Impact beyond profit
Deloitte's Social Value: People, government, progress
In our engagement with government clients, our expertise not only benefits the client but also communities and the environment. Our commitment to social impact is woven into these client engagements, demonstrating how commercial contracts can drive positive change.
Here we explore three stories of this impact, all contributing to building inclusive workplaces: empowering diverse talent, fostering environmental stewardship among young people and supporting rehabilitation efforts in prisons.
Flowing futures: Young people and our rivers
Our rivers are vital. Protecting them, and inspiring the next generation to do the same, is crucial. Securing a consultancy contract with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a government department, allowed us to deliver just that through our Social Value commitments. Our goal was clear: to spark environmental awareness and open doors to green careers by engaging some of Defra’s key cohorts - young people in inner-city and farming communities.
Over two years, from 2023 to 2025, we financially supported vital community events and delivered school engagements across the North West through The Rivers Trust. These initiatives were designed to raise awareness of critical environmental issues and diverse career pathways, providing tangible opportunities for skill development and career exploration.
We also helped develop the CaSTCo (Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative) programme, which aims to create a national framework for improved water environment data, holding significant wider implications for UK society and environmental policy.
Together, we’re not just helping clean rivers; we’re cultivating a generation of environmental champions.
Our impact with The Rivers Trust
Volunteering hours contributed by Deloitte colleagues to clean-ups, habitat works and community events
Improving habitats and increasing community involvement in conservation
Training, education and career pathway events delivered
Building employability skills and understanding of environmental careers
Local employers engaged in delivery and career pathway activity
Connecting young people to environmental career routes
Mersey Basin young volunteers trained and mentored as Citizen Scientists
Enabling ongoing river monitoring and environmental data collection
"Working with Deloitte, our neurodivergent consultants apply their unique skills on vital public sector programmes. It's an environment where diverse thinking is truly embraced, fostering personal growth and making a real difference for clients."
- Steve Hill, Chief Commercial Officer, auticon UK
Beyond inclusion: Neurodiversity as business value
For many autistic adults, finding meaningful tech careers can be difficult. It's not due to a lack of talent, but often workplaces aren't designed for different ways of thinking. Our collaboration with auticon (a global, social enterprise IT consultancy that addresses employment inequalities in neurodivergent adults) is changing this. On a project for the Home Office, we helped to bring in autistic technology professionals from auticon, sponsoring their security clearance and integrating them into our teams. This partnership does more than provide secure, impactful roles. It enriches our client teams with diverse thinking and specialist skills.
Consultants like Lauren Headley-Morris and Darren Loroy, who are contractors within Deloitte employed via auticon, benefitted from the engagement and are thriving. Lauren, for example, found “limitless growth potential paired with limitless support”, moving into a versatile role identifying cost efficiencies. She noted, “asking questions is the fastest path to progress”, with colleagues now seeking her guidance. Darren described his team as “incredibly understanding and where everyone is treated the same”. He enjoys the freedom to innovate applying his data science background to front-end development, appreciating the “greater professional responsibility” he’s been given.
This work clearly shows neurodiversity isn't just a social impact priority; it's a powerful source of business value, fostering stronger, more inclusive delivery environments for all.
Second chances: From barriers to belonging
The UK faces a significant challenge with persistent reoffending, placing immense strain on the justice system and incurring an estimated annual cost of £22.7 billion. Addressing these high reoffending rates is crucial for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to fulfil its mandate of reducing crime and protecting the public.
This challenge aligned with our Social Value commitments across several MoJ contracts. It presented a clear opportunity for us to leverage our people and partnerships to support the rehabilitation of people in prison and their successful community integration. We know that engagement in education significantly reduces reoffending, with a one-year reoffending rate of 34% for prison learners, compared to 43% for those not engaging in any learning.
To address this, we supported the National Literacy Trust (NLT) by investing in their ‘New Chapters’ creative writing workshops. Held in two male and one female prisons, these aimed to boost literacy and confidence in line with NLT’s objectives, providing participants with communication skills and a renewed sense of self-confidence essential for successful rehabilitation and improving their prospects for a positive future. Authors with lived experience of prison or adversity facilitated sessions, guiding people in prisons to write stories and poems. More than 80 Deloitte volunteers provided valuable feedback to participants on their creative writing pieces.
We also collaborated with StandOut, a charity helping offenders rebuild lives post-release. Our engagement teams volunteered to run interview preparation workshops for people in prison, equipping them with essential job skills. As of May 2026, Deloitte and MoJ volunteers dedicated 35.5 days to StandOut.
These initiatives directly support the MoJ’s mandate to reduce crime and foster a more just, secure society.
Ultimately, our Social Value commitments support commercial projects to deliver tangible societal impact, driving benefit for people and communities.
Get in touch
Claire Cottingham
Client Social Value Lead
ccottingham@deloitte.co.uk
+44 (0)151 242 9082
