Corporate spending with social enterprises has risen by 46% over the last year.

The findings have been revealed by Social Enterprise UK in its Buy Social Corporate Challenge initiative year nine report.

This shows that among 33 large firms, including Deloitte, Mitie and Siemens, supply chain spending among organisations with a social or environmental purpose has reached a record total for the initiative of £179m.

Since the initiative’s launch firms have been recorded as spending £656m with 2,100 social enterprise suppliers, creating nearly 6,000 jobs.

More than three in four firms involved said procuring from social enterprises “had brought innovation into their supplier base” and just under seven in ten said it had improved their environmental and sustainability supplier base.

Among social enterprises more than three in five said they had learned how to engage more effectively with corporates, and more than half had secured new contracts with other companies by having corporates in their client list.

“This isn’t just about doing good, it’s about doing good business,” said Social Enterprise UK chief executive Peter Holbrook.

“Social enterprises are delivering innovation, sustainability, and high-quality services to some of the UK’s most recognisable brands. We hope a government focused on growth will take note.

“As we get closer to our £1 billion target, we’re seeing proof that procurement can be one of the most powerful tools companies have to drive real social change.

“We’re calling on more corporates to explore how their procurement can drive lasting change and on social enterprises to seize the opportunity to grow through trade.”

Other large firms involved in the survey include PwC, Johnson & Johnson, Zurich and Wates.

Last year more than 1,100 social enterprises provided goods and services to corporate byers across projects covering issues such as education, skills, consultancy and employee wellbeing.

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