Six projects are in active delivery — over £55m of Growth Deal investment — and the £180m Knauf factory at Shotton starts construction in 2026. What the build phase means for SME contractors, and why costed social value evidence decides who wins the packages.
17% of 16–24-year-olds in Wales are NEET — the highest of the UK nations, and the only rate rising. The organisations preventing it can rarely prove it. How youth and community organisations can evidence prevention: distance travelled, logged engagement, recognised £ values.
Medr publishes the specification and grant commissioning documents in September 2026, with the new programme starting 1 August 2027. Outcome-based funding is on the table — and half the outcomes list is the soft stuff nobody currently records.
Surveys evidence Space and Voice. But Audience and Influence are dated events with consequences, not questions — and they are usually the elements with no paper trail. How youth organisations record all four, close the you-said-we-did loop, and build an area-wide picture of youth advancement.
Careers and work-related experiences are statutory in the Curriculum for Wales, and Careers Wales plans around six employer touchpoints per school per year. Every one a contractor delivers is costed social value — if it gets recorded.
WCVA’s own survey puts it at 30%. The cost most often left out of a bid is monitoring and evaluation — here is how to put it back in, and what the Welsh Government code of practice actually says.
A framework place carries a community benefit commitment for every call-off, for the life of the framework — not just the tender that got you in. How SME contractors and subcontractors keep the evidence live instead of scrambling for it later.
Cardiff City FC Community Foundation had its work independently costed at £66m of social value over two seasons. The method — outcome data plus recognised proxy values — is within reach for any community organisation, and it starts with recording the work as it happens.
Since 25 March 2026 the socially responsible procurement duty covers most Welsh public contracts — not just major schemes — and below-threshold work now goes on public registers. What the SPPP Regulations 2026 mean for SMEs and community organisations.
A national skills audit is underway in Wales, with early findings setting the agenda for an Autumn 2026 Future Skills Summit. Employers will be asked what they contribute to skills — the firms with a costed record can answer.
HyNet is unlocking around £2bn of supply chain contracts and 2,800 skilled jobs across North Wales and North West England. How SME contractors get on the supplier list — and why costed social value evidence decides who wins the subcontract.
Track renewals, drainage and new accessible footbridges at Prestatyn and Pensarn, plus a four-week closure in January 2027. A regional pipeline of rail and civils work — and rail buyers ask for community benefit.
Procurex Wales hits the Utilita Arena Cardiff on 11 November, the North Wales Autumn Business Expo lands in Deeside on 22 October, and Wylfa has billions still to procure. Book now — and walk in with costed evidence, because buyers now publish annual socially responsible procurement reports.
The UK SMR programme has contracted nearly £900m since 2023, with over 70% to UK firms and ~3,000 jobs at peak. The money is being spent now — and the subcontract flow-down carries local social value commitments with it.
CITB says UK construction needs ~206,000 extra workers by 2030, and ~9,100 in Wales by 2027. Every apprenticeship, placement and school talk you run to close that gap is costed social value — here's how to evidence it.
The shiny commitment isn't the win — recording the everyday work as it happens is. With KPI reporting tightening and "social washing" scrutiny rising, here's how to close the gap between what a bid promises and what you can evidence later.
From 1 April 2026, in-scope central government bodies must set a target for direct spend with voluntary, community and social enterprises. What VCSE spend targets mean for charities and community groups — and how to be visible with costed evidence.
A plain-English guide to where the pound figures in a social value report actually come from — wellbeing valuation, the WELLBY, the HACT UK Social Value Bank — and why a recognised proxy beats a number you made up.
Regional Skills Partnerships and bodies reporting up to Welsh Government can capture distance travelled and a costed social value figure to report up. Here's how — and we're looking for early partnerships.
Bidding for public or framework work? What to actually write in the social value / community benefit box — list what you do, cost it, make SMART commitments, and back it with costed evidence.
Funders, sponsors and anchor bodies can see the costed social value and outcomes across everything they fund — aggregated by project, sector and region, and badged under their own name.
A funder wants to know what changed, not just that a session happened. Our new distance-travelled tool captures the shift in the room — anonymously, in minutes — test it live today.
Wales' volunteers give 145 million hours a year — worth an estimated £1.7bn — and almost none of it gets recorded. How charities and community groups turn sessions into costed social value evidence funders take seriously.
Training providers and employability programmes: measure the distance travelled — confidence, readiness — with a simple anonymous before/after, and evidence your impact instead of just attendance.
Founding sponsorship: your name on every report, aggregated impact in pounds for your own ESG and tender returns — one headline sponsor per sector, per region.
The AsktheOwl sector packs: scripted, bilingual, curriculum-aligned careers sessions — ready for construction firms and other employers to deliver, with the social value evidence handled too.
Careers talks, site visits, apprentice school returns — construction firms deliver social value every week and never record it. What it's worth in pounds, and the two-minute fix.
Europe's first SMR fleet is coming to Anglesey, with ~3,000 jobs at peak. How to get on the supplier portal — and why a costed social value record will separate winners from bidders.
The HyNet Supply Chain Summit in Wrexham on 15 July, the Business Wales Expos coming this autumn, plus Pagabo and Wylfa on the horizon — the rooms worth being in, and how to arrive with social value evidence instead of anecdotes.
The SPPP (Wales) Act duties commenced 25 March 2026, annual reporting from 1 April. Social value is now measured, reported and flowed down to subcontracts — here's what that means for your bids.
Meet-the-buyer dates and social value changes in Welsh procurement — short, useful, no spam.