SET Embeds Social Value into their Procurement to Drive Supply Chain Collaboration

Action Sustainability was commissioned by South Eastern Trains (SET to enhance their sustainable procurement practices and strengthen their social value strategy. The project aimed to ensure a sustainable supply chain and a robust procurement approach aligned with SET’s objectives.

Key Objectives

• Providing training to SET staff and SME supply chain.
• Refreshing the Procurement Social Value Charter (PSVC) and Heat Map, and re-launching them to key strategic suppliers.
• Developing tender questions focused on the environmental pillar of SET’s social value objectives to support their Decarbonisation Strategy and Circular Economy Plan.

SET wanted to implement their strategies and policies and ensure the procurement process was robust to deliver on social value objectives through the supply chain. This included a focus on the SME supply chain to upskill them and develop tender questions to ensure that their vision and objectives for social value were embedded throughout the procurement process.

Action Sustainability undertook four key areas of work:

• Stakeholder upskilling: We facilitated workshops, webinars for SET’s internal stakeholders  and SME supply chain on Carbon, Sustainable Procurement and Modern Slavery, with the aim to better equip the delegates on the social value journey.
• Refresh of the Charter and Heat Map: We updated the existing PSVC and Heat Map (risk and opportunity analysis exercise) to better align it with SET’s Decarbonisation, Sustainability, Circular Economy and Modern Slavery strategies. We ensured the Heat Map captured risk as well as opportunity for social value.
• Development of Environment Pillar Tender Questions: We developed tender questions, model responses for the environmental pillar of SET’s charter. These were for the 8 main, key spend categories.
• Launch, guidance, collaboration: We provided guidance on supply chain collaboration for social value initiatives and developed a social value contract handover document. We developed and hosted 2 launch events for SET’s SME and for their strategic supply chain.

Action Sustainability’s work provided SET with the Golden Thread methodology of flowing down their sustainability strategy, PSVC, heat map outputs into the supply chain

By upskilling internally and providing training to their SME supply chain, SET show themselves as being truly collaborative in their social value journey, and ensuring they bring their supply chain along with  them on that journey.

The tender questions were designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative responses from the supply chain. This ensured that commitments from tenderers were measurable, trackable, and aligned with SET’s social value goals.

The launch events enabled a better understanding of SET’s sustainability requirements from their supply chain, both for SMEs as well as the key, strategic supply chain partners.

How does this lend itself to continuous improvement? We provided guidance and templates to SET on engaging the supply chain post launch and created the 1:1 meeting agenda for SET’s collaboration meetings with each of those strategic partners. SET will effectively engage their supply chain on the charter and their various sustainability strategies and heat map.