Kier has linked up with social value specialists Thrive to launch a new calculator that aims to capture, track and demonstrate social value across the group.
The firm said the Thrive platform is aligned to its Building for a Sustainable World framework, supporting each of its 10 sustainability pillars, and its links to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
It added that although it has used its own in-house social value calculator since 2017, Thrive offers a more mature software platform and the Impact Evaluation Standard (IES) – a framework of metrics that cover over 109 different activities – which will enable it to continue to innovate and differentiate itself as a leader in the delivery of social value.
Group social sustainability manager Sheryl Moore said: ‘Building on the legacy of our existing calculator, we completed an in-depth appraisal of suppliers and concluded that Thrive was the best fit to capture our social value impact.
‘Thrive is the perfect partner to help us demonstrate our social legacy and drive the social value agenda. It has a unique combination of being user-friendly, having the ability to effortlessly capture data across both our business and throughout our supply chain, as well as provide robust and credible metrics and having the flexibility to support our various customer requirements.'
Thrive chief executive Neil Macdonald said: ‘The unique flexibility of our software complements Kier's broad requirements; easy data capture from site, configurable client reports, and a robust way of showcasing their corporate values and purpose. We are very excited to see the positive influence this partnership will have on the sector.'
Kier said the system will enable it to track the social value targets of each project, as well as provide a suite of environmental metrics and a range of corporate-wide reporting, and that this bespoke data capture will allow it to provide its clients and other stakeholders with crucial data on a project's social value impact and success.
It added that the Thrive platform will also allow it to capture the work its subcontractors do to support its projects.
Kier said it is working with Thrive to further enhance its measurement methodology to include additional cost-benefit analysis metrics and its work with social mobility organisations such as LM3 to monitor regional spend.
