How to Organise an Event with Social Value UK

How to Organise an Event with Social Value UK

Posted 26th June 2019

Nici Jupp of Talent Gateway and Jan Rogers of Esetu, both Social Value UK members have written this blog on why they wanted to host an event with Social Value UK, and how they managed to do this with support of the SVUK team.

Nici Jupp and Hannah Marsh (Talent Gateway) and Jan Rogers (Esetu) organised ‘Business Trends 2020 – How companies are using purpose and culture as growth drivers‘ on Tuesday 21st May 2019. The event was a massive success and will hopefully be leading onto more Social Value UK Regional Meetings in the area.


Nici Jupp, Talent Gateway:

As a social value pioneer, we were keen to meet with other members and share knowledge as we started our social value journey.  The Social Value Conference in November 2018 was a fantastic opportunity to connect with other like-minded individuals, particularly those in our local area of Surrey.  This sparked a conversation with Social Value UK about a regional event and they connected me to another local businesswomen, Jan Rogers of ESETU.

Whilst we can easily associate with phrases such as ‘social value’ and ‘social impact’, we wanted the event to appeal to businesses that were not already thinking in this way.  Collectively we made the conscious decision to avoid reference to social value in the title, to draw businesses in and show them that concepts such as purpose and culture make good business sense.

The team at Social Value UK were fantastic throughout – supporting with marketing, ticket sales and administration.  Having Social Value backing the event added weight and helped us to reach a much larger audience. It was brilliant to have Ben Carpenter speaking at the end of the event to bring It all together and link with the principles of SV UK, discussing accountability and measurement.

We were delighted with the turn out for the event and enthusiasm from speakers and attendees.  Thanks go to all the speakers including R. Michael Anderson, Technology Leadership Insider, Sarah Fraser, Head of the Willmott Dixon Foundation and Ben Carpenter, CEO of Social Value UK.  The event was kindly sponsored by Andy Tillbrook, Managing Director of Robert Denholm House.


Jan Rogers, Esetu:

I was excited when I first found out about Social Value UK, who also thought that businesses had a significant part to play in “spreading the word” about the Business Case for Social Value. Speaking to Becca made me join!

I’d been inspired originally by attending “We Are Surrey” conference, meeting Richard from Willmott Dixon & Susan from Unity Trust Bank. Then finding others at networking events who were really enthusiastic about “Business Doing Good” but not sure what it really meant or what they could do.

Once Nici & I had been introduced, the idea of a “Business Case for Social Value” regional event really took off.

So many local contacts, business networking groups & local authorities picked up the idea & helped us promote the event which helped with the “credibility” of the Business Trends tagline. Having Social Value UK supporting us was fantastic & again added weight & credibly to the event.

The greatest outcome was the way that everyone worked together to make the event possible & the enthusiasm for the whole idea of “Social Value”.


Thank you to both Nici and Jan for taking the time to pen this piece. If you’re an SVUK member who would like to host a meeting or event, please get in touch with Becca.

Take a look at some of the upcoming regional meetings and events we’re hosting here.