SRAG Summit at Old Trafford
May 14, 2026Posted by:
What Happens When Employers Work on Inclusion Together
SRAG Summit | Old Trafford | 13 May 2026 | Hosted by G4S
Old Trafford is a great place to develop new approaches to building a workforce that reflects the community around it.
Hosted by G4S, around 100 employers gathered for a Social Recruitment Advocacy Group summit, to spend a day tackling a difficult question - if this is who we always hire, who are we leaving out?
The northern social value powerhouse
Peter Schofield placed the agenda in the Northwest. As Assistant Director - Integrated Commissioning and Procurement at Manchester City Council, he shared that the council has had higher than average social value weightings for many years, and underlined that understanding the social value element is what now differentiates bids.
G4S inspires
The host's keynote from Al McBride and Simon Martindill of G4S gave the room some benchmarks. Women make up only 11 per cent of the UK security workforce. G4S is at 16 per cent, with targeted deployments running at 25 per cent and the ambition to go further. Brogan Lowe, joining to speak about her own experience as part of the Tesco women in security programme, was direct: the industry needs to show real women in real roles.
The routes G4S has built include targeted recruitment of returning mothers, a rethought onboarding process for veterans and part-funded driving lessons delivered in lunch breaks by a qualified instructor on staff.
A story from Al's session really travelled round the room. When offering a man experiencing homelessness a role, to make the opportunity possible for him to accept, the G4S team arranged his accommodation, acted as guarantor, funded driving lessons, and enrolled him in the Hospital Saturday Fund for dental care. When they added what he would earn - the prospective new start had to lie down to take it all in.
Al also spoke about recruitment for the Hinkley Point and most recently the Sizewell C nuclear security projects, where working in partnership with PeoplePlus has accelerated G4S's ability to build teams with people who live in the local area, despite the remote location.
Team colours
In a spirit of collaboration that chimes with SRAG, Manchester City's City in the Community charity shared their way of doing things at their rival's ground. Many of the young people they work with have parents who have never been in employment. Their position is simple: "As long as they want to engage with us, we engage with them".
Thor the sniffer dog
In a special insight into the world of security, G4S K9 handlers introduced Thor, a trainee sniffer dog. To train dogs to detect incendiary devices, live explosives must be used, so G4S worked with scientific organisations to extract 0.05% mg of the active compound required. The compound is hidden in a metal container, one of six on a revolving frame, with the position changed every time. Only dogs can detect this amount of explosive - and Thor homed in on it repeatedly.
Sixty per cent of G4S detection dogs come from rescue centres: failed gun dogs, ex-farm dogs, animals that needed a second home. With real warmth, SRAG Chair, the Rt. Hon. Anne Milton watched Thor work and observed, "Wow, its social recruitment for canines".
Crunchy social value impact
Tasha Joyce of Gateway Qualifications arrived with snacks for everyone. Spudos are made from 100% British potatoes, with the seasoning (Spud Dust) applied separately after purchase, the crisps and the dust packed in cellulose, fully biodegradable bags - reducing waste, extending shelf life, keeping the supply chain local - and creating additional employment opportunities.
Gateway is developing a new Level 4 apprenticeship standard with a £14,000 funding band - a standard with the potential to grow a new kind of social value leader, at precisely the moment when several management apprenticeship standards are being defunded.
Latest Charter awards
Five members received SRAG Charter Mark recognition, presented by PeoplePlus CEO Kenny Boyle.
Avove Utilities received Bronze for early careers inclusion and a culture of passing opportunity on. First Bus received Bronze: 18,000 employees, a scaleable Routes to Work model in Sheffield, and an Early Careers lead who said that gathering the submission evidence was one of the most valuable things he had done since joining the organisation. The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales received Bronze for their Homewards programme, and for using its convening power in service of others. United Utilities received Silver for strategic social value delivery including a deliberate use of the apprenticeship levy for local SMEs.
Lidl GB received the Ambassador Charter Mark for sector-leading practice, transparent reporting, active mentoring of other employers, and championing the Social Recruitment Covenant nationally.
First SRAG Social Value Award
Which leads to another highlight of the day, beginning with Anne's Cilla Black-esque opener - "And where did you two first meet?"
Brett Saunders of Lidl and Christy Acton of Standing Tall first met at a SRAG summit Lidl hosted at their Tolworth headquarters in November 2024 and collaborated to enable a person experiencing homelessness to enter work in a Liverpool store. Christy was clear that this isn't charity - it is a business case. Brett's view on retention - the question most employers worry about, is give people a real opportunity and genuine loyalty follows.
Presenting them the inaugural SRAG Stronger Together Award, Anne took the opportunity to emphasise a fundamental of social recruitment - "Fish in a different pool, and you'll get skills you wouldn't otherwise have got."
Partner potential
Joining the Partner Carousel were specialist organisations Clear Voice, Springpod, Rise Up UK, the Menopause trainer, Louisa Hussey, SmartWorks Greater Manchester and The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The multigenerational workforce panel brought together Tracey Riddell from the Centre for Ageing Better, Jen Pemberton from ANTZ and Kira Speirs from Rise Up UK. Chair Anne Milton asked Tracey for the single biggest barrier to older workers in employment. Without a beat Tracey answered: ageism. Kira's advice was to meet young women where they are. Jen's was to start by offering one woman a role that defies still pervasive stereotypes. Tracey pointed the room to the Centre for Ageing Better's Age-friendly Employer Pledge and left them with a question: what do you actually know about the over-50s in your workforce?
What's your social value challenge?
The late afternoon session on social value challenges saw tables still mid-sentence when time ran out. Four questions framed the closing conversation on teasing out the common barriers - is it leadership buy-in, fragmented activity, budget pressure, or lack of shared ownership? What came back was reflection on culture, the ripple effect of employment and a line from Jen Pemberton, Director of ANTZ UK - "Start small, and make it a success, because then you can do it again".
What's Next for SRAG
Sodexo UK & Ireland lead a Lunch and Learn session on 19.5.26, followed by The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales on 23.6.26.
The next summit is 16 July in London, hosted by Mitie, on AI and social recruitment, with the final face to face event of the year on 19 November, hosted by NHS Employers in Leeds.
Express your interest in SRAG membership
The SRAG is convened by PeoplePlus Social Value Solutions: peopleplus.co.uk/social-value-solutions-design-delivery
The Social Recruitment Covenant, launched at Westminster in 2024 and backed by the DWP: peopleplus.co.uk/socialrecruitmentcovenant
May 14, 2026Posted by:
