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Social Enterprise Forum

Any organisation or firm on Arran interested in becoming a social enterprise is invited to look out for the open forum to be held on Wednesday 17th December. Further details next week, but meanwhile,contact Claire Berrie. Tel 01770 810295 or email cmberri

Written by Claire Berrie
Thursday, 4 December 2008

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Wednesday 17th December

The current economic meltdown is painful for many people who have fallen victim to others' greed — but there is also an incredible shift amongst the business community. New questions are being asked. Is it possible to run a successful company but do it in an ethical way? Can you have a good career but also help the community you live in? The answer is, yes — through becoming a Social Enterprise Company.

Social enterprises are businesses set up to provide a social or environmental need. They combine market efficiency with social and environmental justice, and their profits are reinvested to sustain and further their mission for positive change. The pioneers of social enterprise can be traced back at least as far as the 1840s in Rochdale, where a workers' co-operative was set up to provide high quality affordable food in response to exploitative factory conditions. A resurgence of social enterprise started in the late 1990s and has developed fast since then, encompassing organisations such as development trusts, co-operatives, housing associations, 'social firms' and village associations. These businesses are operating across an incredibly wide range of industries and sectors from health and social care to renewable energy, recycling and fair trade. A social enterprise company needs to be a strong, profit making business model in order for it to achieve its social aims.

Why social enterprise?

You're not just in it for the money. Owners and employees of social enterprises can earn a decent living, but the business isn't used as a vehicle for building personal wealth, because most of the profits are reinvested into furthering social aims. Social enterprises often break with conventional business models to find new and more sustainable ways of improving the world around them. Wherever there's a social or environmental need, social enterprises are working on solutions.

What are some examples of social enterprises?

They can be local and quite small, but there are well-known names there, too. The Big Issue is a social enterprise. So is the Eden Project in Cornwall. Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen, award-winning Divine Chocolate, Cafedirect — all of these work within the social enterprise model, as do countless smaller organisations and voluntary bodies.

Can social enterprise work on Arran?

Undoubtedly. Social enterprise companies are starting to make quite an impact throughout the Highlands and Islands area. Hand in hand with the Social Enterprise Network (SEN) many social enterprise companies are thriving, as they have not spent all their profits on inflated salaries and expenses. SEN is an affiliation of a wide variety of social enterprises. Its membership comes from all over the country, meeting every few months to share good practice, develop trading links and explore new ways of strengthening the social economy in the region.

Argyll and Bute SEN (ABSEN) is one of the strongest in our region, and its representatives will be coming to Arran on Wednesday 17th December to hold an open forum. Mike Geharty of ABSEN and Nicola Walsh of the Social Enterprise Academy, the Social Enterprise training body, will be happy to answer any questions you have and provide you with as much information as possible. We hope to have members from North Ayrshire SEN in attendance also. Details of time and place will be provided next week. Meanwhile, anyone interested should contact Claire Berrie. Tel 01770 810295 or e-mail cmberrie@aol.com for further details.

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