Social status

The social impact of destinations is increasingly important to stakeholders, but the property industry has so far lacked a consistent framework of how to measure this.

Why is social impact important?
In the same way that it isn't acceptable to build a retail destination that isn’t environmentally friendly, it is increasingly unacceptable to own or manage an asset that doesn't in some way benefit the community and support its interests.

Social impact also forms part of the wider Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance that many firms have signed up to and anyone wanting to work with local government needs to be conscious of creating social value. It could also help when applying for planning permission.

How to measure the impact?
At its most basic definition, a destination can improve its social impact by better meeting the needs of its local community, whether through people living or working nearby or by those visiting and working at the asset itself. As such, a positive social impact means different things to different people and there are a multitude of potential measurements.

At a recent Revo webinar, Ruth Moorhouse of Ellandi gave a quick overview of their bespoke scorecard which currently encompasses c.180 data points, giving a view of the investment required to truly understand and measure the impact of destinations.  Pragma has also developed a scoring mechanism, in conjunction with our sister company Benoy. For those looking to start measuring the impact of their assets, there are three key areas that should be considered:

1. Job creation and upskilling
The number of jobs created by a new or existing asset is both interesting and provable. For example, the new St James Quarter is reported to be bringing 3,000 new jobs to Edinburgh.  However, as retail jobs tend to be lower skilled and lower paid, it is also important that these workers gain the opportunity to learn new skills. Bicester Village provides these opportunities through its Village Staff Training Programme, while organisations such as FUSE aim to enhance the appeal of the retail and hospitality sector as a career through providing advice and training including digital up-skilling and customer services.

It is also relevant to the type of people for whom the jobs are created. For instance, Unity Works is a specialist organisation supporting people with a learning disability to gain skills, achieve qualifications and secure jobs, so they can reach their full potential with social enterprises across London including cafes, a mailing fulfilment business and a garden centre.  Similarly Tap Social is a brewery in Oxfordshire that focuses on recruiting people who are currently serving or have recently been released from prison sentences and has recently opened a bar within the new Lock 29 development in Banbury.

2. Support local entrepreneurs
Supporting local businesses not only benefits the local community, but also ties in with wider trends as consumers increasingly desire locally made, authentic and individual products.  Box Park embody this ethos, with a strict `no High Street Fascia' policy and having created a model that provides flexible, low cost space. However, creating space for local start ups is often an afterthought or an alternative use for surplus space. To truly deliver social impact, investors and developers need to create dedicated space for local start-ups, charging peppercorn rent and working in partnership with local authorities to agree business rates concessions. Local authorities themselves can be the driving force behind this type of space. Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council runs Market Kitchen (seen above), within the new Glass Works development. Not only does this provide a venue for local businesses but they are also encouraged to source their ingredients from local providers, helping to sustain the local economy.

3. Community engagement
This is more difficult to measure but is key to making destinations more relevant to all members of the local community. Shopping centres and town centres are increasingly struggling to provide a relevant offer to a younger audience, who don’t have the same connection with a destination that their parents may have had; improving the social impact of a location is an important opportunity to engaging an audience.

Examples of this vary from a Tetris-inspired game projected onto buildings in Tel Aviv, a purpose-built youth facility in Wigan town centre or creating space for further education. Both the Dolphin Centre, Poole and Westmorland Shopping Centre have submitted proposals to create space to provide educational spaces within their centres. 

Understanding not only those people that are already visiting assets and what they're using them for, but also understanding who isn't visiting and what offer would be relevant to them is key to community engagement.

Creating and managing a destination that truly delivers a positive social impact takes leadership and a clear vision which takes into account the needs and wants of the local community. However, as Ruth Moorhouse said on the Revo Social impact webinar "it’s the right thing to do, both morally and professionally".

Sam Fox