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The State of Social Enterprise (SOSE) survey, which runs every two years, is live! We’re inviting all UK social enterprises to take part. We know social enterprises across coops, community businesses, start-ups and more get surveyed a lot. So, why should you give up your time for it?  1. Drive policy change SOSE data helps drive policy change for social enterprise. For example, it informed public policy which led to the creation of Big Society Capital and Access – the Foundation for Social Investment, contributing to a social impact investment market of over £6.4bn. It supported Social Value legislation and underpinned calls for sector support during COVID. 2. Shape a powerful narrative Did you know that social enterprises generate £60bn GDP and 2 million jobs? That’s SOSE data. And we want to update it this year.  3. Contribute to the UK’s largest dataset for social enterprise Central government comes to us for this data. Social investors, national sector bodies, local and combined authorities – they all access this data to inform policy and practice. SOSE data is central to analysis such as the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment.               4. Build understanding SOSE data is used by researchers and academics to better understand many areas of social enterprise, from rural ecosystems for social enterprise, to improving routes to market, the data is core to research across sectors, regions and impact areas.  5. Data for your social enterprise SOSE provides a benchmark for social enterprises to better understand their own performance and learn from others. For the first time in 2023, SEUK members will receive benchmarked results from their survey data in the pilot run of our Better Business Benchmark tool.  We’ve simplified the survey this year. If you took part in 2021, you won’t be asked all questions as we’ll use data you’ve already provided.   You’ll need info on your financial turnover, profits and staff demographics to hand – as well as an overview of how you generate income. The survey shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.   If you do one survey this year, please make it this one. How to take part   All SEUK members and social enterprise contacts will be contacted by respected research company BMG research – look out for an email from them. Not heard from BMG yet? Please drop BMG a line to confirm your interest – you can request a telephone call back, or to do the survey online: socialenterprisesurvey@bmgresearch.com Social enterprises which are not SEUK members are also encouraged to take the survey – email socialenterprisesurvey@bmgresearch.com to express your interest in taking part. “Evidence matters – and the state of the sector surveys helps us all to get a better understanding of the pressures facing social enterprises, be that frontline staff, policy makers or funders. It helps to connect the dots and create the evidence base we need to spot trends, challenges and opportunities and provide the support social enterprises need.” - Lydia Levy, Head of Impact and Evaluation - Access -The Foundation for Social Investment. “There has been a lot of progress in supporting social enterprises to access the investment they need to create and sustain impact but we know there is still so much more to do. The SEUK SOSE survey gives us vital data on where barriers still exist in equality of access to finance, where products need to be improved and a better understanding of the current and future demand for capital. Simply put - what is working well and what is not. SOSE is a key tool in helping us to understand how our money can best be put to work.” - Melanie Mills, Head of Social Sector Engagement, Big Society Capital “The State of Social Enterprise (SOSE) is the best and most consistent source of in-depth data on social enterprises. At Social Investment Business, we believe passionately about supporting social enterprises with the right finance and support to build a fairer society. We believe equally passionately in the role of high-quality data and insights to make that support as effective as it can be. We are therefore proud to support SOSE and encourage all social enterprises to take part in the research” - Nick Temple, CEO Social Enterprise Business. SOSE is supported by:

Jeremy Nicholls is an international expert on social value and has written a paper on the Future of Social Value as part of our Social Value 2032 programme to stimulate discussion and debate. You can read the full paper here Jeremy’s views are his own and not representative of Social Enterprise UK or any of the Social Value 2032 partners. For those of us who think about social value in the context of the Social Value Act, the idea of social value is relatively new. For others it has been around a bit longer – rooted in the idea of value for society. Go back a bit further and economists, politicians and philosophers have been grappling with the question of value for society for a long time. The increase in the use of fossil fuels, the age of exploration – aka invasion, the enslavement of people whose countries had been ‘explored’ and the increase in the use of fossil fuels, alongside innovations in systems to manage all this; financial markets, accountancy, joint stock and later limited liability companies, all contributed to a rapid increase in global GDP.  All this drove, and still drives, more argument and debate over the nature of value. Arguments that became both revolutions and wars, over access to resources that drive capitalism and the distribution of the benefits that arise. And we built an economic system to allocate those resources to activities to meet those demands, And we talk as if markets had agency as opposed to being people, a few people in the end who either manage huge sums on behalf of others or own huge sums in their own right. Unfortunately we (I say we though I mean men) built an economic system on the premise that private financial returns will maximise wealth, a system where there is no feedback loop and no limit to that wealth – aside from there also being no control of its distribution - to the point that 1% of the world’s population own 52% of its wealth. So if social value is to be useful, it needs to be a vehicle for a more radical, systemic rethink of our economic system. It may be already too late to do this for so many people around the world, and the implications are coming closer to all of us. But it is not too late to redress some of this, to regenerate a damaged society or to provide hope for future generations.   We need to recognise that we allocate resources to activities that should meet people’s needs and that those needs relate to their well-being. This means realising that there is only so much well-being (currently largely measured still by wealth) that you can squeeze into somebody and that endlessly pursuing ever more wealth is no good for anyone. It means recognising that a living wage is one without endless worry and should not be a survival wage. It means recognising that dependency on supply chains where people work in conditions that are lower, much lower, than we would ever accept is a legal sidestep of responsibility as they are someone else’s issue. These are all issues that social value should address, and the international networks that promote and support approaches to accounting and management of social value seek to address. But they are also the issues that public sector accounting seeks to address, and that with a couple of small tweaks, even private sector accounting could address. Public sector accounting already references the purpose as being well-being. Charity trustees should already be able to evidence that the public benefits outweigh the negatives. Were it not for a private sector approach to accounting that allows obligations to be ignored, obligations that most people would, and company directors could, already be willing to recognise, it would quickly be much more aligned. Social value is a way that we can divert the corporation away from focusing purely on expectation of financial returns to an expectation of financial, and social and environmental returns. Ironically, despite the opposition from some, this more closely represents the real investor interest, the interests of you, me and wider society, not the “professional” investment managers. Remembering that the purpose of allocating our scarce resources is wellbeing, and that this means recognising how dependent we are on natural, social and human capitals, would allow us to align private public and charitable approaches to accounting, and to be held to account, even if indirectly, by the people experiencing the consequences of our private businesses and our public services. We could even unleash all our human creativity on a goal of contributing to sustainability (and those SDGs which would of course include financial returns). And we might find that sustainability, social value and multi capital approaches all share the same purpose of maintaining and enhancing well-being. Yes, I remain a resolute optimist, but these are all changes within our power, they are all systems created by people and they can be changed by people too. Public, private and non-profit sectors respond to the incentives that society sets in its legal frameworks. Small changes to these incentive systems - to the wiring behind the walls - can have significant consequences for how resources are allocated – to create social value. Some are already happening, like proposals around s172 of the Companies Act. Some changes will need to go further if we are to align incentives around well-being; changing the purpose behind international accounting standards, developing new public sector accounting standards and aligning accounting with cost benefit analysis. This is the future of social value.

The most recent Social Enterprise Barometer report published on 9 February shows that the next quarter is critical for many social enterprises with more than one in ten social enterprises across the UK expecting reduced turnover or to close due to the tough economic climate. The Social Enterprise Barometer reports are published quarterly and provide a snapshot of social enterprise performance and as well as how specific economic and political developments are affecting social enterprises. The February report showed that overall, across the 101 respondents, 14% are expecting to reduce turnover and staff or to close completely. This is the highest proportion reporting a growth decline since the survey began two years ago. High costs continue to challenge social enterprises. Almost two-thirds of the social enterprises who took the survey (62%) said they saw an increase compared to last quarter and almost half (48%) saw an increase in staffing costs. Although there was a slight improvement in cashflow and reserve positions this quarter, but a high number of social enterprises expressed concern about projected cashflow and income. When social enterprises were asked about their turnover position since July 2021, 21% said they saw a decrease while 37% said their turnover remained the same since then. Factors included a reduction in commissioning opportunities for public sector contracts and smaller contracts as local authority budgets struggle. Despite the tough economic climate, more than half of the social enterprises surveyed said demand for their products and services increased. The number of people being supported through social missions has also increased since last quarter to 63%, demonstrating how social enterprises prioritisation of their mission continues to deliver in times of need. Social enterprises in London reported particularly weak growth and cashflow positions compared to counterparts elsewhere in the UK. Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of SEUK, commenting on the findings said: “As the UK economy is predicted to fall into another recession and interest rates hit their highest levels in more than a decade, social enterprises continue to face a tough economic climate. “For many, the financial support they will try to get next quarter will be critical to their survival. “More than three quarters of social enterprises reported that the profits they reinvested into their social or environmental mission has increased or stayed level, highlighting the resilience and importance of the social enterprise business model to increase investment in the communities they serve. “Government support must prioritise sustaining businesses that serve our economy, community and planet in order to maximise returns on investment and to ensure that otherwise viable social enterprises aren’t lost to economic uncertainty.” The Social Enterprise Barometer report can be accessed through SEUK’s Social Enterprise Knowledge Centre. The Social Enterprise Knowledge Centre seeks to be the UK’s most comprehensive source of evidence on social enterprise. Click here to read the full Barometer Report

Commenting on the need for responsibility for social enterprise to be moved into the new Department for Business and Trade, Peter Holbrook CEO of Social Enterprise UK said: The creation of the Department for Business and Trade is a welcome move that will allow a single department to focus exclusively on creating an environment which will allow business to thrive. However, it is essential that this department is given explicit responsibility for social enterprise. Social enterprises are the best of business, growing the economy whilst also addressing the entrenched social and environmental challenges. As businesses, decisions made in this new department will have a big impact on the sector’s future. That’s why it is important that social enterprise sits with the rest of the business community in this new department. It is why social enterprises have been calling to be treated the same as the rest of the business community for years. We have an opportunity to fully embed social enterprise into the government’s new approach to business. I hope that the Prime Minister will listen to the hundreds of thousands of social entrepreneurs in this country and show them his government backs them.

According to Social Enterprise UK cuts to energy support for business will not deliver savings and could cost taxpayers more. If the proposed changes go through as many as 10,000 social enterprises could face closure putting as many as 160,000 jobs at risk and costing the UK billions in lost output and tax revenue. Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK commented: “British businesses that should be at the heart of our economic recovery face the threat of closure should the Government prematurely cut back its energy support package for business. In the social enterprise sector, even the existing package has proven inadequate, with at least 3,900 social enterprises set to close, and over 10,000 more at risk of closure. This could put as many as 160,000 jobs at risk and could potentially cost the UK billions in lost output and tax revenue. The long-term costs to the economy would likely outweigh any savings made today from cutting energy support. If the Government goes through with further reductions in support, then the collapse of more social enterprises will become inevitable. Communities across the country will be deprived of businesses that are committed to investing in tackling social challenges and fostering inclusive growth. Supporting social enterprise today is not a cost, but an investment, one that will pay dividends when viable businesses survive these hard times and are able to drive the future recovery.”

Launching in January 2023, Social Procurement Connect is a new initiative from Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) created to support organisations add social value and impact into their supply chains. Building on the successes of SEUK’s Buy Social Corporate Challenge, which has directed over £250 million towards social enterprise suppliers, Social Procurement Connect will take our social procurement experience and expertise to a broader community of organisations. It will be a digital service to guide and support organisations who want to improve their purchasing and buy from social enterprises centred around an online resource hub which will contain best practice learnings, and tools developed by SEUK. Social Procurement Connect is open to any organisation interested in bringing social enterprises into their supply chain from social enterprises themselves to private and public sector organisations. Through joining Social Procurement Connect participating organisations will benefit from: Tips for creating and implementing an organisational social procurement initiativeExpert insights on social enterprise suppliersA review of your supply chain and the opportunities it presents to bring in social enterprise and social value.An online peer community of leading social procurement practitioners and fellow early adoptersTools for better understanding your organisation’s impact through its supply chain Introductory webinar We will be hosting an introductory webinar to introduce Social Procurement Connect and social sourcing on 19 January 2023 from 10-11 am. You can register for the free webinar here.

Newcastle is the latest area to gain registered Social Enterprise Place status by Social Enterprise UK, recognising the city as a hotspot of social enterprise activity. Social Enterprise Places are areas of the country where social enterprises and key regional stakeholders such as local government, other businesses and universities have come together to form thriving areas of social enterprise activity. SEUK’s Social Enterprise Places Programme recognises and supports these areas. Newcastle is the 34th registered Social Enterprise Place in the UK and joins Gateshead, Sunderland and Durham as the next city in the North East to gain this status. The city is home to a dynamic social enterprise ecosystem with 323 social enterprises operating across the economy including youth services, arts and culture organisations, community health and wellbeing services, and business support bodies. They come in all sizes from businesses turning over millions to small community focused organisations. Social enterprises are also starting up in Newcastle at a rapid rate with the number of registered Community Interest Companies (CICs) growing by over a half between 2019 and 2022. The bid to become a Social Enterprise Place was co-ordinated by a stakeholder group which consisted of local social enterprises, Newcastle City Council and other organisations who have put together an action plan to create the best environment for these businesses to thrive in the city. Commenting on Newcastle becoming a Social Enterprise Place, Peter Holbrook Chief Executive at Social Enterprise UK said: “Newcastle is home to a vibrant, growing social enterprise community and we congratulate the city on gaining Social Enterprise Place status. We also recognise the incredible efforts of the social enterprises behind the bid to come together and set out a plan to further grow the impact of social enterprises in the city. As the cost of living crisis continues to bite and inequalities become ever more apparent, the role of social enterprise has never been more important. It is vital that these businesses, which are so often on the frontline of supporting communities through the crisis, are supported and invested in. Through becoming a registered Social Enterprise Place this fantastic city has committed to placing social enterprise at the heart of regional economic development.” For more information read this press release on the Newcastle City Council website. Find out more about the Social Enterprise Place programme here.