Food being handed out by volunteers

Social value

Our mission is to produce and support sustainable business practices which have a positive impact on existing, new and evolving communities through added social value.

Introducing social value

At Overbury, we aim to produce a real difference to people’s lives, by enhancing the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of those who we work and operate alongside.

In 2023, we have already made some great contributions:

  • Improving the gardens for the residents who share the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea building while we work on a project there.
  • Conquering the National Three Peaks challenge raising over £12,000 for Children with Cancer UK
  • Jurassic Coast Walk in aid of Alzheimer's Research UK
  • Litter picking at Hackney Wick Canal as part of the Succession Collective
  • Volunteering and providing a helping hand at Mudchute Farm as part of one of our projects in Canary Wharf
  • As part of mental health awareness week, Overbury helped clear overgrown foliage and create a forest school for the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxford
  • 52 volunteers contributed 687 hours and contributed furniture and materials to the value of £39,400 to 'The Space', a Stockport Community Equality Partnership hub
  • Volunteering at Queen Victoria's Seaman's Rest in support of You Press to deliver a community dinner to retired seafarers, ex-servicemen and homeless men

These are just a handful of instances of social value creation, we are striving to create more and more opportunities on every project we deliver.

Socio-economic commitment

We prioritise local small and medium enterprises for our subcontractors and offer job and training opportunities for local young people and disadvantaged groups, including long-term unemployed individuals and ex-offenders. We participate in the government’s Kickstart scheme, which provides work placements to 16 to 24-year-olds. We put a focus on working with charities in locality to our projects and are even awarded for our work.

Overbury has achieved a Silver accreditation with the Armed Forces Covenant for its contribution to a scheme that ensures current and former military personnel and their families are treated with fairness and respect.

Community commitment

Tailored social value approach

Overbury's approach to social value is flexible. As a client, if you have an existing framework, measurement or partnership, we are happy to contribute and work with you. Equally, we have the capability to research, measure and deliver on social value objectives in-house. We recognise that the needs of the local areas surrounding our projects are different, that's why we take time to figure out what's best.

Measuring social value creation

We aim to ensure we accurately measure, monitor, report and market all our social value across our two teams. All our projects over £1m, with a minimum duration of six months are striving to achieve social value ratio of a minimum of 25% of contract value, as measured in the 'Social Value Portal' and/or teams will decide what social value activity they will deliver for their project requirements.

In-house team

Overbury have a total of nine social value managers across our divisions. Their full-time role is entirely focused on delivering on social value objectives for our clients, ourselves and the surrounding communities in which we operate.

Lending a helping hand

A major part of our social value strategy is working with grassroot communities around our projects - local charities, community centres and local schools to improve their facilities and generally just lend a helping hand.

It's also important, given that construction has the highest rate of male suicide in any industry, to ensure our staff and the people in our supply chain are happy. We work hard to create a working environment that improves people's wellbeing and provide a service to help individuals struggling.

Jobs and employment

Overbury works hard to ensure we provide local people in the communities surrounding our projects the opportunity to explore roles within the construction industry. We offer employment/experiences in the form of apprenticeships, internships and work experience to enhance local skills and help address an industry-wide labour supply issue.

Delivering locally

We use local trades and services on our projects as much as possible and try to grow their knowledge of social value. We have hosted 'Meet the Buyer' events, supply chain breakfasts and lunch and learns.