When Siemens UK travel commodity manager Emma Eaton visited Business Travel Show Europe in London last year, she stayed at a different hotel than the other hosted buyer visitors. Eaton checked herself into Good Hotel London, a property she had recently added to Siemens’ preferred supplier list not only because it meets the company’s quality and price standards but also because it is a social enterprise.
Social enterprises are businesses that allocate at least 50 per cent of profits for philanthropy, such as training and supporting disadvantaged people. In most cases, including Good Hotels’ parent Good Group, the figure is 100 per cent. All Good Group profits fund Niños de Guatemala, a foundation providing education to 500 children in Central America. Good Hotel London also provides a training programme for long-term unemployed people in Newham, the borough where it is located and one of the poorest in the UK.
Eaton is one of a tiny but growing number of travel and meetings managers aiming to buy social, a phrase she defines as “the opportunity for corporates to use their purchasing power to do good. Instead of just using our purchasing volume through traditional routes, it’s looking at buying from the many wonderful organisations which exist to improve the lives of people who need some help.”
Another convert is Faye Carter, London-based head of experiential at Deloitte. Like Siemens, Deloitte is one of 30 large corporations to have joined the Buying Social Corporate Challenge, which aims to get them spending £1 billion annually through social enterprises.
Deloitte has already used Connection Crew, a community interest company which employs, trains and generally supports homeless people, to build stages and provide other support at events. It also hired Luminary Bakery, which trains and employs socially disadvantaged women, for a virtual ‘bakealong’ as a Christmas staff activity.
“Our aim is to accelerate spend with social enterprises next year,”…