Multinationals join socially responsible supply chain drive

A new global social enterprise has launched, working with high-profile companies to further the positive social and environmental impact of supply chains. 

Telos aims to facilitate €5 billion of procurement spend on social economy businesses across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region by 2030, through its Buy Social Europe programme. 

This will involve engaging global companies to open up their supply chains to social economy businesses. 

The companies involved to date include AstraZeneca, CBRE, Johnson & Johnson, SAP, Siemens and Zurich Insurance Group. They are taking part in Buy Social Europe, to create opportunities for social economy businesses through their procurement operations.  

Telos aims to bring together a further 50 global corporations from a range of industries, with the goal of collectively achieving a total of €5 billion procurement spend with social economy organisations by 2030. 

According to Telos research, this level of investment will create 40,000 jobs, providing a significant boost to Europe’s growing social economy.  

There are an estimated 2.8 million social economy businesses across Europe – employing 13.6 million people and representing 8% of the EU’s GDP. 

Telos says that by buying more from them, companies can ensure their procurement spend “is invested into generating positive social and environmental outcomes”. 

Social economy businesses are legally constituted to be ‘impact first’, designed to create jobs and opportunities for deprived minority racial and social groups. 

Amy Brogan, ESG Global Executive Director at commercial property giant CBRE, said: “Partnering with social enterprises helps with engaging our people to drive our purpose-driven business approach. We started in the UK and we’ve seen great success and benefits, and we’re excited to replicate this across EMEA to raise awareness and show the true value to our clients and people.” 

J&J joins social enterprise initiative

Timo Worrall, Director Global Supplier Diversity and Inclusion at Johnson & Johnson said: “Partnering with Social Enterprises doing good in our communities aligns our values and accelerates our commitment to supplier diversity in Europe.  

“Building a community of like-minded companies through working with organisations like Telos also helps us to discover, certify and match social enterprises to our business needs and is critical to driving positive social impact through our procurement.” 

Marta Celdrán, Head of SCM West Europe & Africa at Siemens, said: “At Siemens we are advocates of sustainable and socially responsible business practices.

“As one of the heads of Siemens Supply Chain Management organisation in Europe, I totally support the Telos vision of achieving positive social and environmental impact through our supply chain activities.” 

Linda Freiner, Group Head of Sustainability at Zurich Insurance Group, said: “As a member of Buy Social Europe, we proudly support social enterprises that drive positive change and help to build a fairer society.”  

Telos is inviting forward-thinking companies to sign up to the initiative and unlock the potential for positive social and environmental impact within their supply chains.”