Partner Article

Bid to boost economy with social enterprise

A NEW campaign has been launched to take social enterprise activity in the North East up to and beyond the national average - delivering an additional £1.1bn in turnover to the region.

Making the Change, the region’s first social enterprise framework, aims to grow social enterprise activity in the North East, so it exceeds the national average by 2015.

Research indicates this would also augment the region’s economy by £350m Gross Value Added (GVA).

Social enterprise is one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors, with an estimated 62,000 Social Enterprises currently operating across the UK.

The Framework was developed by a partnership of social enterprise organisations, supported by Business & Enterprise North East (BENE).

BENE chairman Roy Stanley said: “I want to help create an environment where Social Enterprise and voluntary and community sector activity can flourish and grow right across this region.

“A cornerstone of the strategy is to encourage more Social Enterprise start-ups; and for more people to consider Social Enterprise when thinking about starting a business. Social Enterprise is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs – it creates wealth while also delivering benefits to the wider community.”

Nationally, Social Enterprises make up 5% of all businesses, which would equate to 2,300 Social Enterprises in the North East. However, the most recent estimates indicate the region has possibly half that number – and most are on a small scale. Less than one in 20 regional charities have an income of over £1m – compared to one in five nationally; and half of all North East social enterprises generate annual turnover of less than £50,000.

Making the Change aims to stimulate more partnership working and sharing of best practice across the Sector, while also inspiring a new generation of social entrepreneurs. One of the framework’s key objectives is to improve the sector’s understanding of and access to finance.

Research conducted by social investor UnLtd found that there is a ‘finance gap’ for growing Social Enterprises that reach a turnover of between £100,000 and £500,000,

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .