ENTERPRISING SERVICES:
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE –
AN INTRODUCTI O N
ABOUT SCA

Formed 20 years ago – emerged from a CVS when started providing
social care under contract to local authority

Grew organically into care, health, transport and community services

Now turnover £11.5 million, direct services to 100,000 people a year,
coupled with wider community support.

600 staff and growing
WHAT WE DO

Care & Support – 20,000 people at home and in the community –
specialisms include hospital discharge, reablement, high
dependence, community based hubs

Community Transport – 95,000 journeys a year – open up worlds
and connecting people

Wellbeing Centre – transformed disused community hospital to
sustainable community owned enterprise

Community Dentistry – 70,000 people a year access to NHS
services

Consultancy and training – delivered support to charities, local
authorities and NHS Trusts
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
A concept not an entity
“A social enterprise is a business 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” (Cabinet Office, UK Government, 2002)
THE SOCIAL ECONOMY
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL
ENTERPRISES
•
Organisation with explicit social aim
•
Income predominantly derived from trading (at least in the long
term): the sale of goods or services
•
Profit is for activities supporting social aim i.e. reinvestment, funding
of social programmes, or profit-sharing
•
Alternative business model with multiple bottom lines ie. combines
financial sustainability with social / environmental missions
THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
BENEFITS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
•
Flexible and innovative business model
•
Diversification and control of revenue sources offers potential for
enhanced sustainability
•
Independent revenue offers ability for organisation to follow strategic
vision rather than funding outcomes
•
Credible offer to take on public service provision
•
Appeals to public appetite for ethical trading
•
Services and activities that may not otherwise have been provided
BUSINESS MODELS INCLUDE
•
Co-operative
•
Development Trust
•
Social Firm
•
Industrial and Provident Society
•
Credit Union
and more…
POPULAR AREAS OF SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE SERVICE DELIVERY
• health and social care – The SCA Group
• transport services – SCA, HCT
• refuse collection/recycling – Green-Works
• sport and leisure services - GLL
• housing and sheltered accommodation – Coin Street
• early years childcare – London Early Years Foundation
• disability support – Sector Mailing Services (Southampton)
• retail – ONE/ Divine Chocolate
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BENEFITS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
•
Control
•`
Generate independent surplus
•
Ability to bid for greater number and range of contracts and
business opportunities
•
Taking proactive response to budget cuts – protecting jobs and
innovating in terms of delivery
•
Increased opportunity to involve service users in design and
delivery
•
Opportunity to be part of fast growing, exciting business
movement
GROWING ENTHUSIASM…
Increasingly government and larger charities keen to work
with social enterprise in order to improve service delivery in a
number of ways:
•
•
•
•
•
Income generation
Community involvement
Capacity to deliver beyond the public sector (bringing
private finance into public service)
Innovation in delivery
Financial efficiencies
CHALLENGES TO SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
•
Is there really a market?
•
Developing the culture of enterprise – who are the public sector
social entrepreneurs?
•
Questions over how efficiencies are created – does it actually
save money?
•
Using the market to deliver social impact
•
Impact on staff terms and conditions, including pensions
•
Lack of investment and finance
CHALLENGES TO GROWTH
- EXTERNAL
• Commissioners lack of understanding of business model and mission
• State Aid – many have received a great deal of public sector support
• Scale – the drive to larger, fewer public contracts can hinder smaller
providers, including social enterprises
• The cost of winning public contracts – eg TUPE
• Tighter financial margins give very little room for innovation
• Private sector competitors increasingly skilled at promoting added
social value – representing as effectively as social enterprises often
do through the tender process
• Perceived higher risk of social enterprise providers
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CHALLENGES TO GROWTH
- INTERNAL
• Leadership inexperience – the skills and contacts to win public sector
contracts are specialist and are not always present in social
enterprise leadership
• Corporate marketing and selling – scaling up is often a weakness
• ‘Bankability’ – increasingly social investment funds are willing to
support ‘unbankable’ enterprises, but public sector commissioners
are not
• Capacity – bidding takes a lot of work, and demands are only
increasing
• Willingness to create partnerships and bid as part of consortia
• Demonstrating social value
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ACHIEVING SUCCESS
Aspiring social enterprise leaders and staff need to develop certain attributes and
go through a clear process to establish a successful social enterprise:
•
•
Need to show vision, energy, entrepreneurial spirit, business sense
and focus
Go through a seven step process:







Outline vision
Engage stakeholders
Decide who’s in control
Get the business plan in place
Get the numbers right
Negotiate with the local authority
Get cracking!
MORE INFORMATION
The SCA Group www.scagroup.co.uk
Social Enterprise UK www.socialenterprise.org.uk
The Social Investment Business www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org
UnLtd www.unltd.org.uk
Social Firms UK www.socialfirmsuk.co.uk
Co-operatives UK www.uk.coop
Locality www.locality.org.uk
Big Society Capital www.bigsocietycapital.com
Community Action Hampshire www.actionhants.org.uk
NCVO www.ncvo.org.uk
Acevo www.acevo.org.uk
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M AT T J A R R AT T
DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
D E V E L O P M E N T, S C A G R O U P
T: 0 2 3 8 0 5 1 6 0 1 5
E : M AT T. J A R R A T T @ S C A G R O U P. C O . U K