A Growing Industry

Over the past decade, the demand for social value services has grown significantly. For those of us who have been working in the sector for ten years or more, this is highly encouraging. What once felt like a niche conversation among a small group of practitioners is now firmly on the agenda for businesses, public bodies and commissioners across multiple sectors.

Organisations are increasingly recognising that their activities can mean more than financial returns. There is a growing desire to create genuine change and contribute to social renewal, and additional expertise, planning and partnership can play a huge role in this. The fact that more organisations are actively seeking professional support to strengthen their social value work is something many of us early pioneers in the field have long hoped to see.

The Rush in Social Value Services

With the rapid growth in demand, we are also seeing a surge of organisations newly entering the social value space. Over the past few years, many companies and sole traders have begun offering services or told us they are “thinking about entering the market”. While the growing interest in social impact is welcome, social value remains a complicated field, and many organisations and individuals are still building the practical experience and methodologies needed to deliver it effectively.

Some new entrants believe that because they offer adjacent services, such as economic impact analysis, stakeholder engagement, or broader consultancy support, they can naturally extend into the full spectrum of social value services. There can also be an assumption that because social value is something people feel strongly about, it is straightforward to practice professionally. However, meaningful social value work requires a broad and specialised skillset. It combines qualitative and quantitative research, stakeholder engagement, analytical evaluation, designing and delivering social impact initiatives, and sector-specific knowledge.

In practice, effective social value work goes far beyond suggesting activities or applying simple desktop calculator-based approaches.

We hear about the impacts of this regularly. Clients and contacts frequently tell us that some providers they have spoken to struggle to put forward a compelling case for the value they will add to them, or that they have struggled to see clear value from some of the work they have commissioned.

This isn’t surprising in a rapidly growing industry. But it does reinforce the importance for organisations commissioning social value services to look carefully at their needs and ensure they are working with providers who have the experience and expertise to deliver meaningful outputs.

The Risk: Weaker Services for the People Who Need Them

The real risk of this rapid expansion is the potential dilution of expertise. When providers enter the field without the necessary skills and experience, the quality of social value support can drop, and the buyers are the ones who suffer.

Meaningful social value work requires a deep understanding of community needs, robust research capability, and the ability to design, implement and evaluate interventions over time. Without this foundation, outputs can be superficial or tokenistic, with limited mechanisms in place to understand whether real, lasting change is being achieved, or course correction if not.

Often, this manifests as an overreliance on ‘added value’ activities, which are well-intentioned initiatives that are primarily beneficial in the short term, rather than addressing how organisations can improve the inherent social value within their core operations to create long-term value.

Another concern is incorrect evaluation and overclaiming. Social value frameworks and measurement tools are powerful when used correctly, but they require careful interpretation and a clear understanding of their limitations. We increasingly see large headline figures presented with weak methodological explanation or underlying evidence. Big numbers may look impressive in reports, but without strong methods behind them, they risk undermining credibility.

For organisations commissioning these services, there are also practical implications. Inexperienced providers may take longer to deliver work, require more guidance from clients, and ultimately provide less value for money. In some cases, organisations may end up paying more while receiving weaker insights and less effective ideas.

What Should Customers Look For?

For organisations seeking support with social value, asking the right questions can help ensure they are investing in meaningful expertise.

Firstly, experience matters. Buyers should consider how long the organisation has been working in the social value field, and what types of projects they have supported.

Breadth of capability is also important. Do they provide services beyond impact measurement and reporting? Credible social value work typically involves research, engagement, evaluation and strategy, as well as being able to understand impact.

Stakeholder engagement should also be central. Do providers speak directly to the communities and stakeholders affected by the work, or do they rely solely on desk-based assumptions?

Finally, customers should also look for providers who focus on long-term value rather than short-term reporting. The most effective support helps organisations embed social value into their operations and decision-making, rather than treating it as a one-off reporting exercise.

A Final Consideration

The rapid commercialisation of social value services has created a crowded marketplace. In a market moving this quickly, the difference between genuine expertise and fool’s gold may not always be obvious. Taking the time to choose the right partners will ultimately determine whether social value delivers meaningful insights and change, or simply produces impressive but artificial numbers on paper.

For organisations seeking support, it is important to look beyond marketing claims and carefully consider the experience and capability of those offering these services.