Focus founding partner Kevin Osbon has contributed a chapter to a new book on social value in the built environment.

Social Value in Practice offers a simple guide for considering, creating, and delivering social value in projects and within organisations.

This Routledge publication is written and edited by Ani Raiden, a senior lecturer at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, and Andrew King, who runs Soul Value, a built environment consultancy that helps clients get to grips with social value.

Kevin’s chapter focuses on the social value journey undertaken by Focus since it was launched as a multi-disciplinary construction consultancy in Nottingham in 1994. It presents a consultant’s perspective on considering, creating and delivering social value and covers how the company’s commitment to a sustainable future for the built environment manifests in corporate best practice and social value through education, training, employment and consultancy services.

Kevin, who is also a director of environmental specialists MES Building Service and a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, said: “I was honoured to be asked to contribute to Social Value in Practice by Ani Raiden and Andrew King. Social value is a subject that is close to my heart, and it runs throughout Focus.

“My chapter highlights how a real-world SME operating in the consultancy environment has developed and delivered social value policy and practice over more than 25 years – providing benefit both to the company and staff, as well as the wider community. It touches on the correlation between company performance and social value activity through our Social Value Investment Hierarchy and demonstrates how consultants can help achieve a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Kevin is currently undertaking research into Cultural Project Initiation as part of an industry and academic team with the target of producing a book to inform and advise industry and academics on best practice.  The research is also looking to be one of the first initiatives to be undertaken through the Doctorate by Established Works programme being developed and trialled by Nottingham Trent University.

A member of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Association of Project Managers (APM), Kevin is passionate about social value and as well as spearheading the concept throughout Focus, has also undertaken his own social value experiences including developing a new community and sports facility for his local community and running the London Marathon in 2018 in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust with plans to scale Mt Everest in 2023 in aid of mental health charities.

Social Value in Practice is the second book in the growing Routledge Social Value in the Built Environment book series and follows Social Value in Construction. The next publication in the series is due out in June 2022 by David Oswald and Trivess Moore on Constructing a Consumer-Focused Industry: Cracks, Cladding and Crisis in the Residential Construction Sector.