larger businesses, often with national and international experience as well as substantial resources, can help develop and build up local SMEs in their supply chains.

Achieving this requires determined effort on the part of public, private and VCSE sectors alike.  But it is also recognised as good business – not simply to win contracts, but to attract investment, and help recruit, motivate and retain talented people who are interested in contributing to their communities.

These case studies look at ways in which BSA members are helping to leave a lasting legacy in communities in five ways:

1. Providing good employment, training and career development opportunities for local people

2. Developing links with schools and local training providers, and linking employment support with local employers

3. Larger organisations helping to support, strengthen and develop local SMEs

4. Improving sustainability and the local environment, including helping SMEs in the supply chain on the path to Net Zero

5. Other examples of place-based social value, community benefit or building community wealth

 

Some case studies are part of everyday behaviour, or specific corporate responsibility programmes.  For other examples the commissioning and procurement processes were key, enabling organisations which win contracts to leave a lasting legacy in communities as part of those contracts.

Providing good local employment, training and employment support opportunities and career development

Business services is a people business. More than three million jobs are supported by the sector. Furthermore this is not an industry which is concentrated in one part of the UK:  it is responsible for at least one in ten jobs across for example the North East, North West and South West. It therefore has a crucial role to play as an engine of inclusive growth and prosperity.

That goes for SMEs and large companies alike.  Many larger companies not only employ workers in a local area, even if the companies are headquartered elsewhere, but have the experience to maximise employment opportunities for all sections of the community. They may have the reach and experience to help build bridges into employment for groups who are further from the labour market.  And they can often offer opportunities for career development across the business which might not otherwise be available.

Developing links with schools and local training providers, and linking employment support with local employers

Developing links between companies and the communities in which they work, including local education and training providers, helps to make sure training matches the jobs available.  It can also expand the horizons of young people and other groups, increasing awareness of the full range of opportunities open to them across the industry.

Many BSA members are also involved in schemes designed to support people into employment.  They have a particular responsibility to develop links with local organisations, both to help in delivery of these schemes and to provide links to local jobs so people are enabled to remain in the communities in which they live.

Helping to Support, Strengthen and Develop SMEs

One lesson first from the pandemic period and then from the war in Ukraine is the value in building reliable and resilient supply chains. Yet in many areas of the country, smaller businesses and VCSE organisations have been hit especially hard by the challenges of recent years.

The business services sector has the experience and professional expertise to help many micro-businesses and SMEs take the crucial next step to becoming medium-sized businesses. There is substantial evidence of the positive effect of the use of business services on a sector’s ability to grow.

Larger organisations can also have the capacity and reach to help support and rebuild local SME capacity in their supply chains. They can help to shoulder the risk and provide the up-front finance which are often necessary parts of contracts with public and private sectors alike.

Meanwhile smaller organisations bring their strengths and innovation so that the two learn from each other. Different sizes of businesses have different strengths they can draw on, and collaboration can help them do so.

None of this happens by accident.  It involves a determined effort to treat supply chains fairly and as partners, with prompt payment of bills and an equitable allocation of risk and reward.  The BSA has highlighted the importance of equitable collaboration between different sizes of company, in its Statement of Best Practice on Partnership Working between larger businesses or VCSE organisations and SMEs.

Improving sustainability and the local environment, including helping supply chain SMEs on the path to Net Zero

Supporting green recovery at a devolved and local level will be a driving factor in the UK’s race to Net Zero. Many local authorities have set out their own carbon reduction commitments, often including Net Zero goals preceding the UK-wide 2050 target. In their roles both as suppliers and through offering their expertise, BSA members are central to these efforts to green our regions and devolved nations.

Once again, different sizes of businesses have different strengths they can draw on. Larger organisations across all sectors all have an important part to play in supporting their supply chains to transition towards Net Zero, particularly SMEs and micro-organisations.

 

Other examples of Place-based social value, community benefit or building community wealth

There are many other ways in which BSA members are helping to build up local communities, both as part of their overall corporate social responsibility and through individual contracts which enable them to do so.

These examples cover everything from arts projects to legal advice to helping Ukrainian refugees in a particular community.

The common thread is that the BSA member concerned was embedded in its communities, so knew what the wishes and requitements of those communities were.  It was then able to respond – either through early engagement in a commissioning process, or through going the extra mile when delivering a place-based project.