Community Wealth Building
A Guide to Community wealth building
A practical guide to Community Wealth Building. Learn how to deliver social value, strengthen procurement, and create local economic impact.
For many organisations, creating positive community impact still sits slightly outside core business strategy. It appears in sponsorships, philanthropy, volunteering or charity partnerships. Well intended commitments, but often difficult to measure or sustain especially in the unpredictable market we face today.
Community Wealth Building (CWB) takes a different approach. It’s not about adding impact alongside your operations. It’s about shaping how your organisation works so that commercial success and community benefit are directly connected. That shift is becoming increasingly important.
What is Community Wealth Building?
Community Wealth Building is an approach to economic development that focuses on ensuring the wealth generated by organisations supports local people, businesses, and places.
Rather than value flowing out of an area through supply chains or external ownership, CWB is about retaining and recirculating wealth within local economies.
In practice, this includes:
Local procurement: prioritising local and regional suppliers
Fair employment: creating secure, well-paid, and accessible jobs. Here is a great case study on a 10% improvement in retention as a result of CWB.
Inclusive enterprise: supporting social enterprises and diverse businesses
Community investment: directing resources to local priorities
Partnership working: collaborating with organisations rooted in the local community
As a result there is a shift from short-term transactions to long-term economic resilience.
Why Community Wealth Building matters?
Community Wealth Building is no longer a theoretical concept. It is being actively adopted across local authorities, and also public sector bodies as a framework for inclusive economic growth.
As a result, public sector procurement increasingly requires organisations to demonstrate clear, measurable social value. Therefore Community Wealth Building provides a practical way to evidence local economic impact within tenders.
Stakeholders, including clients, employees, and partners, are asking more detailed questions about how organisations create impact. Broad ESG commitments are no longer enough but rather there is growing demand for place-based, tangible outcomes.
Recent economic disruption has highlighted the importance of strong local economies. Organisations that invest in local supply chains and communities are often more resilient, adaptable, and sustainable.
“Sitting at a sustainability conference in 2019, I heard the Director of Procurement at Aviva talk about their goal to redirect 5% of procurement spend to social enterprises and social organisations. The impact was in the millions. This type of action is Community Wealth Building. Even 7 years ago business could see the impact of embedding sustainability into operations.”
Gemma Branney, Co-Founder, ENVOLV
How organisations can implement Community Wealth Building?
Most organisations are already contributing to their local economy in some way. But there is significant opportunities to take a more structured and intentional approach.
Understand your economic footprint
- Start by assessing where your organisation already has influence:
- Where does your procurement spend go?
- How accessible are your employment opportunities?
- Which communities benefit from your activity?
The result is a clear baseline and often reveals immediate opportunities to increase local impact.
Next use procurement as a strategic lever
Procurement is one of the most powerful tools for Community Wealth Building. Redirecting a portion of spend towards local suppliers, SMEs, and social enterprises can:
- Strengthen local economies
- Reduce supply chain risk
- Improve social value outcomes
The goal is not to overhaul your supply chain overnight, but to make more deliberate, long-term decisions.
Align with your business strategy
Community Wealth Building should support (not sit alongside) your organisational goals.
- Growth strategies can include developing local supplier networks e.g. SMEs and social enterprises.
- People strategies can focus on inclusive recruitment, employability partnerships and progression, for example apprenticeships and internships.
- Marketing strategies can be strengthened through measurable local impact, helping you build brand loyalty.
When aligned effectively, CWB enhances performance rather than constraining it.
Measure and report your impact
Credible measurement is essential. You don’t need complex systems or to spend money on tools. Focus on clear, meaningful indicators such as:
- Percentage of procurement spend within the local economy
- Number of local suppliers engaged
- Jobs created or supported locally
- Community investment delivered
Consistency and transparency are more important than complexity.
“A company we supported had a talent challenge. They struggled to attract candidates, often focusing on graduates but as the roles weren’t related to their degree they left within 12months. Through building an apprenticeship programme they benefited from a loyal workforce who stayed for an average of 4 years and social return on investment was huge. This is how Community Wealth Building also solves business challenges.”
Mhairi Cameron, Co-Founder, ENVOLV
The business case for Community Wealth Building
Community Wealth Building is often viewed as a policy-led agenda. In practice, it presents a clear commercial opportunity.
For example, organisations that take a structured approach can strengthen their position in public sector tenders, build more resilient and responsive supply chains, enhance their reputation with clients and stakeholders, and demonstrate credible, measurable social value. It moves social value from a narrative into a core part of how the organisation operates.
Our perspective
At ENVOLV, we see Community Wealth Building as a practical, underutilised lever for both impact and performance. Most organisations are already contributing to local economies, but without structure, consistency, or strategic alignment.
The opportunity is not to start from scratch, but to make existing activity more intentional, measurable, and aligned to business strategy. This is often where the most meaningful progress and quickest wins are found.
How ENVOLV can support
At ENVOLV, we support organisations across the UK to embed Community Wealth Building and strengthen their social value impact.
Our approach includes:
- Assessing your current economic and social impact
- Identifying quick wins and longer-term opportunities
- Aligning Community Wealth Building with your business strategy
- Supporting implementation, measurement, and reporting
If you’re being asked to demonstrate social value, strengthen your position in tenders, or take a more structured approach to Community Wealth Building, we can help.
Get in touch to discuss how this could work in your organisation.
Quick FAQs
What is Community Wealth Building in the UK?
Community Wealth Building is an approach to economic development that focuses on keeping wealth within local economies through procurement, employment, and investment decisions.
How does Community Wealth Building relate to social value?
Community Wealth Building is a practical way to deliver social value. It provides a framework for how organisations can create measurable local economic and social impact.
Why is Community Wealth Building important for tenders?
Many public sector tenders now assess social value as part of the evaluation process. Demonstrating local economic impact can strengthen your competitive position.
What are examples of Community Wealth Building?
Examples include sourcing from local suppliers, creating inclusive employment pathways, working with social enterprises, and investing in local communities.
How can organisations get started?
Start by understanding your current economic footprint, where money flows, who benefits, and where there are opportunities to increase local impact.
A focused review is often the most effective first step:
- What are you already doing well?
- Where are the gaps in your approach?
- What changes would create the most immediate impact?
From there, you can build a proportionate plan aligned to your organisation’s size, sector, and ambitions.