One Strawberry Lane office scheme breaks 40% social value barrier

A newly constructed head office in Newcastle City Centre has raised the bar for its delivery of social value.

One Strawberry Lane, the new home for Home Group, one of the UK’s largest housing organisations, has returned a 44% social value score – up to three times the national average for a similar sized project.

Research last year by Social Value Portal and SCAPE show that the average social value scores for construction projects range between 13% - 25%, with the lower score correlating to larger developments.

Home Group worked alongside developers Ask Real Estate and contractor BAM Construction to draw up an agreed plan to ensure the project delivered to the highest standard.

In particular, the One Strawberry Lane project has delivered significantly against the local spend criteria. More than £16m has been reinvested within 30 miles of the project, with majority of the local spend supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Alongside the social value relating to the building itself, the delivery partners also set up a separate community benefits programme, with a pot of £150,000, comprising financial contributions, labour and volunteering hours, and donated materials.

The headline figures from the development include:

• 43% social value return
• 7 community projects supported with a value of £150k through the
Community Fund and donated volunteer hours and materials
• 77% local spend
• 182 people engaged in industry workshops
• 31 local unemployed people into work
• 19 apprentices gained training on the project
• Grassroots sports supported
• Mental health and wellbeing initiatives for the workforce throughout

Kitson Keen, Director of Development at Home Group, said: “Delivering social value within procurement and project management across many sectors has improved significantly over recent years.

“A major part of the One Strawberry Lane development was to ensure we provided the best possible social value return. Our focus on this has led to us to achieve this remarkable result and it is credit to my colleagues, and our partners Ask and Bam Construction.

“We have now created a yardstick for ourselves, and it is challenging one, but one we are fully committed to working towards.”

John Hughes, Managing Director of Ask Real Estate added:

“As Home Group’s chosen development partner we were keen to support their aspiration to deliver change for the local community from the very outset of the project. It has been fantastic to see such a wide number of local community groups benefit from, not only cash contributions, but from the expert help of our professional team and BAM’s skilled tradespeople. It really has set the benchmark for future projects of this kind.”

BAM’s Construction Director, Tony Fitzgerald, said:

“Our hardworking team has not only created a very challenging and complex building but in doing so, we’ve worked tirelessly with local suppliers and businesses, local charities and the community around us.

“Our extensive engagement here is a reflection of BAM’s ethic that it is not just what we build but how we build it that matters. What we leave behind us is not just a building but lives that have been enhanced through work experience, skills, training, and wellbeing.

“It’s wonderful to have been involved with an excellent scheme, and we thank everybody who has helped and interacted with us along the way.”