Andy Burnham’s “Buying British” pledge was one of the clearest procurement policies to emerge during the Labour leadership transition. Since he entered Downing Street on 20 July, we’ve started to see what that commitment could mean in practice.
Chancellor John Healey has described “backing Britain” as one of the Treasury’s five priorities, with public procurement expected to support British jobs, apprenticeships and innovation. More significantly for suppliers, the government has now published PPN 026, introducing a new Social Value Model for central government procurement from 1 January 2027.
This doesn’t amount to a straightforward preference for British-owned suppliers. Instead, the government is putting greater weight on the jobs, skills and opportunities created through public contracts. For businesses selling to government, that makes the original pledge much more tangible than it was when Burnham first announced it.
What we've learned since Burnham took office
When Burnham first set out the Buying British pledge, the direction was clearer than the mechanism. We now have the first significant indication of how the government intends to put it into practice.
Under PPN 026, covered central government contracts worth £1 million to under £5 million will carry a minimum social value weighting of 10%. For contracts worth £5 million or more, that rises to 20%. The new model focuses heavily on good jobs, fair working conditions, training, apprenticeships, work placements and opportunities for people facing barriers to employment.
This fits closely with Burnham’s original emphasis on using public procurement to support work placements and apprenticeships, but it also gives suppliers something more concrete to prepare for. Rather than waiting for a future Buying British policy to appear, bidders now know that jobs and skills will become materially more important in central government evaluations from January 2027.
How “Buying British” affects public sector supply chains
A buying British agenda is not without precedent. The Procurement Act 2023 already gives contracting authorities more flexibility to weight outcomes, consider whole-life value, and require social value commitments from suppliers. Nevertheless, public bodies still need to treat suppliers equally and respect the UK’s international procurement agreements. PPN 026 specifically requires social value criteria to be relevant and proportionate to the contract and not discriminate against suppliers protected by those agreements.
For suppliers, the opportunity is therefore less about where a company happens to be headquartered and more about the impact it can demonstrate through delivery. Businesses that can show how a contract will create or retain good jobs, address local skills shortages, support apprenticeships or provide routes into work should have stronger evidence to draw on.
The other side of this is that broad claims about having a UK workforce or domestic supply chain won’t necessarily be enough. International businesses can also compete by delivering jobs and skills in UK communities, while British suppliers will still need to show that their commitments are relevant, credible and measurable.
Our guidance on SME spend targets covers the existing policy framework. A buying British agenda would not replace that direction, but it could sharpen the focus on how suppliers contribute to the UK economy through delivery, employment and supply chains.
How devolution fits into the picture
The buying British commitment cannot be understood in isolation from the Burnham government's wider shift towards regional decision-making. While running for the Labour leadership, Burnham argued that economic progress must go hand in hand with social progress, and that delivery must be place-based rather than centrally mandated from Westminster.
Since taking office, this has been formalised in the Rewiring the State programme, which Burnham argues that economic progress must go hand in hand with social progress, and that delivery must be place-based rather than centrally mandated from Westminster. In procurement terms, this changes where decisions get made.
Some of those changes have direct procurement implications. Local areas will be able to procure tailored employment support for the long-term unemployed, while mayors will gain greater influence over housing and transport investment. For suppliers, that makes regional pipelines and Local Growth Plans more important alongside national frameworks and central government opportunities.
What's included in a Local Growth Plan?
The devolution agenda is not starting from scratch. Government guidance on Local Growth Plans already sets out a 10-year strategic framework for growth in each region, led by Mayoral Strategic Authorities. These plans identify regional strengths, investment priorities and expected pipelines. Suppliers should treat them as early commercial intelligence. They may not tell you exactly which tender will be published and when, but they can help you understand where future demand is likely to build.
A Local Growth Plan may highlight priorities around:
- Transport connectivity
- Housing and regeneration
- Energy infrastructure
- Skills and employment
- Advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure
- Town centre renewal and environmental improvement
For suppliers, these priorities can shape more than pipeline monitoring. A company that can link its offer to a region’s stated growth priorities will usually be better placed than one that gives the same generic answer everywhere.
Where to watch for opportunity
As devolution becomes more central to government policy, opportunity is expected to emerge across several areas.
Housing and regeneration is the most obvious. Burnham’s council housebuilding programme, supported by No 10 North working with local areas, could create opportunities in construction, design, consultancy, planning, maintenance, retrofit, infrastructure and community engagement.
Transport is another key area. Devolved authorities are closely involved in transport strategy, public transport integration, active travel, highways and regional connectivity. Suppliers in engineering, technology, maintenance and infrastructure should watch this space carefully.
Energy and essential services may also become more prominent if regional public control and long-term utility planning move up the agenda. Burnham specifically named steel, energy, food and farming as sectors where supply chain resilience matters.
Skills and employment run through all of this. A government focused on technical education, apprenticeships and local opportunity is likely to expect suppliers to support workforce development as a matter of contract delivery, not just social value scoring.
Regional priorities may create multiple smaller routes to market through local authorities, combined authorities, frameworks, development partnerships and commissioned services.
How to evidence social value in regional tenders
Social value was already an important part of public sector tendering when Burnham announced his Buying British pledge. PPN 026 now significantly increases its importance on larger central government contracts, with a minimum weighting of 20% for procurements worth £5 million or more.
The revised model focuses closely on employment and skills, including local job creation, training, apprenticeships and work placements. That reinforces the point already made in this article: broad social value promises are unlikely to be enough. Buyers will be looking for commitments that make sense for the contract and the communities affected by it. The strongest responses will show:
- What the supplier will do
- Where it will happen
- Who will benefit
- How it will be measured
- How it connects to the buyer’s stated growth priorities
Our guide to answering social value tender questions covers this in more detail. The key point for this context is that social value needs to be locally credible. A national template can help, but it should not replace specific evidence for the region, buyer and contract.
How to position your bids now
Suppliers now have until 1 January 2027 before PPN 026 becomes mandatory for relevant new central government procurements, with further technical guidance due this autumn. There are practical steps worth taking now.
- Monitor Local Growth Plans: Track mayoral authority priorities in the regions where you want to win work. These plans can provide early clues about future demand, even before a contract notice appears. Early market engagement, already encouraged under the Procurement Act, becomes more valuable in a more devolved environment.
- Review your social value evidence: PPN 026 gives much greater clarity about what buyers will be looking for, particularly around jobs, skills, training, apprenticeships and work placements. If your responses are generic or formulaic, now is the time to strengthen them with measurable commitments based on what your organisation can genuinely deliver.
- Audit your supply chain narrative: Where do you source materials and services? What is the UK economic footprint of your delivery model? These are questions buyers may start asking more directly and scoring more heavily.
- Strengthen local case studies: Buyers are more likely to trust claims about local delivery if you can show similar work, measurable outcomes and credible partnerships in comparable regions.
- Check your framework position: If regional procurement activity increases, you need to know whether your organisation is already on the right routes to market, or whether upcoming framework opportunities should be prioritised. Our guide to public sector framework agreements explains how frameworks can support access to public contracts in this context.
- Build relationships early: Supplier days, local business networks and regional procurement events may become more important as buyers shape programmes around place-based objectives.
Need help navigating changing government priorities?
Devolution is not only about where power sits. It can affect how public sector buyers define value, plan investment and evaluate suppliers. With good jobs and skills now identified as key priorities for the government, suppliers will need to explain how their work supports local outcomes, regional resilience, jobs, skills, supply chains and long-term delivery.
Thornton & Lowe works with suppliers across public sector markets to develop bid strategies and tender responses that reflect current and emerging buyer priorities. If you would like to discuss how Burnham’s procurement agenda might affect your pipeline or how to position your bids, get in touch with our team.
