The £1 Billion University Challenge was launched by Professor Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor of the University of Northampton, in 2011. The challenge is for universities throughout the UK to deliver social impact through their procurement and external contracting.
Social impact through procurement is all about 'doing good stuff' when a university buys something from an external supplier. For example, a university could choose to give a social enterprise employing disabled people, or training and employing the long term unemployed, the contract to operate a catering operation. Doing this means the university can get the catering service it wants and disadvantaged people can have meaningful work. Having social