Social enterprises outstrip businesses

Three times as many social enterprises (39 per cent) as mainstream small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are operating in Britain’s poorest areas (13 per cent), the home of a third of all social enterprise start-ups, according to Social Enterprise UK, formerly the Social Enterprise Coalition.

The study also said Britain has an estimated 62,000 social enterprises – businesses that trade with a social or environmental purpose.

The findings are contained in Fightback Britain, a report based on a major analysis of social enterprise and backed by the Co-operative Bank.

It said that social enterprises are twice as likely as mainstream businesses to have reported growth in the last year. They are also more likely to be led by women, young people and those from minority ethnic groups.

It also found that 58 per cent of social enterprises grew last year compared to 28 per cent of SMEs.

More than half (57 per cent) of social enterprises are predicting growth in the next 12 months, in comparison to 41 per cent of SMEs.

Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK, said: “We are very excited by what the research has uncovered – a thriving social enterprise community in Britain that is outperforming mainstream business. The findings show that it is social enterprises, not private sector businesses that are starting up in Britain’s deprived communities, boosting local economies and creating jobs whilst remedying the country’s social and environmental problems.

“Some of the biggest social enterprises operating in the UK today are those that started in the recession of the 1980s. We’re seeing a new generation of social enterprises being created during these incredibly difficult economic times and in the communities where they’re desperately needed.

“The research shows that the general public are buying from social enterprises. Very soon social enterprise could change the face of British business.”

Yorkshire has become renowned as a centre for social enterprise, led by high-profile examples such as caterer Create, founded in 2007 at St George’s Crypt, in Leeds, by Sarah Dunwell, using the skills of former rough sleepers who had undergone intensive training.

Now Goldman Sachs is looking for ambitious small companies and social enterprises to join its business growth scheme in Yorkshire. It is holding marketing events for the next class in its 10,000 Small Businesses support programme.

The multi-year scheme is designed to unlock the economic and job creation potential of businesses.

Experts from Leeds University Business School and Said Business School at Oxford University have joined forces with the bank to deliver the 100-hour programme, which is funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation and supported by Leeds Ahead, which helps regenerate deprived areas in the city.