For the second consecutive year Social Firms UK had a Village at the Guardian Procurement Show for members to exhibit their products and services.
For those who aren't familiar, every year the Guardian takes over the south side of the ExCel Centre (accounting exams take over take over the north side - no prizes guessing which side I would rather be on!) for The Public Procurement Show, SmartGov Live & Smart Healthcare Live. It is an exciting mix of exhibitions, seminars, talks and workshops for procurement professionals in the public sector.
Nine Full Members of Social Firms UK - Bikeworks CIC, CLARITY - GWB Products, First Fruit Warehouse, The Grow Organisation, Newco Products, Pluss, Stoke Workshops and Whitehouse Enterprises - worked together to create a conceptual Village that took delegates on a journey from Home to the Outdoors to the Shop and Office to show the range and quality of the products and services in the sector.
It was impossible to miss the Village at the Show and it wasn't just that we were right by the entrance, or the huge 'Social Firms UK banner', it was the excellent quality of all the products on display.
First Fruit welcomed delegates into the Show with the Office that was furnished fully from re-used and refurbished office funiture. It included a glass topped board table and a designer light up fibreglass chair.
They were also on hand to talk about their new plastic recycling facility in the recycling corner with Pluss who were exhibiting for their new WEEE recycling service.
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From the Office we moved onto the Shop where CLARITY advertised soap and cleaning products, Stoke Workshops supplied wire racking to display postcards and literature, Bikeworks equipped us with the transport to move us to the Outdoor area and RBLI's Just Buy Stop sign ensured we crossed safely!
The Grow Organisation and Whitehouse Enterprises had the Outdoor area covered. Whitehouse supply outdoor furniture (all made from locally sourced recycled plastic) and The Grow Org ensured that the space was maintained via their maintenance services. The Grow Org also sourced planters from HMP Blundeston higlighting their joined up working with the prison service.
Finally after a hard days slog in the Office and walking the dog in well maintained park, the Village took us Home :-) . Again First Fruit furnished the living room with a sofa, coffee table and paintings to create a cosy atmosphere. The kitchen was by Stoke Workshop who are working on a new delivery for social housing kitchens with the highest environmental rating than any other supplier, and Newco Products ensure excellent views with their uPVC windows and doors.
The Village dwellers weren't the only social enterprise in residence at the Show. Associate Member Hao2EU were present to explain how they use 3D virtual world technologies to save money and support the needs of people with disabilities such as Autistic Spectrum Conditions. We also met Stephen Dering of our newest Social Firm Argonaut Community Enterprises and former MP Jonathan Shaw and Minister for Disabled People came along in his new guise, an Associate for another Full Social Firm RBLI. Linda Bratcher from the Social Enterprise Mark also popped in to greet us and meet some of our Mark holders.
Craig Dearden-Phillips from Stepping Out represented the social enterprise sector well in his seminar: Case study: working with social enterprise, he raised the issues that procurement officialsand social enterprises face when trying to work together and allowed the audience to give anecdotes of the challenges and successes they had experienced.
It was fantastic to be involved in the Show for a second year and our members did an excellent job of working together to show that whatever you need to buy, you can get it from the Social Firm sector (see our Just Buy campaign). The increased presence of other social enterprises and the number of enquiries we got from delegates show a positive move in the attitude of the sector toward building commercial relationships to help grow their businesses. For Social Firms UK's part, we'll continue to do all that we can to provide opportunities for our members to to build these relationships.
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Temi Odesanya
Marketing Assistant