The Council and democracy Social value

Social value in action

For us, social value is something everyone can create. Whatever the size of team or project. We're keen to diversify our supply chain and to work with more local organisations.  

New Islington Free School

AE Yates Supports Manchester's Local Community.  They are committed to giving back to the neighborhoods of Manchester. Recently, they visited Year 5 students at New Islington Free School to share their passion for construction.

During the visit, students participated in fun activities, including:

  • Bridge Building with Lego: Kids learned about design and engineering while creating their own bridges.
  • Digger Simulation: Students got to experience driving a digger using a realistic motion simulator.

AE Yates believes in inspiring the next generation and fostering a love for construction in the community.


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North Manchester 

North Manchester is undergoing major changes in housing, health, transport and leisure. This created huge opportunities for inclusive growth. And to make the most of the benefits of social value.  

We worked with partners ­– such as the NHS and the Far East Consortium – to create a social benefits framework. It's a shared approach to social value used by everyone involved.  

The framework has five themes each with priority outcomes and targets. They are: 

  • Education, employment and skills  
  • Health and wellbeing 
  • Community resilience 
  • Digital inclusion 
  • Zero-carbon 2038 

To drive benefits to these areas, we created a North Manchester brokerage. It connects social value offers to local need. So far, it has: 

  • ensured all suppliers pay the Real Living Wage 
  • generated over 3,000 jobs (created, sustained or retained) 
  • secured 40% of jobs for local people (from Manchester, Salford, Bury, Oldham or Rochdale) 
  • provided work experience for people facing disadvantage (such as people leaving prison)
  • held events at schools and colleges to promote roles in construction  
  • committed over 3,000 volunteer hours to help local projects
  • organised donation drives and fundraising events for local charities. 
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