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April Kiva Update

Kiva
Kiva
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During April, the Value Match team loaned an additional 8 loans to support women-owned businesses.  Multiple sustainable projects were supported and around $1000 was loaned in total.  A big thank you to the whole team for their continued support of these projects, below are some of the projects that our loans are helping to grow:

Flor De Pascua Chuculjuyup group

Ana’s a 50-year-old textile artisan who weaves traditional blouses, Ana is located in Totonicapán, Guatemala.  Her business has allowed her to send her 3 grown children to high school, Ana now has 2 employees.  Now Ana has requested her 1st Kiva loan to purchase various high-quality threads and fabrics.  Ana would also like to start raising sheep to make her business more sustainable.

Ana is the President of the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “Flor de Pascua Chuculjuyup”.  There are 7 other ladies in the group who meet monthly and participate in educational sessions, part of the “Microcredit Plus” program of loans, education, and health care services.

Our contribution is particularly important as it allows Flor de Pascua Chuculjuyup to receive in-depth training on business, health, over-indebtedness, and self-esteem.

Millicent’s Group

Millicent has been working as a farmer for 5 years.  Millicent is now a representative of her group with six farmers who live in the Lugari District of Kenya.  She is 28 years old, married, and the mother of two children.

Millicent has been working alongside the One Acre Fund since 2019 and has worked hard to become the leading representer of the group.  Millicent says that being part of the One Acre Fund community has meant that she has been able to consistently feed her family.  Millicent plans to use the profits from this coming season to send her children to school.  Millicent’s Group have received 12.75 acres of land, they will also receive two solar lights.

Susan’s Group

Susan is a repeat Kiva borrower with a great history of repaying her loans.  Susan is a hard-working widow living in a rural village in the Nakura area of Kenya.  Susan has used her previous loans to farm crops and raise livestock.  Susan has used this to ensure her children have had a good quality education.

Remarkably Susan hasn’t had any formal education which makes her achievement even more impressive.  Susan was seeking a 15,000 KES loan through Kiva’s field partner Juhudi Kilimo to purchase farm inputs such as fertilizer and seeds to enable her to grow more vegetables, reap maximum profits and expand her business.

Being a widow Susan often struggles to access funds in Kenya which means these loans provided through Kiva further helps and empowers Susan and others like her the freedom and independence to build upon their business.

Lilian’s story

Lilian lives in Engari, a rural area within Kiruhura, Uganda.

Lillian operates a merchandise shop within her local trading centre and also does agriculture to feed her family and also supplement her income.

Lillian desires to have a quality and bountiful harvest and is seeking a loan to buy mulch and organic manure for her banana plantation.  This will better her production and increase her income.

As a team Value Match have now to date supported 98 projects and lent over $8000 loans across 26 countries.  We aim to continue these loans as we continue to value people, value the environment and create sustainable prosperity.  Our loans contribute towards women-owned businesses in areas of the world where women are unbanked and usually receive very little support.

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News

Alternative Search Engines that Create Social Value

Social Value
Social Value
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Did you know Google isn’t the only search engine?  Although they have a significant market share at 92%, there are other search engines, as the team at Value Match have recently discovered!

On our continuing quest to search for ways to create value and embed our own values in our day-to-day, we have discovered several search engines that give back and provide a positive impact on the environment based on your search usage. 

We were so impressed, we wanted to share six innovative search engines that can be utilised to do good, the next time you think Google, perhaps think about one of the below as an alternative.

  1. GiveWater

GiveWater is a non for-profit organisation that is self-descried as a ‘social impact search engine’.  Their aim is to positively impact the environment by tackling the issues of poor-quality water and ineffective sanitation causing disease in the developing world.

GiveWater make money through their charitable search engine though the clicks that you could make.  The money made is then passed through the charities partnered with GiveWater to create clean water and sanitation.

  1. Ecosia

German-based organisation Ecosia is a search engine that uses their profits to plant trees.  They have planted over 125 million trees).

They have various projects, one of which is Burkina Faso.  Their goal is to restore decertified land by planting trees.

Find out more about this project.

  1. EveryClick

EveryClick was launched in 2005 initially as a fundraising tool for charities and later adding a Bing-based search engine.  Since 2005 EveryClick now works with thousands of charities, fundraisers, and stores to raise valuable funds making a real difference.  Projects supported include; Woodland Trust, Freegle, Friends of the Earth Trust and 190 other environment based charities and foundations.

Their vision is “to set the industry standard for innovative charity fundraising in the UK.  This vision is backed by our board and shareholders, which includes distinguished individuals from the charity and business worlds, such as our chairman Geoff Squire, OBE.”

To date they have raised £14.3 million for charity.

  1. Ekoru

Ekoru was started by Australian software professional Ati Bakush.  He travelled across Australia and through the jungles of Malaysia.

Donating 60% of its monthly revenue to several partner charities, ranging from reforestation, climate change action, and help for endangered animal conservation.  Ekroru also use renewable energy sources for its data centres however, they are currently only available in the USA, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, although new regions are added regularly.

To date they have saved 45,792.472 Kg CO2.

  1. Givero

Givero was started in 2018 located in Holbaek, Denmark.  Givero is unique compared to the other search engines on this list as you can choose which cause to give back too.  User don’t require a profile and can choose between a variety of charities who you’d want to help and new charities are always being added.

“We made it our business to make it easy to support good causes – at no cost to you.”

  1. Lilo

Lilo currently have has over 4.1 million searches and have raised £3.6 million for charity.  They have numerous projects on-going including Arutam Zéro Déforestation a deforestation and global warming project that also protects indigenous forests in the Amazon.  To date the project has raised over €100,000.

Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is its waterdrop system. Every search provides its users with a waterdrop, and every waterdrop can be assigned to a charity of your choice to help to fund them.

Now you have discovered an alternative to the traditional search engine and a search engine that gives back to the environment and communities.

Value Match embed social value into our daily lives and continue to explore ways to improve and expand on how we create social value.  We offer workshops and online training to help organisations improve their capability to successfully meet social value requirements and improve their application, discover more here.

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News

Value Match is celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week 10/May – 16/May

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This year the theme is Nature and how connecting with the natural world can support good mental health.

Monday 10 May 2021: Today marks the launch of Mental Health Awareness Week, the UK’s national week to raise awareness of mental health.  

The week, which is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, is in its 21st year and runs from 10-16 May.

Across the country, people will be celebrating the mental health benefits of being around nature in their local community in a range of digital and creative ways.  As a remote based business, Value Match will continue connecting with our colleagues more over, we will

  • Mental Health Training as part of our Workplace Wellbeing course provided by Me Learning
  • Encourage going for a walk for 30 minutes a day
  • Our calls this week will include the backgrounds provided by mentalhealth.org.uk during the Mental Health Awareness Week.

Alex our Procurement Resourcing Consultant talks about her mental health experience:

“I have had GPD (Generalised Panic Disorder), PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and depression for about 20 years now.  Whilst I receive help with medication and therapy, I’ve also found being outdoors to be really helpful.  Nature, to me, is so important to my recovery because it gets me out of the house and helps with my physical health and is a great way to relieve my anxiety and lift my mood and during lockdown, and has helped me feel connected to something.

I’m really lucky to live on the doorstep of a forest and lake and go for walks 4 times a week.

Over the last year I have reduced my anxiety by watching the cygnets grow and the tadpoles turn to frogs.  I’ve even enjoyed sitting and watching people with their dogs, running into the water and making friends with the other dogs and hunting for “fairy” houses that locals have built and put into the trees in the forest.

My anxiety can turn to agoraphobia (the fear of leaving the house) and when this happens, I like to look out my back door and onto my garden.  This overlooks a horse’s field with some very friendly horses in who occasionally look for a little garden snack.

Ways in which nature can help you, can be found on the MIND website.

From their ideas I’ve decided to grow a vegetable patch in my back garden to really help me commit to getting out of the house and enjoying the outdoors.”

Mark Rowland Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation said: “Mental Health Awareness Week has grown to be one of the biggest awareness weeks in the UK. This year the theme is on nature and its central role for our mental health.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, millions of us turned to nature to help us get through lockdowns and our research shows that good mental health depends on us being able to connect with nature in some way and its power in both prevention of and recovery from poor mental health.

“During the week, we want to hear millions of people’s stories about how the natural world has supported their mental health.

“We also want to highlight the huge disparities between who is and who isn’t able to access nature. We want the week to explore how everyone across the UK can connect with nature and experience the mental health benefits wherever they live.”

Some of the ways people can participate in Mental Health Awareness Week:

  • During Mental Health Awareness Week, why not try to make a habit each day of connecting to the nature in your local area? Stop to listen to the birdsong, smell the freshly cut grass, take care of a house plant, notice any trees, flowers or animals nearby. Take a moment to appreciate these connections.
  • Share images/videos/or just sound recordings of the nature on your doorstep (and how this made you feel) on social media using #ConnectWithNature and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
  •   Use Mental Health Foundation resources in your family, school, workplace and community to join with thousands of people who will be finding new ways to connect with nature in their local environment.

For more information about this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week visit mentalhealth.org.uk/mhaw or join the conversation on social media using #ConnectWithNature and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

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News

Examples of Creating Social Value

Social Value
Social Value
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Central government contracts require Social Value requirements weighted at a minimum 10% of the total award criteria used.  This means that businesses looking to bid into central government are required to demonstrate Social Value. Social Value is described by Social Value UK as ‘the quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives’.  So for procurement this means that social value is created by the positive changes brought about by the contracts we agree on. At Value Match we use a unique Socially Purposed Procurement Cycle, which places social value at the heart of every stage of the procurement process. We start by focusing on creating social value that is integral, in other words, most relevant, to the nature of the goods, services and works to be procured.  Consultation is key to understanding and analysing the needs of the organisation and stakeholders, as well as the capabilities and capacity of suppliers to provide the social value sought. The procurement should be designed, conducted and benefits managed with social value creation emphasised in every aspect of the process. As the way that the process is conducted can create (and destroy) social value: we can make a positive change in people’s lives by the way that we work, not just by how we define what we need as a buyer or what we can provide as a supplier. At Value Match we see social value as capable of being created through a definition of 6 values: Responsible Action: Ethical purpose enacted via accountable and transparent management and leadership. Value People: How we respect, care for, and protect employees, consumers, workers within the supply chain and people in wider society. Sustainable Prosperity: Thriving individuals and organisations driven by the creation of training, employment and commercial opportunities. Value the Environment: How we can protect and enhance our natural world.https://www.high-endrolex.com/12 Value Community: Providing support for communities of place and thought. Value Relationships: The making of successful relationships with furtherance of mutual interests and collaborative working. Most notably, our 6 Values further define the traditional social, economic and environmental pillars of social value to emphasise the importance of taking responsible action and developing relationships.  Both of which are fundamental to carrying out procurements and bidding successfully for contracts. Our 60-minute course provides a fresh and innovative perspective on how you can create wider benefits for society and move to a net zero economy, by the way that you procure and bid for contracts.  Not just by how you define what you need or supply.  Discover more. Our 6 Values message is spread by our charitably purposed organisation: Value Match Foundation.
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Bid Management News

Roles and Responsibilities of a Bid Team

Bid Management & Tendering
Bid Management & Tendering
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Value Match
Bid Management

Find out more

 

Any organisation serious about winning tenders needs to understand the importance of having a carefully assembled bid team.  Having a successful bid team will place your organisation in the strongest position when it comes to retaining customers and securing business.  Creating a bid team and working out a clear bidding strategy avoids the responsibility to pull the various aspects of the bid together being left solely to one individual.

Inside all organisations it is critical to have an understanding of what exactly the bid team need to deliver, as the bid management process will bring together all the key stakeholders.

 

Who should be in the bid team?

The bid team needs to be assembled with the specific bid in mind and the members of the team should bring something unique to the bid.  Each bid team doesn’t necessarily have to follow the same structure, as bids can often be specialist or in very different fields.

This is a typical Bid Team:

Bid Manager: The Bid Manager will act essentially as project manager and is responsible for end-to-end process; they have numerous roles and responsibilities when it comes the smooth running of the bid process.  They will choose the core team, informing the team on their understanding of the bid and when the deadline is.  The Bid Manger is also granted access to previous bids, case studies and is expected to gather any certificates or insurance documents.

Core Team: The role of the core team are to ensure the evaluation of the tender is completely understood.  They need to break down the requirements of the tender and to craft a response strategy.

Support: Often a mix of external and internal resources, it may be necessary to call on various teams around your organisation.  It is often one of the bid manager’s roles is to assemble the support.

Proof Reader/Copy Editor: Submitting a clear, concise and error free tender is often what can make or break the chances of winning a bid.  The copy editor brings a fresh pair of eyes to the tender and may spot errors that have been overlooked.  The proof reader will often add a professional polish to the bid which could make the difference between winning and losing.

 

The full stop on any successful and effective bid team is in the relationships between the team members and how the individuals work together.  The team always needs to be focused on creating solutions not problems, and this is where leadership and taking ownership of tasks is critical.

 

For further information, contact Lindsay Rosul

T: 07702 823 648
E: Lindsay.Rosul@value-match.co.uk

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News

What is Sustainable Procurement

Social Value
Social Value
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Discover our CPD accredited procurement and social value courses

Sustainable Procurement (green procurement) is the approach an organisation takes to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles into their procurement process and decision making.

Sustainable procurement goes a step further that traditional procurement, in that it considers the value to the buyer and the value to the wider community.  Sustainable Procurement also focuses on the environmental, economical and social impact the organisation has whilst keeping aligned with the price and quality.

Implementing Sustainable Procurement within your organisation integrates requirements, specifications and criteria that are consistent with environment and society.  It’s not just about reducing pollution and using sustainable practises.  It also takes into consideration the impact an organisation has on the economic development of the surrounding area, natural resources, greenhouse gases, climate change and overall environmental impact as well as social impact.

Why invest in Sustainable Procurement

Risk Reduction – There is always a degree of risk depending on the suppliers an organisation uses.  The relationship between your organisation and the supplier can have a financial impact on your brand value if the supplier engages in bad practises.

By adopting Sustainable Procurement, you must ensure your organisation only works with suppliers that are committed to the same principles as you.  This keeps your organisation within compliance with environmental regulations.

Cost Reduction – Saving money and reducing cost is a necessity for any organisation.  Through utilising Sustainable Procurement, you will be able to reduce the total cost of ownership through reduced energy costs, reduced consumption, reduced over specification, reduced environmental and social compliance costs.

Data from the World Economic forum shows sustainable procurement practises and can reduce procurement costs by 9 – 16%.

Revenue Growth – Sustainable procurement means that your will focus on giving back to society and the environment, this can bring additional revenue in a variety of ways e.g. utilising eco-friendly products and services.  Increased price for premium services and income from recycling projects.

The World Economic Forum found that through Sustainable Procurement practises provides business with a 15 – 30% measurable increase in brand equity which foster revenue growth.  According to a study from Oxford University 90% of studies on the cost of capital show companies who use sustainable standards lowers the costs of capital for companies.

Sustainable Procurement Benefits

Future Proofing – Once an organisation takes time to develop strategies and policies around sustainable procurement.  They are working to future proof themselves against potential issues in the supply chain, whilst having the opportunities to support emerging market.

Improved Risk Management – Using Sustainable Procurement can reduce the risks of environmental impact, adverse weather events, natural disasters.  This could have negative impacts on the supply chain.  Using suppliers that are focused on sustainable practises can reduce environmental risk.

Enhanced Customer Perception – If your customer enjoys what you’re doing, they will support your business and brand image.  This will bring more customers and revenue.

Reduced Overhead Costs – Through focusing on sustainability whenever possible, using energy-saving products and services will lower utility bills.

Competitive Advantage – If you competitors aren’t using sustainable procurement, you have the competitive advantage.  You will be saving money and reduce risk; it will also improve you customer perception and leaves you in a position to grow revenue and become an industry leader.

Create Markets for new Products and Services – Having a supplier that understands your company’s principles allows a relationship where the supplier can make suggestions on how to change products and services to improve your operations and accomplish goals.

Improved Regulatory Compliance – If you’re in an industry with strict environmental and social legislation or regulations, sustainable procurement has massive benefits to maintain compliance.

How to adopt Sustainable Procurement Practises

The first things that need to be is meet with stakeholders and agree upon the direction your business is going.  Once this has been established you need to develop strategies and polices. When making procurement decisions always keep in mind the future of the organisation before making any sourcing decisions.

When it comes to products and services you need to source, finding the right supplier is critical. You need to find someone who agrees with your new principles and policies.

Organisations in both public and private sector can benefit from sustainable procurement and sustainable supply chain.  These processes often take time to properly implement and see the benefits.

What are we doing to incorporate this in Value Match?

At Value Match we pride ourselves on the values we hold at the core of our organisation.  Two key values are community and environment, these are both hugely influenced by sustainable procurement and social value.

We have done numerous things to ensure we have a positive impact on the community and environment.  The first thing is our entire organisation is carbon net positive. We did this through a company called Carbon Footprint.  We calculated the amount of carbon we were producing, and Carbon Footprint offset it.

Value Match are also heavily involved in a non-profit charity called Kiva. This charity allows organisations to lend money to people in areas where it is hard to gain access to a loan from the bank.  These loans are often given to women as they are in countries that don’t see them are equal to men. It gives the people the chance to invest the money and start their own business to repay the loan.

Value Match have also recently been working with an organisation called Circular Computing which will replace laptops and offset all the carbon the laptop will be produced.  This is a new and exciting way of replacing older laptops making sure it is also efficient.

These are a few ways in which Value Match are taking steps towards sustainable procurement for more tips and advice visit our library. 

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News

Covid-19 effect on climate change

Social Value
Social Value
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On December 2019, The World Health Organisation was notified of a breakout of coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, China.  Since then, the world has drastically changed, flights are grounded, the hospitality industry shut down and factories closed. All this has caused the global carbon-dioxide emissions to fall to levels not seen since 2006.

Before the pandemic, scientists expected there to be little to no change in emissions during 2020/21.  However, on April 7th 2020 global CO₂ emissions were 17% lower compared to the same time last year.

An optimistic view of the decrease of CO₂ emissions would be “it’s possible to reduce emissions. That’s just not the way that we want to do it” said Glen Peters, research director of the Centre for International Climate Research in Oslo.

However, a more realistic view, assuming a return to pre-pandemic levels of employment by 2035, a study has found that COVID-19 produces a steep 8.2% reduction in global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, but this will drop to just 2% reduction in 2035.

In the long term, the COVID-19 pandemic has left us all with a lesson and chance for environmental action.  We now have a baseline of what can be achieved digitally: remote work, education, shopping, and lack of travel.  Thanks to the outbreak, some habits that are incidentally beneficial to the environment may last, since people will have experienced scarcity- for example, the reduction of travel, personal consumption, and food waste.

At Value Match we are an carbon net zero organisation, we offset all the carbon produce as a business.  One of our core values is the Environment and we believe in enhancing our environment through the way we operate, championing environmental best practices and delivery through our service lines.  Discover how we embed our values here.

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News

Embedding Social Value in your Business

Social Value
Social Value
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Traditionally, profit has always been at the forefront and driving force of organisations, however, in the last decade there has been a change in our understanding of what value both private and public sector organisations should be offering.  This shift in perspective initially came from the Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012).  The act aims to provide procurement professionals freedom to establish the types of value their procurements will provide benefit to for their local community.  Which in turn, initiated a shift in perspective for private organisations bidding into the public sector, meaning they had to place a bigger emphasis on how to drive social value through their offer.

Bidding into the public sector and specifically central government requires organisations to demonstrate social value, with a minimum weighting of 10% being applied to social value as part of bids, it’s even more important than ever to factor in social value to win business.

Take the time to understand your organisation values and identify the most appropriate actions you can take that support you purpose and add value to everything that you do.

Here are some ways in which you can embed social value within your organisation.

  1. Start simple, changing your organisation attitude to social value isn’t an overnight process. Start small and build, begin with recycling bins, have a walking / cycling initiative, or use public transport.
  2. Most corporate organisations have a ‘charity of the year’.  Asking your staff to choose a charity will normalise the concept of supporting local charities and schemes.
  3. Various employee initiatives such as lunchtime cycling, recycling projects or helping local communities.  If you ask your employee what they think is important to the local community it will help you embed yourselves into the surrounding community.
  4. Embedding social value into client’s contracts, as a organisation you should insist that partnering organisations should also practise social value.
  5. Practise what you preach, by leading from the top you set a standard that all you employees will follow.
  6. Finally ensure your partners and stakeholders also match your values. This is critical for your organisation to make a lasting impact on your local and global community.

At Value Match, our values run through everything we do. 

Value People: We value People for their uniqueness, capability, capacity for change and for what they do.

Value Relationships: We value Relationships that are built on integrity, mutual support, trust and a sense of purpose.

Sustainable Prosperity: We believe in creating sustainable prosperity through commercial interventions that supports responsible and inclusive growth for both individuals and organisations.

Value the Environment: We believe in enhancing our Environment through the way we operate, championing environmental best practices and delivery through our service lines.

We use these values as a base line to embed social value in everything that we practice at Value Match this is how we demonstrate value:

  • The Value Match Foundation seeks to promote and support organisations to increase their financial sustainability through commercial activity, providing professional advice, resources, and training.
  • Contract for Change is a voluntary programme seeking to embed social value principles and enhance environmental outcomes.  They support organisations in developing their procurement strategies, policies, and operating practices.  Value Match have used our experience in the procurement field to aid Contract for change along with resources.
  • Kiva is not for profit organisation that helps bring loans to places where people are incapable of borrowing money.  Value Match have chosen to support women owned business to promote equal opportunity.  To date we have loaned £7500.
  • We have worked with Carbon Footprint to offset our carbon emissions, making Value Match carbon net positive.

To discover more ways that we embed social value in our organisation click here.

Learn how you can add social value to your organisation and bids to win more business with our social value courses, find out more here.

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News Resourcing

Changes to off-payroll working rules (IR35)

IR35
IR35
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From 6th April 2021, changes to off-payroll working rules come into place, and the way contractors pay tax may change, depending on your client.  Please use the attached Factsheet for Contractors document to find out more information.

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News

Welcoming Alex Moses to the Value Match team

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We are very excited to announce Alex Moses to the team as Procurement Resourcing Consultant. Alex first found her interest in Procurement whilst working in the IT department of a large construction company.  Alex decided to move to the North West to progress her career and expand her horizons. There, Alex contracted at various public and private sector organisations as a Procurement Manager, Buyer and Business Analyst.

During the pandemic, Alex moved back to the North East to begin a HE Access to Business course to pursue a degree in Business and Economics and find a career that not only aligned with her ethics of helping people but would further provide an opportunity to develop and grow within her career.

Alex will be looking to match talent with opportunity by ensuring we understand both our customers and candidates values and needs to increase success.