OCO Connect : Delivering impactful social value

OCO Connect is a CIC that grew out of M&E contractors OCO Limited.  They are about to celebrate their first year, and they have a lot to celebrate.

Like many suppliers and contractors, when the Social Value Procurement Act 2023 came in, Tony Leedon of OCO Ltd wasn’t sure of the best way to fulfil their social value requirements. He had ideas about the kinds of projects he wanted to be involved in, and frustrations about how social value has traditionally been delivered. Knowing there must be a better way, he started talking to people.

He met Adam Matich, who’s background in the voluntary sector – working with charities and social enterprise – left him well placed to answer Tony’s questions. Together, as OCO Connect, they have focused on three areas – working on community buildings, engaging with health and wellbeing and giving training to young people in order to better deliver their social value commitments: with impact and with purpose.

Making Connections

OCO Ltd is a family business that employs 150-200 electrical and heating engineers in the Southeast.

Talking to their networks of friends, peers and subcontractors, what Tony and Adam quickly found is that the willingness to fulfil the social value requirements is there, but knowing how to go about that was harder.

Through Adam’s previous connections, Adam and Tony reached out to the Community Benefit Societies within London Boroughs in which they are working. These CBS property managers have links to a lot of charities and social enterprises, and were happy to facilitate warm introductions to OCO Connect.

The idea has really gained traction. OCO Connect now has 140 active companies in their supply chain, all of whom also have their own network of community organisations that need help.

Tony explains: “People from other companies started to ask what we were doing. Because of the procurement act, companies are accountable, they know that there are financial implications. And companies want to do good in the communities they are working in. People are showing interest, because they don’t know how to do it!”  

The Mayor of Southwark challenged OCO Connect to host a meeting at the Council Offices to share what they have done, and what they want to do. After a ring around of local contacts, 40 -50 people, from major players like Worcester Bosch to family scaffolding firms, came together because they wanted to get involved.

One of OCO Connect’s first projects had been working with TLS  a CIC working to create a boxing gym designed to help underprivileged youth and give children a safe space off the streets. At the event, the owner told his story, as an example of how meaningful help can be.

“Richard – the owner – had taken on a derelict community building in Lambeth. It had been flooded, the electrics were shot. He’d put in his own money – £30,000 which was going to be the deposit on his house – and it didn’t touch the sides. Powerday were supporting them to complete the project, but as they were due to open, the electrics failed. This is where we [OCO Connect] got involved. We were able to sort out the electrics – with help from materials donated by Moss Electricals –  making sure it met building regulations. Finally, it was able to open, fulfilling Richard’s dream! “

Richard was so grateful to OCO Connect for stepping in to get the project over the line, that he presented them with a trophy!  “He was so emotional, everyone just got on board!”

Social value isn’t just about the money – it’s about helping people and putting the infrastructure in to help them help others. It matters – that is the key factor. What OCO Connect does is provide a way in, for the contractors to meet the community groups.

Following the meeting, OCO Connect ended up with a lot of projects and a lot of contractors. This became the Social Value Consortium.

The Social Value Consortium

How does it work?

The seed money for OCO Connect came from OCO Ltd. OCO Connect works as the contractor on community projects – fulfilling OCO Ltd’s social value requirements (and more!).

Because they are a not-for-profit enterprise, they are able to work at lower rates than commercial operations. In addition, they fundraise through grant applications to stretch budgets further. Any surplus goes to OCO Connect – enabling it to be self-supporting and provide a fund that can then be put into smaller projects that have little or no funds.

Collaborating at The Remakery

At Collective Works, we’re working with OCO Connect at The Remakery. The building is a former carpark, so to make it fit for purpose as a workspace, workshop and community café has required the building to be upgraded. In this first phase of work with OCO Connect, together we are insulating the spaces, and adding full heating and ventilation.

By making it more comfortable and more energy efficient, this retrofit will make the building more sustainable long term – attracting more coworkers, more workshop participants, more startups, as well as having lower energy bills.

Having initially tendered the job out to non-consortium contractors, the work would have been unaffordable for The Remakery.  Retendering it through the consortium, and by using OCO Ltd engineers, the final cost was half that originally quoted.

A second phase will continue the work, embracing The Remakery’s mission of education and experimentation around circular economy, reuse and environmental technologies.

Ongoing relationships

All Kids Can linked OCO Connect up with a ‘virtual school’ that needed to convert a church hall in Greenwich for alternative education provision for kids not in mainstream education.

OCO have funded – through surplus from other jobs – and carried out work, to make changes to the hall to make it secure, install storage facilities and convert a stage to a classroom. Here small group teaching and one to one mentoring help children to receive an education that works for them.

They have an ongoing relationship, Tony’s football team will be helping to repaint the walls this summer, and keep on top of weeding and fence repair in their outdoor space. Communities matter.

Turning engineers into community development workers

In Southwark, OCO Connect have seen an opportunity to deploy their engineers as front-line workers delivering meaningful social value as part of their everyday work.

Trade professionals visit thousands of homes each year. Many of these homes are in areas of social and economic hardship. During their visits, engineers may encounter the early warning signs of food, fuel or digital poverty, unsafe home environments, or residents showing signs of isolation or vulnerability.  In response to this, OCO Connect has developed a bespoke training programme, to equip engineers with the knowledge, and the confidence, to respond to signs of vulnerability in the homes they visit.  They are trained to engage with at risk tenants in a respectful and informed way.  This is coupled with a referral pathway, allowing the engineers to connect individuals directly to support services ranging from emergency food and fuel to mental health, wellbeing and tenancy related assistance.

What’s next?

From not knowing how to deliver on their social value requirements, OCO Connect has delivered over 20 projects in the past year, with another 20 in progress. These projects are varied, and require different skills and inputs. What they are seeing, is that this collaborative approach has more value than individual companies trying to go it alone, as OCO Connect are able to match the right companies with the right opportunities.  Whereas social value can sometimes be tagged onto projects as an afterthought, or a tokenistic gesture, OCO Connect is helping to deliver real value in its communities. They are using their trusted network to make connections that matter. Because everyone comes with a personal recommendation, community groups can feel confident about working with them. In return companies can put money back into the communities that have made them successful.

The team is just three people – Adam, Tony and Nina – who also does business development for OCO Ltd, working as a subsidiary of medium sized company. If every major contractor had the vision of this tiny team, the social impact would touch every neighbourhood in the country, and the lives of thousands of people.

Adam – “ We need to get it out there – we want to change the whole way the country does things!”

For more information about, or to collaborate with OCO Connect, contact the team on connect@ocoltd.co.uk.