As a pioneering innovation to social value investment, modern methods of construction (MMC) experts Akerlof has formed a partnership with Social Profit Calculator, consultants Rider Levitt Bucknall, framework leaders Pagabo and the UK’s largest regional contractor Kier, to develop a social value calculator dedicated to MMC. The calculator enables the assessment and visualisation of social value to identify the holistic impact of construction, not just on site but at manufacturing locations through the supply chain.

MMC comes with significant social-economic benefits, but recent research has shown that just 7% of UK construction is currently undertaken in this way. Embracing MMC offers the opportunity to help rebalance the UK economy through a better distribution of construction spend, resulting in improved national productivity and supporting a regionally-balanced, safer, and more sustainable construction industry.

However, it remains challenging to bring holistic economic considerations into the agenda when procuring for value at a project level. In developing the MMC Social Value Calculator we have afforded a solution to the market to address this challenge. Underpinned by data from the industry and the Office for National Statistics, the tool enables the evaluation of MMC options on a broader basis than direct capital cost, quantifying the benefit of the social value investment and productivity-enhancing potential.

Our MMC Social Value Calculator also allows clients to demonstrate the much-needed business case for using MMC, using the Calculator’s assessment of the various social impacts borne from specifying offsite manufacture to develop business cases that estimate the holistic impact of capital projects.

Evidencing the value of social investment associated with MMC through our Calculator is already proving a catalyst for increased adoption. Visibility of the tool has added continued momentum to the focus around both MMC and the Government campaign of ‘Levelling Up’ and the innovation has been engaged with across industry at both project, organisation and industry improvement level, stimulating interest within the industry to encourage a cultural shift where organisations can broaden their value criteria.

Key Achievements

• Demonstrates MMC as an enabler to increased social value
• Addresses the challenge of how to measure social value outcomes through our calculator tool
• Collaborative approach demonstrated by all the partners and sharing data with the wider industry