New government body created: Office for the Impact Economy

On 10 November 2025, the UK Government announced the creation of a new official body, the Office for the Impact Economy.  

Acting as a coordinating hub across government departments and agencies, the Office will work to ensure that the impact economy isn’t treated as an after-thought. Its ambition is to provide an access point for both impact organisations and investors, to engage with public policy, procurement, investment, regulation and more. 

Building on the Civil Society Covenant, for social enterprises, impact investors and purpose-led businesses operating in the impact economy space, it is another signal that government wants to engage more strategically. We hope there may be more opportunities to partner with public sector procurement, policy design, or investment vehicles that align social outcomes with commercial models.

For traditional businesses or investors thinking about what it could mean for them, this presents a reflect and reset moment – businesses should consider ways to integrate “impact thinking” into their strategy and core operations, ensuring that social and environmental objectives are at the core of the strategy and the soul of an organisation.

The move to create an Office for the Impact Economy signals a maturing from fragmented pilots to government-embedded strategy. It is an invitation to shape the future of how capital, enterprise and public policy can work together for social good and economic growth, particularly in the co-design and delivery of people-focused services.

Julian Blake who, with Sandra Hamilton, leads Stone King’s Public Service Transformation Team said: “It is fantastic that social impact is now central to the mission of government, following progress made towards collaborative commissioning in people-focused services, wider corporate citizenship and recognition of the public benefit sector in the Civil Society Covenant.”

So, what happens next?

In terms of how your organisation can now move forward, we suggest the following:

• Stone King will be running a series of events including in collaboration with our partner, E3M, showcasing the work we are doing through our public services transformation consultancy, and linking this to the Civil Society Covenant and the new Office – watch this space!
• Connect with Stone King – whether you are an investor or a philanthropist, or represent a purpose-driven business, community organisation, or local government – to discuss what the new Office and the Civil Society Covenant means for you.
• Businesses should look at how they can align resources (capital, expertise, networks) with the Government’s delivery of social value and community regeneration – and our upcoming events will showcase how they can proactively engage in this.
• More generally, businesses (particularly those delivering under government contracts) should support the shift toward embedding ‘impact economy’ thinking into decision-making and funding flows – this will have an impact on how the Government procures and commissions services.
• Local and central government should think about what this means for them in terms of their own decision-making and funding flows.

Some related links to our work at Stone King, including in collaboration with other key partners such as E3M, can be found here:

• People-focused services: key messages in response to the Public Procurement Open Consultation
• E3M - Vitalising Purpose Book