Category Archives: Social Business News

Big energy Idea – see the winners…

Economic Thought, Enterprise Start-ups, Social Business News, , , , , , ,

We recently featured the Ignite Social Enterprise initiative, the Big Energy Idea, which will put over £10 million pounds into the ‘social energy’ sector in the next ten years.

See our original article here.

Below is a short film of the recent Ignite ceremony, where ten passionate and technically informed social businesses won funding and support as the first tranche of winners in the Big Energy Idea.

At the inaugural event held at Centrica’s head offices on 29 and 30 April 2014, the successful Big Energy Ideas were selected. The 10 entrepreneurs will now work with an expert team from the energy sector to raise investment in their ventures in order to grow their companies and scale the social impact of their work.

You can discover more about the winners, and their enterprising ‘social energy’ ideas below…

Brackenburn Ltd is an ethical business established to produce biomass fuels derived from local sustainable resources, primarily bracken,
and to market to domestic customers and public sector, agricultural and commercial users within the region. internetIconMini  Read more here…

Energy Box: Based in Soho, Energy Box will deliver a £100 per year cost of energy reduction per household in fuel poverty while employing people from the same communities to manage and maintain the system.

Co-Wheels: Based in North East, UK wide, Co-Wheels is the first registered social enterprise that focuses on making personal mobility accessible for lower income communities while reducing car use.  internetIconMini Read more here…

Energise London: In four of London’s 33 boroughs, Energise London operate free energy savings advice helplines and train employees to recognise and address fuel poverty. internetIconMini Read more here…

Energy Solutions Malvern: Based in West Midlands, Energy Solutions Malvern provide renewable energy installations to customers who enjoy return on investments and environmental benefits from a reduction in their carbon footprint.   internetIconMini Read more here…

Gower Power: Based in Wales, Gower Power will build solar farms, providing green electricity for households and a local school. Using the
Feed In Tariff income they will grow affordable, local produced food on the farm owned as part of the Co-op structure.  internetIconMini Read more here…

GrowUp Urban Farms: Based in London, GrowUp Urban Farms will create urban farms that use sustainable technology to grow food for local communities that lack open spaces in a way that is energy efficient.  internetIconMini Read more here…

Health Squared: Based in North Yorkshire, Health Squared sell wood briquettes as a commercial venture for public good. Working with local health partners, their public
good is providing renewable energy to all customers and free briquettes to targeted older peopel to keep them warm.  internetIconMini Read more here…

Rekindling: Based in London, Rekindling will support the rehabilitation of offenders by making what would otherwise have been waste wood into bags of firewood and kindling which will be sold commercially.

Sust-It: Based in the South West, Sust-It is a customer focused energy use comparison and
advice website that assists low income individuals and improve energy literacy.  internetIconMini Read more here…

It is great to see the vibrancy and enterprise in this newly emergent sector. The project winners are innovative organisations with a social mission, whose work provides change and efficiency both up and down the supply chain.

We wish them well and look forward to the next cohort of Big Energy Idea winners.

Winner narratives for this article courtesy of Ignite

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

Profit – not always the point

Community Economics, Economic Thought, Social Business News, Social Finance, , , ,

Harish Manwani, the Chief Operating Officer of Unilever argues that values, purpose and sustainability are, should be, key business drivers.

A short journal entry. The film, the words say it all!

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

Office of Fair Trading, banks and SME’s

Community Economics, Economic Thought, Social Business News, , , ,
Banking review SME 2014 cover pic
Moving very, very slowly…

Published a week or so ago now, the Office of Fair Trading update on their market review of banks and their attitudes and approaches to the SME sector makes for interesting reading.

The report notes that the mainstream banking sector has made some positive movements and improvements to their SME approaches, following the 2002 Competition Commission’s investigation into banking practice.

Icon for Adobe PDF View, print or download the full report from the OFT here.

However, there is much to be concerned about from an SME perspective ‘...the OFT has received concerns about failure to comply with…undertakings, which prevent banks from requiring an SME to take out a Business Current Account (BCA) in order to obtain a business loan (that is ‘bundling’ of BCAs with business loans). The OFT considers that compliance with these undertakings is important as they are designed to help providers to compete effectively in SME banking’.

Even in 2014 the report finds that…

  • The provision of business current accounts (BCAs) and business loans remains concentrated among a small number of major banks.
  • Barriers to entry and expansion may be contributing to newer or smaller providers finding it difficult to enter and expand their business across the core business banking products.
  • SMEs find it hard to differentiate between providers. There are low levels of shopping around and switching, and low awareness of alternative sources of finance.

More troubling is the aspect of the report which cites new, alternative lenders as being hampered in delivering services to SME’s because, allegedly, the mainstream banks are moving at a snails pace when authorising transfers or in waiving security on current loan arrangements for additional alternative lender charges to be rendered.

Two things occur. The notion of  ‘level playing field’ is rendered useless in competition terms, and that the openness and clarity of most of the Social Finance sector, given their strong ethical and community focus, shines like a beacon across the current banking landscape.

internetIconMini Read the full Office of Fair Trading Press release on-line here.

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

The Big Energy Idea

Enterprise Start-ups, Impact Investment, Social Business News, Social Finance, , , , ,

A new fund on the block for 2014, supported by Centrica through their Ignite Social Enterprise, the money available is to support entrepreneurs in the energy sector.

Do you have a sustainable energy idea, the delivery of which can change and sustain communities? Whether you just have an idea, or are already seeking capital investment for your product or service, the Ignite fund is worth a look.

Centrica are providing funding of £10 million over the next ten years. The fund is seeking to make investments of between £50,000 and £2 million.

Your project must have clearly identifiable social aims, with clear outputs and goals and be energy sector facing. Your engagement with the Ignite fund may be as equity or as debt.

Ignite…driving innovation at every point of the energy chain – from sourcing and generation through to supply, service and saving energy. And by investing in social enterprises we’re making a positive impact on employment, income, housing and local communities.

To find out more about the fund you can visit the How to Apply section of their website here,  All the eligibility criteria for the fund are available and you can apply on-line from the fund web site.

If successful in a bid, the top three applicants will also be able to join the Wayra Academy in London, for ongoing support and project development, You can read the Wayra press release from the fund launch here.

Applications for this round of the Big Energy Idea close at the end of February 2014.

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

Expanding social finance?

Economic Thought, Social Business News, Social Finance, , , ,
Social investment funds image
Growing the social investment sector…

The Social Investment Business have indicated they may be getting ready to launch funds that serve social businesses outside the charity and traditional social enterprise sector.

Jonathan Jenkins of the The Social Investment Business, the UK’s largest social business lender, indicated at a recent speech, at a Somerset House Big Society Network event, stated that his organisation was looking at securing funding for businesses that have with-profit profiles, that could benefit from finance streams that are different from SIB’s core government funds.

This is an interesting development in the sector, with a major player in social finance now looking to support a wider category of socially minded businesses that value their social bottom line, as well as generate shareholder value.

In a sophisticated social business support landscape, this is a timely indication that the sector is moving towards a wider recognition of enterprises with ‘community sensibility’, but who can still perform and deliver within a more traditional business matrix.

To endorse this view Big Society Capital, at the same Somerset House event, opined that perhaps eight new funds of substance, based on these wider application criteria, might appear in the marketplace in 2014.

internetIconMini You can discover more about the Social investment Business on-line here…

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

 

Community Enterprise funding

Community Economics, Enterprise Start-ups, Social Business News, , , , , ,

‘Power to Change is a new initiative which will invest up to £150 million to support the development of sustainable community-led enterprises across England. It will be delivered by an independent Trust established next year’…The Big Lottery

A new Trust will be formed to deliver the Power to Change programme, which should become active in the Autumn of 2014.

This new fund represents a refreshed recognition that it is community enterprise which can play a key role in the regeneration of localities.

Whether you and your community are looking to develop pop-up shops, reclaim that closed library or to re-energise a community centre this new fund could be for you.

The new fund is an injection into the community business sector, much to be welcomed. As always, Oh that the pot was even bigger!

You can see examples of community enterprise to help define your vision here on the Big Lottery web site.

You can see the original Power to Change briefing document, including information on a range of existing funders for the sector as a pdf file here.

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

Supporting small business UK

SME Support, Social Business News, Social Finance, , , , ,

Vince Cable recently announced a variety of additional support mechanisms for small business – new funding for loans and additional mentoring and support services.

Business is Great Britain banner image

There is a new website – Business is Great Britain – which aims to provide information and resources to UK businesses to plan, export, lead and nurture their development.

The web pages also contain useful links to funding sources, business grants etc., to help that growth.

The new British Business Bank has allocated its first £45 million pound tranche of funds, the deployment of which should begin in early 2014. The money is being placed with finance intermediaries to explicitly be invested in the support of SME’s.

In the ministerial announcement was an indication that the funds may be invested in ‘…businesses that offer non-traditional channels of lending that may not be regulated by the Financial Services Authority or the Office of Fair Trading’. Is this an oblique reference to the Social Business market?

You can read the full ministerial announcement here.

The Sector Mentoring Challenge Fund aims to encourage employers, trade bodies and others to work together and deliver tailored mentoring solutions that address real business needs in their sector.

This is a one off funding tranche, competitively aspiring to fund innovative mentoring and support for business sectors. The Fund is specifically looking for proposals that can become self funding examples of sector support.

You can find application details for the 11th December deadline here…

Any help for the SME sector is useful in the current economic climate, although the acid test will be how conservative in approach these new intermediary funds turn out to be. More support, or more of the same, only time will tell?

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

 

Social Investment Research Council

Economic Thought, Social Business News, Social Finance, , ,
Big Society Capital image
New research, new ideas…

There is a new research body on the social finance block.  

Delivered from contributions by the Big Lottery Fund, Big Society Capital, Citi Microfinance, The City of London Corporation and the Cabinet Office – The Social Investment Research Council has emerged.

Read more about this new research body here…

The concept behind this new body is to be a focus for the smaller social enterprise, to help them review, explore and contribute to the social investment agenda.

The Research Council has two immediate projects; looking for new sources of capital for the UK social investment market and looking at the technicalities of improving the ‘pricing structure’ of the social investment market for existing participants.

New Sources of Capital

This research will run from November 2013 to March 2014. The deadline for submitting a tender for this project is Thursday 14th November. For the purposes of this research, the City of London Corporation will be the coordinator on behalf of the Council.

The terms of reference for this research can be accessed via the London Tenders Portal: www.londontenders.org

Improving infrastructure to price social investment

This research will run from November 2013 to May 2014. The deadline for submitting a tender for this project is Thursday 14th November.

For a copy of the terms of reference for this project and to express an interest, please contact researchcouncil@bigsocietycapital.com

In the next six months the Research Council will be calling for ideas from researchers and other key organisations in the sector to fuel a fuller research programme.

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

 

Nottingham, a city of making

Economic Forecasts, Economic Thought, Enterprise Start-ups, SME Support, Social Business News, , , ,
Academic underpinning of development - Nottingham has two universities...
Academic underpinning of development – Nottingham has two universities…

We featured the early results for GDP from the Office of National Statistics for Quarter 2 in 2013 recently. These are now firm and the results are detailed below. The slight air of optimism about UK Ltd continues to be felt, we would argue.

UK gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms was estimated to have increased by 0.7% between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013, unrevised from the Second Estimate of GDP published 23 August 2013. Between Q4 2012 and Q1 2013, GDP in volume terms increased by 0.4%, revised up from the previously estimated 0.3% increase.

We were also delighted to read a recent article in the national press, where Nottingham, our home city, was cited by the Governor of the Bank of England as a ‘bell-weather’ for the UK economy. With data showing that nine out of ten jobs in the city are currently in the service sector, a move back to ‘creative manufacturing’, in all it’s diversity, is a great echo to the high Victorian energy of the city.

Katie Allen, writing in The Guardian, described Mark Carney’s view of Nottingham as a city where growth was rising, but that the quality of that growth and innovation was also significant. Gone are bicycles and cigarettes, but they are replaced by significant entities in bio-science, engineering and the arts/creative sector.

Examples in our city include the creation of new Creative Quarter Community Interest Company, as well as the delivery of a new BioCity development to foster the city’s lead in the sciences.

With the development of the Creative Quarter, it is great to see social business as a key plank in the city’s developing enterprise structure.

If, as a social business looking to make an inward investment, or to explore the context of Nottingham a start-up or social business development setting – you can find the city’s Growth Plan online here.

The team at SEEM, with our expertise in social business start-up and skills in delivering social finance would be happy to help you shape your project too. Contact us here…

Interesting web resources:

Mapping the Moment – a map based examination of the ‘cultural industries’ in Nottingham between 1857 – 1867

Knitting Together – an examination of the East Midlands knitting industry, 1600 to 1970. (Much changes in the economic landscape for our city and its hinterland, but much remains the same. New technologies, mergers, enterprise rise and fall…)

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…

Social Business – the larger market

Events, Impact Investment, Social Business News, Social Finance, , , , ,
What are we not discussing?
What are we not discussing?

Social Business – the larger market for social finance and social impact

Next month I’ll be making my annual homage south to the ‘Good Deals’ conference in London to immerse myself in all things ‘Social Finance’ (www.good-dealsuk.com ) No doubt there will be a host of new investment vehicles to discover, angel investors to meet and a plethora of organisations looking for exciting investible propositions.

And when I arrive in the throbbing metropolis that is the epicentre for this rapidly developing industry, I’ll be asking one question; ‘When are you going to deal with the elephant in the room and redefine the market for social finance?

The brave new world of Social Finance shouldn’t be confined to expanding social enterprises or transforming charities; the market it simply isn’t big enough. It has to be about a much broader Social Business marketplace defined by an organisations’ ability to make a difference in society and not their legal persuasion.

Organisations and individuals looking to ‘Invest for Impact’ in the Social Business marketplace need to understand that there’s much to be done in terms of helping to shape, develop and widen access to social finance. We need better routes to market through Universities, LEPS and players such as the Chambers and the Federation of Small Businesses. We need well developed brokerage facilities, better physical access arrangements and much wider appreciation that at time when banks are loathe to part with their money, social finance can be conduit to growth, jobs and social impact.
Some would argue that it’s’ easier to socialise the private sector than it is to commercialise the third sector.

Whether you believe that or not, the two markets are not mutually exclusive and social finance needs to expand its horizons and seize the moment. Seldom can there have been a better time to provide finance to businesses that are willing to embed social and/or environmental impact in their operations. We simply need to provide a much greater awareness of the opportunity and the means to help investees articulate the difference they can make in people’s lives.

Celebrating the Good Deals Conference

Good Deals Logo pictureTo celebrate the Good Deals Conference, SEEM are offering a FREE tailored support opportunity for any organisation or individual that is intent on delivering social and/or environmental impact and want to access Social Finance to gear up their operations. To understand more about social finance and how to access it call telephoneIconMini0115 900 3299 before 31st October.

Roger H. Moors

Roger Moors is CEO of SEEM (Supporting Social Business) based in Nottingham. With a background in banking, Roger and SEEM broker social finance across the East Midlands and currently hold contracts with a number of intermediaries and funders including the Key Fund and Social Incubator North.

Ethical business with a social dimension...
Ethical business with a social dimension…