The public procurement landscape is changing and, in an industry where public sector contracts represent nearly 28% of the market, and project tenders are worth approximately £23 billion to contractors and subcontractors alike, understanding these changes is not only good practice but an essential for business survival across the construction sector.
MEAT to MAT
The introduction of the Procurement Act in 2024 signalled a clear move away from the traditional ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tender’ (MEAT) approach to public sector tendering. In its place, a new approach focuses on delivering the ‘Most Advantageous Tender’ (MAT), emphasising broader value creation beyond immediate price considerations.
While cost competitiveness remains important, public procurers now have the freedom to evaluate tenders based on a wider array of criteria that reflect a contract’s potential to benefit society more widely.
With ‘social value’ elements accounting for as much as 30-35% of the tender score, the move should represent good news for SMEs that may not previously have had the scale to compete with bigger players on price alone. Instead, those companies more closely embedded with their local communities – those with an enhanced understanding of their challenges and requirements – should be better placed to compete.
Interestingly, public procurers are now free to set their own criteria (within a given range) and the new scoring framework can be tailored to focus on both the range and quality of social value initiatives, not just their absolute size.
So how do you define social value?
At its core, social value covers the wider benefits of construction projects beyond their primary function. For example, when building a new hospital, these may include reducing the environmental impact of attending appointments, creating jobs for local people or minimising waste production.
Social value can be broadly divided into four key areas:
Environmental sustainability including reducing carbon footprints, mining waste and protecting natural resources;
Economic benefits, such as job creation, skills development and supporting local supply chains;
Social impact, including community facilities, improving accessibility, and addressing local training needs; and
Ethical governance, from ensuring safe and fair workplace practices to tackling diversity challenges and ensuring operational transparency.
Where companies pay their staff properly and ensure they have the right governance in place, such as anti-slavery and environmental policies, they are already well on the way to building a solid social value score. Volunteering schemes, apprenticeships and training opportunities, job creation and establishing local supply chains can all play a part too.
The next step
The next challenge lies not just in delivering these benefits but in effectively measuring and communicating them as part of the tender process.
As yet, there is no standardised system for measuring social value, so the onus currently falls on construction companies to record and quantify those sometimes intangible impacts, while retaining enough flexibility to tailor tender responses to individual requirements and weightings.
Localise
The first step is almost always to localise your approach. Clearly understanding the specific needs of the communities where you are delivering your projects and reflecting these in your value propositions is most likely to resonate with procurement teams. This might involve early engagement with local stakeholders, community consultations, or developing partnerships with regional organisations to strengthen supply chain links and understanding of local challenges.
Integrate
Secondly, integrate social value throughout your supply chain. Much like Net Zero reporting, the most compelling social value propositions extend beyond one organisation to encompass entire supply networks. Developing supplier codes of conduct, implementing social value criteria in your own procurement processes, and collaborating with suppliers on shared initiatives can significantly enhance your bid’s appeal while reducing the administrative burden and reducing document duplication.
Review
Next, review existing measurement tools, such as the national Themes, Outcomes, Measures (TOMS) framework or National Social Value Standard to develop your own, structured approach to measurement. While there are several commercial bodies seeking to own this space, there is no standardisation of structure or scoring between public procurers at present. Reviewing how these platforms are structured can highlight key areas of information or new approaches you may not have thought of, creating a sound foundation from which to build your own, construction- , company- or project-focused approach.
Develop
Finally, for companies looking to grow their public sector presence, investing in developing social value expertise in-house may be the most cost-effective route to make the most of this new procurement landscape. Depending on the size of the company, this could mean creating a dedicated team, providing training for key individuals, or developing a new, system-led approach that makes recording elements of social value a key part of everyone’s role. Whichever route you choose, the aim is to make it quicker and easier for tender teams to pull together information on a case-by-case basis.
Tech developments are already emerging to help with this challenge, with virtual and real-world networking platforms connecting contractors with potential partners who can enhance social value offerings, such as community projects, apprentice schemes and training providers, and local suppliers. Dedicated software solutions – such as social impact data portals – are also streamlining the process of measuring, documenting, and reporting social impact.
Beyond the bottom line: the MEAT to MAT transition
The transition from MEAT to MAT represents more than a technical adjustment to procurement rules. It signals a renewed focus on the wider impact construction projects can have on the communities they serve. For forward-thinking businesses, this represents an opportunity to distinguish themselves not just on price and technical capability, but also on their broader contribution to society.
Over the coming years, the most successful contractors are likely to be those who recognise that delivering social value isn’t just about winning tenders—it is about building sustainable businesses that create meaningful impact beyond the bottom line.