Social Enterprise UK yesterday launched a challenge which aimed to encourage high profile businesses to spend £1bn with social enterprises by 2020.

The challenge was launched yesterday at a reception held at 11 Downing Street, to mark the start of Responsible Business Week. It is part of a partnership, led by Social Enterprise UK in partnership with the Cabinet Office and Business in the Community.

Speaking at the launch, minister for civil society Rob Wilson said: “This isn’t about asking businesses to spend more, but to spend in smarter ways to improve their core businesses.”

He encouraged big businesses to join the challenge, and called on social enterprises to show how they can deliver “comparable or better services at fair costs to corporate clients, making a difference to communities up and down the country”.

Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK, said: “The vast social impact you will achieve on this journey isn’t just the reward, and in the majority of cases buying from a social enterprise doesn’t actually cost you more. But those decisions can transform people’s lives."

He added: “Procurement officers and commissioners are the new superheroes. With their spending power lives can be transformed and our country can be transformed.”

Partners already signed up to the challenge are Interserve, Johnson & Johnson, PwC, RBS Group, Santander, Wates, and Zurich. SEUK wants to encourage even more businesses to sign up.

Support for the partners will include training for their procurement teams on how to source and buy from social enterprises, and advantages of doing so. They will also receive advice on measuring the impact of their spend with social enterprises, and how to use the data in sustainability reporting and bid writing.

More information on the campaign can be found here.