The story behind the Social Value Engine — why we built the UK's leading accredited SROI platform, our mission to make robust social value measurement accessible, and our commitment to Social Value International standards.
About SVE
Every pound of public investment should create measurable, life-changing impact in the places that need it most
Our mission is to ensure public, private, and philanthropic money reaches the communities that need it most, shaped by real local need and delivered with absolute methodological rigour.
We do this by providing a global ecosystem of place-based impact tools. By centering data around people and the places they live, we give funders and delivery partners the precise insights needed to prove, and improve, societal benefit.
Our story
Valuing the Invaluable
The Social Value Engine is co-owned by Rose Regeneration and East Riding of Yorkshire Council, developed in response to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. The platform incorporates Social Return on Investment methodology and the eight Social Value International principles, with a UK proxy library of more than 650 research-backed values and a full audit trail behind every figure.
What makes us different
From commitment to impact
KPIs, contractual outputs and delivery evidence all have an important role. They tell you whether activity happened, whether a target was reached and whether a commitment was fulfilled.
Outcome and impact measurement adds another layer. It asks what changed for people and places, how significant that change was, and how much of it can reasonably be attributed to the activity.
The Social Value Engine family is designed to connect those stages. It can support organisations from understanding local need and setting commitments, through live delivery and evidence, to outcome measurement, assurance, communication and learning.
Delivery and performance
Focus
Commitments, activities, KPIs, targets and evidence
Helps answer
Did we deliver what we said we would?
Relevant SVE products
SVE Delivery and SVE Connect
Outcomes and impact
Focus
Stakeholder change, place-based outcomes, financial valuation, impact adjustments and SROI
Helps answer
What changed, for whom, and what contribution did the activity make?
Relevant SVE products
SVE Platform, SVE Dashboard, Place Explorer and Assurance
Strong social value practice needs a reliable record of delivery and a credible way to understand the change that followed.
The Public Outcomes Lifecycle
People in communities living better lives because investment worked
SVE Delivery supports the investment and commitment stage and the delivery and measurement stage. SVE Connect supports commissioners and funders across those same stages when several suppliers or delivery partners are involved.
Why this matters
The shifts we serve
Communities with voice
Decisions made with people, not for them. Power shifts closer to the ground.
Better economic flows
Resources reach places and people that are best placed to benefit from them.
Investments that work
What we fund genuinely helps. Evidence earned, not claimed.
Our offer
Software + Assurance
Most platforms give you a tool. We give you a tool you can stake your reputation on, because every figure the Social Value Engine produces is backed by accredited methodology and a complete audit trail.
A platform built for the whole outcomes lifecycle
From project setup through to published SROI reporting, SVE gives practitioners a single place to measure and evidence impact, with AI support, a UK proxy library maintained by a dedicated team, and full transparency behind every figure.
650+ research-backed UK proxy values, reviewed annually by a dedicated team
SROI report generation with full data lineage
AI-powered feedback and suggestions built into your workflow
Framework mapping across reporting standards
Add your own proxies alongside the accredited library
Impact card creation through Impact Card Studio
Premium place-based insights through Place Explorer
Credibility that stands up to scrutiny
SVE is built on Social Value International's eight principles and maintained by a team of SVI-accredited practitioners. When you publish an SROI figure, you can show exactly where it came from.
Developed and maintained by SVI-accredited practitioners
Aligned with the Social Value International eight principles
Proxy values drawn from peer-reviewed and government research
Complete audit trail behind every calculation
Methodology documentation available for any stakeholder review
Co-ownership
Built together, owned together
The Social Value Engine is jointly owned by its two founding organisations, ensuring the platform always serves practitioners and communities, not shareholders.
Rose Regeneration
Rose Regeneration is a specialist social and economic development consultancy with over 30 years of experience helping organisations plan, deliver and evidence their impact. They bring deep expertise in SROI methodology, SVI accreditation, and public sector evaluation.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is one of the UK's largest unitary authorities and a founding co-creator of the Social Value Engine. Their practical experience commissioning and evidencing social value in public services shaped every aspect of the platform.
Our wider ecosystem
Part of the SVE family
The Social Value Engine is one of several tools and platforms in the SVE family, each designed to help organisations measure, communicate, and maximise their impact.
Get in touch with our team
Learn more about how the Social Value Engine can help your organisation measure and evidence its impact.
