More than 150 attendees took part in a virtual Meet the Buyer event, aimed at boosting social spend across a variety of sectors, including housing and construction.
Organised by the Community Impact Partnership (CIP) in conjunction with Supply Change and Wates Group, the purpose of the online networking event was to bring together businesses who were looking to buy either new or repeat services and goods offered by social enterprises and charitable / community businesses.
Social enterprises contribute to the community in various ways, and in addition to providing goods and services, they also support the local economy and create job opportunities.
According to Social Enterprise UK, there are over 100,000 social enterprises throughout the country contributing £60 billion to the economy and employing two million people. It is a growing economy and many organisations are realising the benefit of using social enterprises, but not all know how to go about accessing those goods and services.
Su Pickerill, Group Community Investment Manager for the Wates Group, commented: “Wates remains steadfast in our commitment to supporting the social enterprise sector, despite the challenging and unusual environment that we currently find ourselves in. I am delighted that we were able to work collaboratively with our partners at Orbit and supply Change to ensure that this event could continue to go ahead virtually, with the added benefit of being able to open it up to even more businesses than originally planned.
“Trading with social enterprises presents a great opportunity for us to invest in the local communities where we operate, and I hope this event will lead to many new business opportunities that will continue to support the sector’s growth.”
This Meet the Buyer event was the perfect opportunity for like-minded businesses to come together and explore the opportunities available.
Those attending included Orbit, Zurich, Durcan, Amey plc, East Sussex County Council, Clarion, L&Q, Multiplex, Morgan Sindall and Places for People.