Reports

The Winter 2021/2022 SEAP Barometer focused on the fallout from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the easing of COVID restrictions. 55% of social enterprises told us that COVID-related uncertainty was one of their biggest worries for the first half of 2022. Concerns were not just about restrictions, but also staffing (including ill health), demand, and general inability to plan and to secure income. The research also found that social enterprises were less likely to be making a loss than other businesses and that cashflow positions had remained steady.

The Commission on Social Investment was an independent group set up by Lord Victor Adebowale CBE to investigate the state of the social investment market and how the market could better enable the growth of social enterprises. SEUK provided the secretariat for the Commission which published its finding in January 2022 calling for a “comprehensive structural reform” to the social investment market arguing that “the needs of social enterprises have been deprioritised over the past decade”

Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has conducted a brief market analysis of UK social enterprises that sell retail products to consumers (consumer retail social enterprises). This analysis explores the size and growth potential of this sector, its social and environmental impact and barriers to growth. The research has been developed in partnership with the eBay for Change programme. ‘eBay for Change’ developed in partnership with Social Enterprise UK and The World Fair Trade Organization is a programme designed to support the growth of the social enterprise sector. Through an in-depth package of support, including zero fees, one to one digital skills and training and marketing support, the programme is helping social enterprises to set up and scale on eBay.co.uk. To enable eBay for Change to continue to grow and scale we need to understand more about the consumer retail social enterprise sector: this report provides important data to support this. The research finds that: There are around 36,000 – 43,000 consumer retail social enterprises: this is over a third of social enterprises operating in the UK.About 360 new social enterprises planning to sell retail products to consumers are being set up each month in the UK.Three-quarters expect their consumer retail business to grow in the next 12 months, and of these, almost a third expect substantial growthThere is an optimistic and rapidly growing start-up segment which further indicates growth potential in retail social enterprises, with the right support. 40% of those established in the last year expect to ‘grow a lot’.Retail sales are often not the social enterprise’s primary income source. Most consumer retail social enterprises also generate revenue from other means, and many work across non-retail sectors. This indicates further potential growth if these businesses can increase retail sales as a proportion of their trading income.Social enterprises that sell retail products have diverse leadership and social and environmental missions, making their work inclusive and impactful.

The Social Enterprise Barometer provides a quarterly update on social enterprise performance. It uses data collected from SEUK’s Social Enterprise Advisory Panel to give up-to-date information about the financial health and growth of social enterprises. 61% of social enterprises made a profit or broke even last quarter.Staff numbers increased slightly or significantly for 36% of social enterprises in the previous quarter.Reserves (cash in the bank) decreased for 39% of social enterprises last quarter.As of September 2021, 69% of social enterprises have funds to operate for at least three months.73% of social enterprises expect their staff numbers and turnover to stay the same or grow in the next three to six months; 4% expect to decrease turnover and/or staff, or to close

The State of Social Enterprise report is the definitive guide to the state of the social enterprise sector in the UK containing data on turnover, scale, who social enterprises employ, where they operate, who they trade with, pay ratios and more. Published every two years it’s the place to go to for in-depth information on the sector. No Going Back – The State of Social Enterprise Survey 2021 is the latest state of the sector report written by Social Enterprise UK and supported by Barclays. It shows that in spite of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, social enterprises are delivering economically, environmentally and socially.

Social enterprises are delivering high returns to the ‘build back’ effort. The sector is sustaining and creating good jobs, providing vital goods, services and support – and is returning to growth, in spite of facing difficulties accessing state support – and relying less on this support during the crisis than business overall. Troubleshooting need throughout the crisis, social enterprises have supported communities, addressed health and social care inequalities and responded to need over the last year, with many going beyond their normal business activities and social missions. The last year has seen a jump in interest in social enterprise. As well as a general rise in consumer interest in socially and environmentally inclusive business models, and growing engagement on socially and environmentally inclusive activity in core business, there has been a significant rise in community interest company (CIC) registration over the last 12 months. This report looks at how social enterprise has fared over the last year of the COVID crisis, using data from the Social Enterprise Advisory Panel and case studies. It makes recommendations about what is needed to ensure that social enterprise can deliver its potential in recovery.

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the economy. Communities will need help to rebuild at a time when there is growing strain on central and local government budgets. Although some households have seen their financial position worsen, others have seen it improve as they have been unable to spend due to COVID restrictions. Parts of society have seen significant increase in private savings. According to one research report, higher income households will have over £80bn in additional savings At a time when interest rates are at record lows there is an opportunity to use these savings productively to help communities to build back better. This report looks at how COVID savings can be used for public good with a specific focus on the use and expansion of Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) to help social enterprises grow and create jobs. It proposes the use of SITR to help create “Build Back Britain” funds, place-based and used to support communities get back on their feet.

This report has been produced by The Association of Financial Mutuals, The Building Societies Association, Co-operatives UK, EOA and Social Enterprise UK, which between them represent mutuals, cooperatives and social enterprises operating right across the UK economy, and which employ over 2 million people. A YouGov survey in July 2020 showed 85% of consumers would prefer to buy from businesses that had a strong record for good conduct. Even before Covid, business groups had begun to see that a greater recognition of the role of business in, and impact on, society was required – and a reawakening of the question of purpose – why does a business exist, what societal need is it seeking to address, and how does it deliver this?