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Constellia appoints Darren Knowd as Social Value Csar

constellia | Procurement, empowered

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Constellia appoints Darren Knowd as Social Value Csar

18th December 2023 – Constellia, a leading UK procurement Managed Service Provider for the public and private sector, is pleased to announce the appointment of Darren Knowd as its new Social Value Csar.

As Social Value Csar, Darren Knowd will be pivotal in guiding Constellia’s efforts to integrate social value into every aspect of its procurement services. His wealth of experience and expertise in social impact initiatives will further strengthen Constellia’s ability to help clients and suppliers make meaningful contributions to their communities while achieving their procurement objectives.

In this newly created role, Darren will advise on all aspects of social value to ensure Constellia and their clients can achieve the best possible social, economic, and environmental outcomes via procurement projects.

Darren Knowd brings over 30 years of procurement experience working across both the private and public sectors, including his most recent role as Head of Procurement, Commercial Sales, and Business Services at Durham County Council. Darren has also led procurement and social value at the national level as the Chair of the LGA National Advisory Group for Procurement and Chair of the National Social Value Task Force. Furthermore, he has contributed to the development of procurement policy and legislation, including the Procurement Act 2023.

Rob Levene, CEO of Constellia, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Darren to Constellia as our Social Value Csar. His appointment aligns perfectly with our mission to make the world a better place through procurement. Under Darren’s leadership and wealth of social value and procurement expertise, we believe that Constellia will continue to set the standard in promoting social value and responsible procurement practices.”

Darren Knowd commented: “In 2023, Social Value is a real necessity; it’s no longer just a choice; we must all do our best to maximise the value of every pound to deliver social, economic, and environmental outcomes and the new Procurement Act will create opportunities to be innovative. To be asked to be the Social Value Csar at Constellia who, a fast-developing company are and have a most unique procurement service offer for goods, works and services, is really exciting – I can’t wait to get involved in January 2024.”

Constellia has been at the forefront of social value initiatives in the procurement industry. Its recent partnership with whatimpact.com, a leading UK social value matchmaker, has further facilitated integration into procurement processes, making it easier for clients and suppliers to meet their social value requirements.

Constellia continues to lead in its commitment to harnessing positive change through procurement. Darren Knowd’s appointment reaffirms the company’s dedication to this vision, continuing its commitment to helping clients and suppliers deliver social value responsibly. This is in addition to other recent initiatives such as the launch of a strategic partnership with whatimpact.com, a leading UK social value matchmaker, and the nomination of Spread a Smile as their 2024 charity of the year, pledging their support to an amazing charity that brings precious moments of joy to seriously ill children, teenagers, and their families.

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Constellia announces Spread a Smile as nominated charity of the year for 2024

constellia | Procurement, empowered

Constellia announces Spread a Smile as nominated charity of the year for 2024

5th December 2023 – Constellia, a leading procurement Managed Service Provider for the public and private sector in the UK, is delighted to announce its partnership with Spread a Smile, a charity dedicated to bringing joy and happiness to seriously ill children and teenagers during long hospital stays.onstellia, a leading Neutral Vendor Managed Service Provider has partnered with Pro Commercial Solutions (PCS) to help support the strategic delivery of its Neutral Vendor (NV) solution across central government, Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) and certain private sector organisations.

As a procurement partner to the NHS and the wider public sector, Constellia understands the enormous pressures the NHS faces daily when it comes to time and resources to deliver lifesaving work. By choosing Spread a Smile as its nominated charity of the year for 2024, Constellia hopes it can, in some small way, contribute to this amazing charity that brings precious moments of joy to seriously ill children, teenagers and their families.

This Partnership Includes:

  • Volunteering days at Spread a Smile
  • Financial contributions to the charity
  • Providing Spread a Smile a platform to showcase their work to Constellia’s dynamic marketplace of suppliers and clients.

To kick off this partnership, Constellia’s team joined forces with Spread a Smile and their social value partners at whatimpact.com for a heartwarming day of packing “Smile Hampers.” These hampers, filled with handpicked gifts and treats, are intended for the homes of some of the incredible children and young people supported by Spread a Smile, as well as their siblings. This collaborative effort was part of Spread a Smile’s annual campaign, which this year saw 1,450 boxes sent out to the families they support. The campaign achieved remarkable success, with the joint efforts of 530 volunteers from all over the UK.

Rob Levene, CEO of Constellia, commented, “At Constellia, we are passionate about making a positive social impact and Spread a Smile’s incredible work aligns perfectly with our values. We are honoured to support them as our nominated charity of the year and look forward to contributing to their mission of bringing smiles to children and teenagers facing challenging times.”

Lucy Jackson, CEO of Spread a Smile, commented, “We are thrilled to have Constellia as a charity partner. Their commitment to helping children and young people facing illness is heartwarming, and their support will enable us to continue bringing happiness and laughter to those who need it most.”

Constellia remains committed to its vision of delivering exceptional value to clients and communities alike, and the partnership with Spread a Smile is one of many initiatives it’s embarking on to drive social value in the public sector.

To learn more about this partnership, please contact us on info@constellia.com or call on 0330 320 8020.

about constellia

Established in 2007, Constellia is a leading Neutral Managed Service Provider for Professional Services, Technology, Goods and Works, managing over £200 million of spend across 150+ public and private sector organisations.

We act as a conduit between contracting authorities and prequalified suppliers, providing an efficient and compliant route to market. Our diverse and dynamic marketplace has over 1,800 pre-approved suppliers, providing clients access to 400+ subcategories of spend.

We provide clients the flexibility and choice to buy through one simple route quickly and compliantly, helping drive efficiencies and savings.

about spread a smile

Spread a Smile, founded in 2013, is a UK-based charity dedicated to bringing joy and hope to seriously ill children in NHS hospitals, hospices and homes across the UK.

Through in-person and virtual visits, their renowned entertainers – from magicians to face painters, musicians to therapy dogs – generate moments of distraction and excitement, helping young patients and their families cope with the pain and anxiety of serious illness and hospitalisation.

Since its founding in 2013, Spread a Smile has established a reputation for developing bespoke relationships with each family and health setting, ensuring the delivery of meaningful and impactful support. In the upcoming year, Spread a Smile will deliver over 12,000 in-person bedside visits and more than 2,000 virtual visits in collaboration with 31 hospitals and four hospice partners. The charity aims to expand its network to include 38 partners within this year.

For more information on Spread a Smile, visit: www.spreadasmile.org

For more information on Spread a Smile’s announcement, visit: New partnership with Constellia

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Talk to us today via info@constellia.com or call 0330 320 8020.

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Constellia Partners with whatimpact.com

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Constellia partners with whatimpact.com to transform effectiveness and ease of delivering social value in procurement

  • Matching suppliers with VCSEs to deliver social value locally.
  • Helping suppliers win public sector contracts.

Constellia, a UK-leading Procurement Managed Service Provider, has today, 26th October, announced their new partnership with social value matchmakers and management platform whatimpact.com. This partnership is designed to maximise opportunities for suppliers to deliver tangible social value to public sector and utility clients.

With sustainability at the forefront of procurement regulations, ESG standards, and strategic CSR initiatives, the influence of social value is transforming procurement across the private and public sectors. The UK government’s commitment to scoring all tenders with a minimum 10% marking on social value has reshaped the procurement process, affecting businesses of all sizes serving the central government, local government, NHS, and the wider public sector. 

Thanks to this newly formed partnership, Constellia will make it easier for suppliers across their dynamic marketplace to deliver on social value requirements. This includes providing them access to dedicated on-demand social value expertise and project-based impact reporting via the whatimpact.com social value platform. Constellia suppliers will also benefit from discounted rates that will enable them to be matched with social value activities, proving their social value efforts to clients and supporting local community initiatives.

Whatimpact.com is a leading matchmaking platform connecting suppliers with local social value initiatives nationwide. It enables organisations, regardless of their size and experience in social value, to deliver contract-specific social value plans and validated impact reporting. Moreover, it facilitates integrating company volunteering programs with government contract requirements. Whatimpact.com is committed to grassroots action and advocates social and environmental expertise from charities and social enterprises.

Constellia’s CEO, Rob Levene, commented: “We have noticed an increase in demand from clients needing to find partners who can deliver on their social value commitments. Our neutral vendor solution gives our clients access to a dynamic and accredited marketplace of suppliers who can achieve this. For many public sector bodies, the need is not just for suppliers to commit to social value measures in a tender but also to ensure they deliver on those commitments. Our partnership with whatimpact.com will transform clients’ and suppliers’ ease and effectiveness in delivering on their contractual requirements.”

Tiia Sammallahti, CEO of whatimpact, highlights the government’s stance, emphasising that ethical, environmental, and socially sustainable work is key.

Tiia commented: “It is all about engaging with communities to deliver health, wellbeing, employment, environmental, and educational benefits through and during contract work. The connection between a company’s commercial success and its social value contribution has never been stronger, elevating social value to a strategic priority. We are honoured to partner with Constellia in harnessing the purchasing power of government for the betterment of society.”

To learn more about this unique opportunity, attend our webinar on 15th November with Rob Levene, CEO of Constellia and Tiia Sammallahti, CEO and Founder of whatimpact.com. Register here.

To learn more about this partnership, please contact us on info@constellia.com or call on 0330 320 8020.

about constellia

Established in 2007, Constellia is a leading Neutral Managed Service Provider for Professional Services, Technology, Goods and Works, managing over £200 million of spend across 150+ public and private sector organisations.

We act as a conduit between contracting authorities and prequalified suppliers, providing an efficient and compliant route to market. Our diverse and dynamic marketplace has over 1,800 pre-approved suppliers, providing clients access to 400+ subcategories of spend.

We provide clients the flexibility and choice to buy through one simple route quickly and compliantly, helping drive efficiencies and savings.

about whatimpact.com

Whatimpact.com is a social value management platform tailored for social value managers and teams engaged in social value management. The platform offers a unique workflow management tool for planning and reporting on social value delivery through collaborations with charities, social enterprises, and local initiatives across the UK. 

The company has earned recognition from the UK media for its active research work, white papers, and innovations in the social value field, with features on Sky News and BBC News.

To find out more about whatimpact.com, please visit: https://whatimpact.com

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Talk to us today to discover how we can help you with your social value via info@constellia.com or call 0330 320 8020.

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Constellia launches innovative solution set to revolutionise buying for schools

constellia | Procurement, empowered

Constellia news

Constellia partners with whatimpact.com to transform effectiveness and ease of delivering social value in procurement

  • Dedicated cross-category neutral vendor model and wrap-around service for schools
  • Schools Council created to inform and guide best practice procurement

Constellia, the leading procurement specialists, has today, 12th July, announced the launch of its procurement solution for schools – designed to help multi-academy trusts (MATs) reduce spend and risk by having access to an approved marketplace of suppliers. This will be aided by the Constellia Schools Procurement Council, which has been created to inform and guide best practice procurement in schools.

Constellia’s compliant neutral vendor model aims to address the hugely complex procurement landscape head-on, providing an effective service and the dedicated support that schools and academies badly need.

Constellia’s CEO, Rob Levene, said: ‘’We understand the importance and pressure schools face in delivering efficient, effective, and compliant procurement exercises. Over the past 12 months, we have adapted our tried and tested Neutral Vendor MSP solution to the specific needs of schools. We are truly excited to announce the launch of Constellia for Schools, giving schools confidence and control in everything they procure.”

Constellia for Schools has received endorsement from Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust (BWCET), the largest Catholic Trust in the North East of England, after successfully conducting a pilot in 2021. During the pilot, Constellia appointed local SMEs to deliver three IT infrastructure projects for the Trust that were unavailable on other frameworks. It is through this pilot that Constellia realised the potential of how its procurement model could transform procurement in schools and the need to create a dedicated procurement community for school leaders.

The Constellia Schools Council, which will be Chaired by Nick Hurn OBE, CEO of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, will aim to bring together CEOs and CFOs of MATs across the country to discuss and debate best practice for procurement in schools through in-person and digital events.

Hurn commented: ‘’I am delighted to Chair the Constellia Schools Procurement Council. We believe it will play a critical role in accelerating best practice procurement in MATs across the country with the ultimate aim of schools benefiting from rapid, efficient and cost-effective purchasing of goods, works and services. As a Trust, it is our mission to help our schools get the most value out of their available resources and enable them to meet the needs of their pupils and their families. By being part of a community, which drives best practices in procurement, we hope that other Trusts can realise the same outcomes.”

Key benefits of the Constellia neutral vendor model for Schools include:

  • Driving cost savings of up to 20%
  • Access to a pre-vetted marketplace of suppliers
  • On-demand procurement expertise to support with writing specifications, running competitions, evaluating proposals, and managing contracts
  • Increase control and visibility
  • Direct awards in up to five days and a mini competition in ten

Levene concluded: “Constellia have a long heritage in bringing together individuals to network and share best practice and ideas that deliver improved outcomes, such as our work with the Consultancy Procurement Council. We are delighted to extend this offering to schools and are confident that it, along with our neutral vendor model for schools, will make a real difference.”

For more information or to register your interest, email schools@constellia.com or call us on 0330 320 8020. Alternatively, visit our webpage here.

visit constellia for schools

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