Leading the charge for innovation in social procurement is our ‘Social procurement trailblazer – national’ partnership winner for 2022, Charter Hall and Two Good Co.

In 2021, Two Good Co won a tender to provide soap to Charter Hall’s national office portfolio. Fast forward three years, and the partnership continues to thrive with Two Good providing close to 20,000 litres of washroom products per year to buildings across Australia. But their support doesn’t stop there, Charter Hall have become Two Good’s strongest supporter, delivering multiple high impact customer experience campaigns involving purchasing and donating high quality lifestyle products as well as procurement of their catering and event services.

In FY24 Charter Hall’s total contribution to Two Good Co was estimated to be over 1 million dollars, with over 70% representing procurement of goods and services. This style of continued and sustained funding support underpins the business model for Two Good with profit from procurement directly funding their incredibly successful Work Work Program as well as donated products which support women and children living in shelters.

Two Good Co are a certified social enterprise in NSW, who use their sales revenue to support women experiencing family violence and homelessness.

“With every purchase you make with us, you're helping to change the course of someone's life; you're walking alongside vulnerable women as they find their way home again”. - Rob Casilick, Founder and CEO – Two Good Co

Build the foundations for success

The project with Social Traders business member Charter Hall, did not happen overnight. Tailing a long road of experimentation, perseverance, and trust, this story heroes the role relationships play in creating lasting social procurement success. Robert Casilick, Founder and CEO of Two Good Co says,

“Change happens at the speed of trust. Our deeper partnership allows us to grow and encourage different types of investment."

Be open and proactive

From the beginning, Two Good Co were transparent with the support they needed to reach their ambitious goals. Today, they are aiming to help 80 women a year, every year and Charter Hall have committed to helping them to achieve this by tapping into their existing procurement budgets to support them across their entire business.

For some, social procurement is not deemed to be a high quality, reliable and scalable solution – but Charter Hall and Two Good have proven it can be. By investing continuously across multiple channels, they have created a scalable partnership that delivers high quality products which generate both business and community value. Their agile approach continues to support a community of deserving women.

“Our ongoing collaboration with Charter Hall has provided funding significant enough to give our most vulnerable women the love, support, independence and self-confidence to thrive beyond their adversity."

In FY22, Charter Hall set a target to deliver 100 meaningful employment outcomes per year from partnerships with social enterprises. In FY22, they were able to generate over 190 employment outcomes, almost doubling their target.

Secure an internal change champion

Senior change champion, Natalie Devlin, was foundational in the development of a partnership based on trust. Natalie and Rob built a dynamic relationship that can only be described as “pioneering”. Their transparent approach to the project paved the way for innovation. And truly enabled success.

“I can’t emphasise how valuable it is to have internal champion to drive change and overcome obstacles”.

“When things were moving a bit slowly, I’d go back to Nat and say can you speak to this person…”. “They [Charter Hall] have lots of things going on, so it is super important”.

Address ESG, CSR and environmental goals

The world of business has changed, with customers, employees and investors expecting corporates to contribute something back to the communities they operate in. This drives a need for business and government to prioritise ESG solutions. And social procurement provides a tangible solution.

“External stakeholders care very much about cost, driving efficiency, but also really care about the environmental impacts of operations, and increasingly – social outcomes. Here we have an initiative that delivers both - it’s a really positive, impactful story.”

Commit for the long-term

Three years in and Charter Hall has many internal change champions, and the switch to Two Good has almost become business as usual. Each organisation will continue to look for ways to increase their impact via social procurement spend and community outreach, delivering both a business and local community outcome.

“There’s a huge opportunity to continue to scale our social procurement, but it’s certainly not straight forward." - Natalie Delvin, Chief Experience Officer, Charter Hall.

The team are up for the challenge and encourage other business and governments to follow suit. They hope this example can build a deeper understanding of the potential of social procurement and inspire other business and government to make the switch to social enterprise suppliers.

Their advice – get started.

"Start small and celebrate each milestone. As you gain momentum, you will get more opportunities across the business."

Charter Hall has incorporated Two Good’s soap and hardware in 42% of its national office portfolio, including prime CBD addresses across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. The partnership has also collaborated closely with Charter Hall’s retail business delivering several customer experience campaigns including a highly successful school holiday activation that resulted in over 2400 kids backpacks and teddy bears being donated to women’s and children’s shelters across Australia.

In FY24, the partnership generated an annual revenue upwards of $1,000,000, supporting the certified social enterprise to create change in the lives of vulnerable Australian women.

“Heading into my first day at Two Good, I remember sitting on the morning train, my head against the window with tears streaming down my face,” said Lynda. “Two Good loved me back to life”.

What set’s this award-winning partnership apart, is how Charter Hall went beyond ‘ticking a box’. They took a leap to drive innovation and create pathways for this social enterprise to thrive. Conversely, Two Good Co sought to think outside their standard business operation. They were open with what they needed to succeed. The result is empowering for all parties involved – creating mutual benefits and lasting social value.

Access Charter Hall's 2022 Sustainability Report.

Learn more about the great work achieved by Two Good Co.

Check out how business and government are leading the charge in business for good