Early Market Engagement to Social Value Outcomes

Early Market Engagement: The Underused Tool That Strengthens Social Value Outcomes

As the updated Social Value Model comes into effect, one of the most positive developments is the strengthened emphasis on market engagement. This is more than a procedural step: it is the bridge between policy ambition and practical delivery, and one of the most effective ways to ensure that social value commitments are realistic, proportionate, and achievable.

Yet in many procurements, market engagement is still treated as an obligation — something to be completed early in the process and then left behind. In practice, it is one of the most powerful enablers of strong social value outcomes.

Why Market Engagement Matters More Than Ever

The Government’s direction is clear: social value must be embedded consistently across public procurement. For this to succeed, procurement teams need a grounded understanding of the markets they are buying from — their structures, capabilities, constraints, and opportunities.

Good market engagement supports this by:

• Confirming relevance — ensuring the proposed outcomes align with what suppliers can meaningfully influence.

• Ensuring proportionality — enabling SMEs and VCSEs to participate fully and confidently.

• Improving accuracy — helping buyers shape commitments based on real cost drivers and delivery models.

• Strengthening deliverability — preventing over-commitment and fostering realistic, sustainable outcomes.

In other words, market engagement allows social value to be shaped around the realities of the market rather than the other way around.

Low-Friction Engagement That Works

Not every procurement requires a large engagement exercise. In fact, some of the most effective approaches are simple, accessible, and repeatable. Examples include:

Micro-consultations

Short, focused conversations with a small selection of suppliers can unlock rich insights in minutes.

Digital surveys

Quick online questionnaires can help identify delivery constraints, labour profiles, and opportunities for impact.

Online briefings

Brief, targeted sessions allow buyers to test early thinking and understand supplier perspective before formal requirements are set.

Early pipeline visibility

Providing early signals gives suppliers time to prepare, strengthen partnerships, and build credible commitments.

These approaches reduce burden, save time, and dramatically improve the alignment between expectations and what suppliers can realistically deliver.

The Importance of Engagement in Complex Supply Chains

In sectors such as renewable energy, the need for good engagement is amplified.

Supply chains for major offshore and onshore energy programmes often involve dozens of specialist tiers — from engineering firms and marine operators to manufacturers, digital integrators, environmental scientists, logistics providers, and niche SME contributors.

Each tier has:

• Different capabilities

• Different cost structures

• Different opportunities to contribute to social value

Without engagement, social value risks being unevenly distributed, unrealistic, or overly concentrated on a single tier.
With engagement, it becomes possible to design coherent, coordinated social value delivery across the supply chain that is:

• Realistic

• Measurable

• Equitably shared

• Optimised for community benefit

This is particularly important as the UK prepares for future renewable energy leasing rounds, where supply chain complexity — and opportunity — will only increase.

Market Engagement as an Enabler of Stronger Outcomes

The updated Social Value Model provides a strong foundation. But it is market engagement that brings that foundation to life by:

• Smoothing the path for suppliers

• Improving the quality of social value commitments

• Reducing delivery risk

• Enhancing accountability

• Strengthening the impact achieved through public investment

In this sense, engagement is not an administrative step: it is a strategic enabler.

When buyers and suppliers meet early in the process, social value shifts from aspiration to practical achievement — and becomes more capable of delivering the socioeconomic and environmental benefits the Government intends.

Author: Omar Hadjel MCIM, GRI Certified Sustainability Professional