One of the key challenges faced by the borough of Islington in North London lies in its distribution of wealth. It is an area where families living in deep poverty exist side by side with those working in the area’s global economic clusters. This has led Islington Council to prioritise the development of a fairer, more inclusive borough.

Part of this commitment has seen the council look more closely at the cost of starting your own business, noting in 2020 that the average cost of a desk in Islington was £375 per month, compared to £220 in nearby Bethnal Green. This priced smaller businesses out of the area, leading to lost local talent, spend and opportunities.

Using planning powers to level the playing field

As a result, the council developed a pioneering strategy intended to create new workspaces that would be genuinely accessible and affordable for local businesses and organisations.

Called the Affordable Workspace Programme, Islington Council’s new Local Plan requires developers looking to build commercial space in the area to provide the council with 10% of constructed office space as affordable workspace at a peppercorn rent for a minimum of 20 years. The council would then commission a workspace operator to manage the co-working space, without taking a commercial income.

Islington Council was the first in the UK to lock social value into the operation of these affordable workspaces. In lieu of rent, the innovative leases set out requirements for the workspace operators to deliver social value by providing vital start-up opportunities to local people alongside the expert business support and networking opportunities they need to thrive.

Working with Social Value Portal, Islington Council identified five key areas of social value to prioritise, assessing each tender in terms of how it would lock in local wealth and prosperity for everyone’s benefit through:

? Jobs: Promoting Local Skills and Employment

? Growth: Supporting Inclusive Growth of Local Businesses

? Social: Supporting Healthier, Safer and more Resilient Communities

? Environment: Helping to achieve Net Zero Carbon and Other Innovation

? Equalities, diversity and inclusion: The key focus across the whole programme. The social value delivered must contribute significantly to the council’s ambition for a more equal borough, for example, by providing targeted support for those who are underrepresented in certain business sectors, particularly women and people from Black or minority ethnic backgrounds.

The tenders are assessed in terms of whether a successful bidder can deliver at least as much in social value as the council would have gained financially through a commercial lease.

What £1.24m of social value actually looks like

Despite the pandemic, three affordable workspaces launched between March 2020 and April 2022; Space 4, a tech for good coworking space, Fashion Enter, a manufacturing space for local people in fashion and garments and Better Space, an incubator for social enterprises and social impact businesses.

In that time, these three organisations delivered significant added value to the borough, specifically: 11 jobs for local people; 28 apprenticeships; almost 400 weeks of training; and, nearly 1,000 weeks of work experience placements. In addition, the operators delivered almost 8,000 hours of career support sessions, which alone equates to £554,114 in social value.

Cllr Santiago Bell-Bradford, executive member for Inclusive Economy and Jobs, said: ‘Our workspaces have only been open a short time and are already proving to be life changing for the many residents with great ideas and ambition, who may have lacked the physical space, the practical support, the networks or the funds to take advantage of the opportunities on their doorstep.

‘This approach is already helping some of the most excluded members of our community and is key to our vision of creating a more equal borough where everyone can reach their potential, whatever their background.’

Caroline Wilson, director of Inclusive Economy and Jobs, added: ‘Social Value Portal has been a great partner, collaborating with the team to provide inspiration and the tools to measure and report the scheme’s progress. The headline figure of over £1m social value is a real tribute to our operators who are delivering impact for our local residents and businesses.’

The Affordable Workspace Programme continues, with Islington Council nurturing a pipeline of affordable workspaces across the borough as well as extending the use of underused council assets such as garages to provide further affordable workspace.

The example set by Islington Council demonstrates the crucial role social value has to play in building stronger, more resilient communities which, in return, build a stronger, more resilient workforce. Supporting the more disadvantaged in society is becoming increasingly critical as the triple challenges of climate, energy and cost of living continues to bite.

Guy Battle is CEO at Social Value Portal.