taurants while also creating jobs for young people and refugees. Nando’s uses the platform Social Traders to connect with certified social enterprises for a range of business needs. Looking ahead, the company aims to work with social enterprises in other states and territories, fostering localised social procurement partnerships beyond NSW. As a mid-tier retailer, Nando’s ANZ demonstrates how retailers of all sizes can seamlessly integrate the benefits of social procurement into their business model, too. Social enterprise vs social impact Retailers don’t need to be a social enterprise to drive social impact. “The exciting thing for the retailers is they can use money they’re spending anyway,” Alex Hooke, Social Traders’ executive director, told Inside Retail. Tech For Good is an online consumer electronics retailer that is also a certified social enterprise with a mission to create impact with every sale. “Anything you can get at Officeworks you can get at Tech for Good,” Hooke said. Every sale at Tech For Good is carbon efficient and 2 per cent of revenue is donated to projects that create positive social and environmental impact. Supply chains can create opportunities social procurement for retailers, too. WV Technologies is an Indigenous-owned and Social Traders-certified electronics recycling company, and the first company in Australia to be NAID AAA-certified for all data sanitisation and destruction services.  WV Technologies is endorsed by the Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) for data destruction up to ‘Top Secret’ level and exemplifies the fact that contracting social enterprise businesses doesn’t mean compromising on quality or peace of mind. “It breaks down that misnomer that you’re going for a lower quality, more risky supplier when engaging services from a social enterprise. They actually are the most trusted supplier,” Hooke said.  Hooke emphasised that businesses may already be contracting services from certified social enterprises and having an impact. “They may be doing it already, and the first thing we do in our membership offering is give them all the ABNs to wash through their system, so they can start celebrating straight away,” Hooke said. He also underlined the impact of contracting with social enterprises. For instance, Cleanable has expanded from Victoria to Queensland, thanks in large part to Nando’s support.  “The potential impact of this move for them is huge,” he added. Give Industries is another certified social enterprise within the Social Traders community. It is a not-for-profit electrical contractor that donates 100 per cent of profits to existing charities targeting global poverty and health issues. Unlike large electrical contractors “who are trying to generate as much profit for themselves or their shareholders, this group of young people decided we don’t want to do it that way,” Hooke said. “They deliver amazing quality service in a whole range of electrical fields and specific to retail and build-outs.” With businesses under increasing pressure to ensure their supply chains are ethical and sustainable, Hooke believes social procurement delivers significant benefits at little cost.  “All retailers have to do is be a bit more purposeful in where they spend their money just like their customers are doing so,” he said. Customers are increasingly directing their spending towards more sustainable products and businesses that align with their values – socially and ethically, therefore if this is moved up the supply chain to retailers, “it can become a competitive advantage,” Hooke said. “We’ve a vision we can change the way the economy works, so that purpose is embedded in all businesses,” Hooke said. Social exchange Founded in 2008, Social Traders is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. “For the first decade, we did a whole range of different things to support this sector, around impact investing and advocacy and trying to elevate the term and define social enterprise so that it could grow in popularity,” Hooke added. In 2017, the business shifted its model to deliver on what social enterprises need – contracts. “If they’re able to grow their revenue, then they’re able to grow the impact they create,” Hooke said. Social Traders is now making the process of becoming a certified social enterprise a lot easier nationwide. Previously, it cost businesses $500, and in some cases, $750, to become certified through Social Traders in Melbourne and Sydney, but the fee is now being removed. “We want to make it as easy as possible – the more social enterprises that can win work, the better,” Hooke said. “We started with a small pilot project back in 2015 and now we’ve got 160 of Australia’s largest businesses and three State Governments working with us, and we have over 600 certified social enterprises.”  Social Traders has a vision to generate $5.5 billion in demand for social enterprises by 2030.  “We can quantify that will support 44,000 employment outcomes for some of the most marginalised,” Hooke said. Hooke said an estimated 12,000 social enterprises are contributing over $21 billion to the Australian economy.