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With the UK Government now promising a ‘New Deal for Working People’ that will overhaul existing conditions and strengthen workers’ rights, the world of work is at the heart of political debate - but what does good work look like? Our latest research suggests that social enterprises can offer a blueprint for a better way of doing business. Our new paper, published in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation, delves into the quality of employment created by social enterprises compared to the wider business community. From training and pay to flexibility and inclusion, the report finds that social enterprises represent business at its best  – which helps them recruit and retain staff. While millions of UK workers take home wages that won’t cover basic necessities, social enterprise employers are far more likely to pay the real Living Wage (RLW). Eight in ten social enterprises pay the RLW (currently £12 across the UK and £13.15 in London) compared to just one in nine employers as a whole. They are often also set up to create jobs and opportunities for those furthest from the labour market such as disabled people, those with mental health problems and the long-term unemployed. Once in work, the research showed that social enterprises are more likely than other businesses to offer training and development opportunities, with 77% providing this compared to just 60% of other businesses. Social enterprises are also shown to have a diverse range of ownership and leadership models, which are more likely to provide workers with a voice to influence their organisation; 38% of those with business boards reported that membership included employees. A dedication to changing employment practices can be found in social enterprise Clean for Good, which is featured as a case study in the report. It shows how a social enterprise can challenge practices in the traditionally exploitative cleaning sector through a dedication to paying the RLW. Satisfaction rates at the business are regularly in excess of 85%, and all of its cleaners enjoy terms and conditions above the statutory minimums. Instead of a race to the bottom, it’s using its position as a business dedicated to the wellbeing of staff as a factor in winning new contracts. Our head of research Dean Hochlaf, who led the report, said: "Good working conditions are the foundation of a stronger, fairer, more prosperous economy – and it’s clear from this in-depth study that social enterprises are leading the business community in setting higher standards for their workforce and creating better employment opportunities for everyone. In turn, social enterprises are reaping rewards from recruitment and retention to morale and productivity, showing that good work can be good for business.”

Our new government put forward a long list of Bills in the King’s Speech, many of which hold significant potential value for progressing social enterprise – from corporate governance reform to green investment, workers rights to mental health support, and community ownership to skills development. Overall, it seems our political leaders have nearly grasped that mission-led business can be key part of the answer to many of the challenges we - and they - face, but still not yet fully realised our potential.  The proposed Employment Rights Bill helps align mainstream business with practices already common among social enterprises. Social enterprises are more likely than other businesses to pay the Real Living Wage, offer flexible working and include staff in decision-making. Whereas mainstream businesses have a knee-jerk opposition to improving rights, social enterprises focus on addressing barriers, such as limitations imposed by public sector contracts. Proposed legislation to improve business behaviour and delivery for consumers on water [1], football, buses and rail offer an eclectic approach from nationalisation to sanctions. However, there is a common theme in focusing on purpose rather than profit across public services, utilities and community assets. While greater transparency is welcome, the Bill needs to be more ambitious, pushing all businesses to behave well rather than just trying to stop the worst offenders from exploiting gaps. Proposed corporate governance legalisation, for instance, is a missed opportunity to join the dots between poor performance of public service provision and regulation. It is also not yet clear how the government’s role in derisking private investment - as proposed across the National Wealth Fund, British Business Bank, UK Infrastructure Bank and more - will trickle down to SMEs and social enterprises, or how these huge funds will be owned and governed for the longer term. On Great British Energy, plans are still a bit muddled. The King’s Speech specifically said the government will develop, own and operate assets – rather than making investments, which was previously proposed. Either way, we await the detail on opportunities for community energy and whether communities will be able to take forward projects on similar terms to local authorities.    Both the Product Safety and Metrology Bill and Digital Information and Smart Data Bill provide opportunities to ensure democratic and inclusive access to technology and data – as set out through the Future Economy Alliance’s work [2], which Social Enterprise UK has helped convene. The English Devolution Bill offers potential to build on what we’ve already seen in the Devolved Nations and Mayoral Combined Authority areas, whereby strategic social enterprise support has been much stronger than in Westminster. We await more clarity about which departments and ministers will take responsibility for social enterprise, and where the commitment to grow diverse business models - doubling coops and mutuals - will sit. [1] Letter: Water crisis is a chance to reset business norms (archive.ph) [2]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64a584ea841fde6445ba3478/t/65e208500a24c92b7c7e764d/1709312083037/Business+Plan+for+Britain+full+report.pdf

Billions of people will vote in national elections this year – in 97 countries around the world from the US to France, India, Brazil and beyond. There’s a lot happening. For some of us, these election campaigns are overlapping with the cricket 2020 world cup, then the Euros, which in turn run into Wimbledon, and the Tour de France, which will lead into the Olympics. For others, maybe House of the Dragon is competing with Glastonbury and Co-operative Fortnight, or whatever else you’ve got going on. It seems to be a busy, overlapping, even overwhelming and certainly confusing time. Anyway, congratulations to our new Labour government in forming a historic majority in Parliament. What does this mean for social enterprise? What have Labour said about us?  Well, there are some exciting signs, as well as some rather messy, fuzzy and confusing messages. Excitingly, the Labour manifesto makes a clear commitment to “support diverse business models” as well as aiming to double the size of the UK’s co-operative and mutuals sector. This is fantastic news. Any advocate for social enterprise - co-operative or otherwise - should celebrate this explicit commitment to alternative ownership models from the UK government, for the first time in a long time. At Social Enterprise UK, we are pleased and proud to have worked with our friends at Co-operatives UK and the Co-op Party in pushing both the tighter focus on co-ops and the broader agenda around business diversity. Meanwhile, Labour grandees are talking up the idea of an Office for the Impact Economy[1]. Labour mayors are - not just talking about – but also supporting the social economy in Bristol and London, business for good in West Yorkshire, and the VCSE sector in Greater Manchester. Our partners in the Future Economy Alliance have come together under the banner of mission-led businesses (which echoes Labour’s talk of mission-led government) while others have decided they like the term purpose driven business. There’s a lot going on. These terms can be confusing. Of course they overlap. Many of our members are social enterprises and co-operatives and mutuals, driven by purpose and focused on a mission. Ultimately, even while we may pine for greater convergence and consistency in language, the good news is that we now have the government’s manifesto, as well as powerful regional and national politicians, focused on our movement, seeing social enterprise and family as part of the solution. We must await what this means in practice for helping social enterprises grow and thrive. Will these promises help smooth the flow of funding and finance, improve procurement and public services, level the playing field and the business landscape, and bolster the capacity of entrepreneurs and teams working in social enterprises? As the leading national voice for social enterprise, we will of course work to help turn the government’s policy promises into practical and useful support for our members and beyond. The new government has set out various other policies in its manifesto. Many of our members will be pleased to see the commitment to more care delivered locally, to spotting problems earlier and shifting resources to community services. Others will have questions about using public funds to de-risk private investment, with concerns about socialising risk and privatising reward. Some will want to deepen commitment to addressing the climate emergency. A lot would like a little less talk of UK PLC and a more imaginative conception of UK CIC. Some of us are impatient for deeper, more structural transformation across our economy, democracy, and country. Today’s change of government is just the start. By Dan Gregory - Director at Social Enterprise UK [1] https://www.cityam.com/labour-must-partner-with-businesses-in-the-impact-economy/ https://www.probonoeconomics.com/what-would-an-office-for-the-impact-economy-mean-for-charities

Corporate supply chains are changing. Big businesses increasingly look at environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations when it comes to who they spend their money with, and we’ve been at the heart of this shift. Our Buy Social Corporate Challenge is now entering its ninth year of supporting big businesses to bring social enterprises into their supply chains. Since launching at Downing Street in 2016, £477 million has been spent with social enterprises by 30 major corporate partners across all business sectors. The premise of the Challenge is simple: working with corporates to use their core business spend to create positive social and environmental impact. Buying from social enterprises allows companies to make progress across ESG priorities, through spending their money with organisations dedicated to addressing social issues and protecting our planet. Our latest annual report shows the Challenge had the most successful year ever, as partners spent £123 million with social enterprise suppliers. These range from businesses tackling period poverty and re-purposing old office furniture to those creating jobs for people marginalised by the labour market - such as those experiencing homelessness, refugees and the long-term unemployed. Around 4,515 social enterprise jobs have been created thanks to contracts won through the Challenge, with 992 social enterprises supplying Challenge partners last year alone. The number of trading relationships between social enterprise suppliers and Challenge buyers has increased by 74% in just the last two years, showing rising interest in social procurement. Charlie Wigglesworth, Deputy Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK, said: “These latest results show that our Buy Social Corporate Challenge is not some well-meaning experiment for businesses willing to try something different – it’s a powerful force for change in corporate supply chains. We’re proud to see social enterprise at the forefront of this transformation. “Crucially, every single one of our corporate partners reported that social enterprises deliver comparable or higher quality products or services compared with other suppliers – a glowing endorsement and reminder that doing business with purpose beyond profit doesn’t mean compromising on standards. “With millions being reinvested in people and planet through our Challenge and the wider social procurement movement, we hope our vital work continues to inspire the public and private sectors to take action for the future of business.” Click here to read the Buy Social Corporate Challenge Year 8 Impact Report The Buy Social Corporate Challenge partners are Amey, AstraZeneca, AXA, CBRE, Compass/Foodbuy, Co-op, Deloitte, Equans, EY, John Sisk & Son Ltd, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Landmarc Support Services, Lendlease, Linklaters, LV=, Mitie, Nationwide, Nestle, NFU Mutual, PwC, Robertson Group, SAP, Siemens, Sodexo, The Crown Estate, Wates Group, Willmott Dixon, and Zurich Insurance Group. To find out more about our social procurement work and how your business can get involved in our programmes click here or contact socialprocurement@socialenterprise.org.uk

The various forms of repayable finance in the social investment sector play an important role in the social enterprise support eco-system, and can be vital for growth and development. However, the sector has been subject to scrutiny in terms of staff and portfolio diversity - particularly in terms of racial inclusion, and its ability to direct investment where it is most needed. Our new report, published with the London School of Economics and supported by the Connect Fund, uses elite education as a proxy to investigate aspects of diversity not yet well analysed in the sector: socio-economic inclusion, and the role of power and privilege among those who work for social investors.  The LinkedIn profiles of individuals working at social investment institutions were used as the main source of information to inform this research. Findings showed that 19% of employees had studied at an elite university with 12% of those sampled having studied at Oxford or Cambridge, more than ten times that of the UK population. Elite-educated employees represent a higher proportion of employees in social investment organisations than in the population in general, and a similar proportion to those in the mainstream investment sector. Given the variety of types of social investment providers, the research looked at the educational background of staff at different sorts of investors - with venture capital investors and social investment ‘wholesalers’ containing the highest proportion of individuals with an elite education, while social banks and Community Development Financial Institutions contained the least. The education of social enterprise leaders themselves was also studied, with analysis suggesting that being privately educated did not mean you were more likely to access funding or finance. However, interviews with those working in social enterprises who attended a state secondary school raised the need for investors to have a better understanding of working-class businesses in working-class communities. Whilst many social investors are taking steps to address imbalances in terms of diversity, it is important that the role of socio-economic advantage is incorporated into this work, so that investment can be better directed to people and communities that have been historically disenfranchised. The research was supported by the Connect Fund

Based on a quarterly survey of our members, the latest Insight Paper on our Social Enterprise Knowledge Centre gives us a snapshot of sector conditions and expectations. This new research focused on social enterprises’ ability to increase turnover and generate profit during ongoing economic turmoil but also explored property status, trading with local government and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the sector. We found that the challenging economic conditions faced by all businesses are starting to impact the financial performance of social enterprises, with a downward shift in the proportion reporting a growth in turnover. However, half of all social enterprises surveyed reported increasing their turnover in the past year, compared to the 34% of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who reported turnover growth. Whilst social enterprises are outperforming SMEs in this respect, profitability is significantly lower among social enterprises than the wider SME community. A key issue affecting social enterprise finances is rising property costs and uncertain tenancy statuses. The research looks at how this is  affecting social enterprises’ ability to meet their missions, with more resources going to meet costs like rent –  and also their ability to benefit from government support, such as the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, which was designed to help organisations reduce energy costs but is only available to those with long-term arrangements for their premises and permission to make adaptions. This quarter’s paper shows economic instability starting to really impact our resilient sector, which has weathered several years of economic shocks. The experience of social enterprises is now more closely aligned with the wider business community: surviving but failing to thrive. In the run up to the July election we will be campaigning hard to make sure political leaders not only understand the issues our sector faces but put in place measures to unleash our full potential, so that social enterprises can continue to tackle the most pressing societal challenges while supporting wider economic recovery.

Earlier this month, the Social Enterprise UK team was at The Workplace Event 2024 at Birmingham NEC and together with our partners Waste to Wonder Worldwide and Nineteen Group we were proud to launch the first ever Social Enterprise Village at an event of this scale. With 25 leading social enterprises exhibiting and over 5000 delegates attending across the three days, there were plenty of opportunities for the social enterprises to showcase their products and services and the social and environmental impact they have. From recycling services to tea, and from tackling period poverty to air quality, the event showcased the strength and diversity of the sector. In addition to giving the social enterprises a platform, it was great to see the number of organisations looking, often for the first time, to work more with our sector. More and more businesses are engaging with social enterprises to support their social value and environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, highlighting the value of collaboration as the business community works towards creating a fairer and more sustainable society. We would like to thank all the social enterprises who participated in the event, as well as our partners, Waste to Wonder and Nineteen Group. We will continue to work together to drive the growth of the social enterprise movement and we look forward to the return of the Social Enterprise Village at The Workplace Event 2025.To find out more about the event, watch the video below produced by social enterprise, Inside Job Productions: https://vimeo.com/946139860 This is what some of our members who were exhibiting had to say about the event: Planet First Energy CIC "Planet First Energy CIC had an exceptional experience at the Workplace Event hosted at the NEC Birmingham within the innovative Social Enterprise village, facilitated by Social Enterprise UK and Waste to Wonder. Our Managing Director, Steve Silverwood, delivered an insightful session spotlighting our social enterprise's mission, services, and our commitment to tackling fuel poverty, drawing significant interest from attendees. Furthermore, we had the privilege to network with key personnel from Social Enterprise UK and forge valuable connections with fellow social enterprises, gaining insights into their impactful initiatives and exploring collaborative opportunities. The event served as a great platform to showcase our endeavours, exchange ideas, and strengthen our collective efforts towards creating positive social change. We look forward to attending next year." Nuneaton Signs "We were very impressed by the Social Enterprise Village at the Workplace Show, it was great to network with other Social Enterprises and discover how they interact with the FM and workplace market. The chance to meet some of the Corporate Challenge partners was welcomed, we hope to continue our business development in this sector with them and look forward to following up. The pre event promotion was exceptionally good with the organised approach to Social Media posts being particularly valuable, we had a significant amount of interest, with many existing customers getting in touch." Belu "We enjoyed attending, especially meeting and chatting to our fellow social enterprises at the Workplace Event. It’s a relatively small world and great to meet likeminded folks who are using business as a mean for good! Social Enterprise UK is a fantastic organisation and are helping build a community with a rapidly growing influence in the UK economy"

On 2 May we joined hundreds of people from across our mission-led movement for a Future Economy Alliance battle planning session, preparing to push our sector up the policy agenda for the general election and beyond. Chaired by Alex Birtles, founder of our Alliance partner and supporter member In Good Company, the event brought campaigners together to discuss the role of mission-led organisations in the economy and how we can make our way of working the national norm. The need to change ‘business as usual’ The opening speaker was our Chair, Lord Victor Adebowale, who set out why social enterprises and other mission-led organisations are so vitally needed. Speaking from the House of Lords, he noted that life expectancy falls as you go further away from Westminster, with inequalities in everything from education to care and a growing sense of unease across the country.   Summing up the need for the Future Economy Alliance, the people’s peer said: "Everywhere from our trains to our water, you can see it’s possible to run a frankly shocking service while providing vital resources and still make a profit. Most people in this country now feel things aren’t right, we’re being ripped off. There’s a fundamental problem with the system that shapes our lives, our economic infrastructure – so we have to challenge it and change it. We have one economy, we all work for it, and it has to work for all of us too." Emphasising the importance of action before a general election, he added: "If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got, and that sense of it not being right will grow. Never before has the choice been so stark about the future that you want to vote for. The public have to get behind us and the politicians have to listen to us. Something different has to happen.” The new Business Plan for Britain The economy is broken and we know that our movement of mission-led organisations can offer solutions to fix it. Our director Dan Gregory set out the key themes of the Alliance’s ‘Business Plan for Britain’, which focuses on five key areas where policy intervention could unlock the full potential of our mission-led movement. Dan represented Social Enterprise UK but was joined by partners across the Alliance, which includes models from co-operatives and employee-ownership to community business and social investment- and what was evident from the conversation was the vital importance of collaboration so we can be stronger together. James Wright, Policy and Development Lead at Co-operatives UK, stated how  important it is for co-ops to be part of a wider movement and highlighted the need to raise awareness of the mission-led sector beyond our individual business models. Oliver Smith, Deputy Chief Executive of the Employee Ownership Association, echoed this by talking about how we have more impact in numbers - emphasising the shared belief that “business and society are better when people have a meaningful stake and say in their work”. Helen Curr, CEO of healthcare social enterprise Here, stressed how it joined the campaign inspired by Nye Bevan’s original vision for the NHS based on a “redistribution of wealth and a re-balancing of society” and the desire to “raise a collective voice of doing things differently”. The final member of the panel was Ian McGrady, Managing Director of North West based social enterprise Edsential, which provides services for schools and joined the Alliance to “give us a larger voice”. Ian said that our sector has been “hiding in the shadows” but we can use the evidence of our collective impact to show that “this sector can be trusted with delivery”. Oliver echoed the importance of gathering and sharing good data on the benefits of our way of working, citing many examples: "We tend to be more productive, we benefit local economies, we do community work and volunteering, we have better supported employees and more diverse workforce – so the more of us that work together, the more we can achieve." The action you can take to fix our economy Through the discussion, the challenge was set out: to make our movement not a part of the economy but the heart of it. The Future Economy Alliance is nothing without the many hundreds of thousands of organisations we represent, and we need your help to make sure our leaders understand the scale and power of our sector. Your voices and stories are vital to showcase the value of mission-led organisations and push our way of working up the political agenda for the election and beyond. To help you do this, we’re going to be providing you with resources throughout this long campaign, starting with our campaign toolkit. This contains a template letter to invite your MP to your organisation, template press releases, social media copy and infographics to raise the profile of the work that you do and our wider mission-led movement. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT You can watch the full recording of the webinar below: