So far, 2025 has been a transformative year for Social Value for public procurement.
With the introduction of the new Social Value Model and the Procurement Act 2023 going live – both shaped around the Government’s Five Missions – bidders are under growing pressure not just to deliver great services, but to show how they will positively impact communities.
Understanding the intricacies of Social Value and aligning responses to government priorities can feel overwhelming.
But it doesn’t have to be – through our work with bidders across various sectors, we’ve seen first-hand how the right approach to Social Value upskilling can massively boost your bidding outcomes.
That’s why we created Mission-Driven Bid Training, a hands-on, practical programme built around the four most important areas that teams need to master to succeed in winning public contracts today.
In this breakdown, we’re sharing those four areas with you.
Four pillars of Social Value upskilling
1. Understand the foundations
Social Value has been a core part of public procurement processes for well over a decade, beginning with the Public Services Act 2012. But the new Social Value Model and the Procurement Act 2023 have now set out even clearer expectations for how public contracts should deliver and report Social Value outcomes.
Understanding not just the policy, but what evaluators are actually looking for, is what turns a passable bid into a winning one.
That’s why in we focus first on foundational training, tackling:
- The government’s Social Value priorities and public procurement legislation
- How various public sector bodies (local authorities, central government, NHS) interpret and apply Social Value
When teams understand the policy drivers and context, they are much better equipped to position their offer in a way that resonates with evaluators.
2. Embed best practice Social Value principles
A strong foundation needs to be backed up with strong execution and adherence to the principles of Social Value bidding.
The best Social Value bids clearly show how your organisation will deliver on the government’s priorities, and how you’ll measure that impact. This part of our training helps teams:
- Apply the core principles of effective Social Value bidding
- Recognise and avoid common pitfalls
- Use frameworks and real-life examples to structure and position responses with clarity and credibility
This pillar is all about helping teams move from general commitments to strategic, measurable outcomes. What makes it truly effective is the inclusion of worked roleplay examples to apply the core principles discussed.
3. Practice, practice, practice
It’s one thing to know what good looks like, but another thing to apply it. That’s why we place a strong emphasis on hands-on, reflective learning.
Here, our training includes:
- Running bid exercises based on real or simulated Social Value questions
- Analysing responses through the lens of Social Value policy
- Comparing submissions to gold-standard examples
This kind of hands-on learning builds skills and boosts confidence – and It’s critical in a still evolving space that many find ambiguous or daunting.
4. Continuous learning
The best bid teams are focused on not just on winning work today but continuously improving for the future. Social Value policy and buyer expectations will continue to evolve, particularly now that a new procurement regime, underpinned by the Government’s Five Missions, is in force.
A one-off training session isn’t enough; teams need to keep learning. Our training supports this by providing:
- Learning resources including a bid writer’s checklist, templates, and example bids
- Support to share learnings across teams, especially as new people join.
- Guidance to embed Social Value thinking into wider organisational strategy.
With new reporting requirements under the Procurement Act (for example, £5m+ contracts must include at least three KPIs and be subject to annual performance reviews) it’s no longer enough to write a strong bid. You have to prove impact throughout delivery.
With continuous learning in place, your bidding capabilities won’t peak during training but keep improving over time.
Upskilling your bid team for the new Social Value landscape
If your organisation is bidding for public contracts, Social Value is a central part of how you’ll be assessed, and a major differentiator for successful bids.
These four areas – foundations, best practice, practical application, and continuous learning – are the basis of our Mission-Driven Bid Training, developed specifically to help organisations succeed under the Social Value Model and the Procurement Act 2023.
One of our clients, Churchill Group, shared their experience:
SVP provided clear insights into clients' expectations, which will also help align our approach with what evaluators are looking for. The team from SVP delivered the training exceptionally well. They were knowledgeable, engaging, and clearly passionate about Social Value, which made the session informative and motivating.
Churchill Group
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help, we’d love to talk.
Either book a meeting with our team, or learn more about the training by download our guide to Mission-Driven Bid Training for more information.
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