What is a social enterprise?
- A business with a social mission- Organisations using the power of business to bring about social and environmental change
- 'Businesses that are changing the world for the better' Social Enterprise UK.
- 'The term ‘social enterprise’ came about from the recognition that in the UK and across the world, there were organisations using the power of business to bring about social and environmental change without a single term to unite them.' Social Enterprise UK
- Term has been more widely used since the mid 1990s
How do they work?
- Selling goods and services into the open market and reinvesting the money earned back into their business and the local community- Putting money back into society means that they are actively able to tackle social problems, improve people's lives through community support and help the environment.
- The original concept of social enterprise was first developed by Freer Spreckley in 1978
- The original concept of social enterprise was first developed by Freer Spreckley in 1978
According to Social Enterprise UK, social enterprises should:
- Have a clear social and/or environmental mission set out in their governing documents
- Generate the majority of their income through trade (more than 50%)
- Reinvest the majority of their profits (more than 50%)
- Be autonomous of state
- Be majority controlled in the interests of the social mission
- Be accountable and transparent
Examples:
- The Big Issue
- The Co-Operative Group
- Divine Chocolate
- The Eden Project
- John Lewis Partnership
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