What is a social enterprise?
Social enterprises are businesses driven by a social or environmental purpose.
The SEED Project is working with social enterprises, as by nature they are very supportive environments and are therefore the ideal place to develop important skills, build confidence and move one step closer to gaining employment.
There are 62,000 social enterprises in the UK, contributing over £24bn to the economy, employing approximately 800,000 people (2005 - 2007 data from the Annual Survey of Small Business UK).
As with all businesses, they compete to deliver goods and services. The difference is that social purpose is at the very heart of what they do, and the profits they make are reinvested towards achieving that purpose.
Well known examples of social enterprises include the Big Issue, Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen, and the fairtrade chocolate company Divine Chocolate.
The government defines social enterprises as "businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners."
Social enterprises operate in almost every industry in the UK, such as health and social care, renewable energy, retail, recycling, employment, sport, housing and education. Whatever they do, they do it differently from typical business, because they are driven by a social or an environmental mission, and they are focused on the community they serve.
In a recent survey about social enterprises, 45% of respondents said that 'putting something back into the community' was their reason for setting up a social enterprise. (Definition from Social Enterprise Coalition)
For more information about Action for Blind People's SEED Project please contact us.
