Turning Big Ideas into Viable Social Enterprises 

Lead Researchers: Frances Hines (Alumni), Ceri Thomas (Alumni)

Aims and Objectives
This project aimed to discover the extent to which social enterprises are facilitated or inhibited in their development and growth by access to appropriate business technical support in the UK. The project further aimed to explore the extent to which spatial variations, sector variations and size variations are apparent in access to this business support, and to identify potential actions that may need to be taken to improve this access.

Methodology
A substantial literature review was carried out at the start of this project. Using the Triodos bank client list, and lists of social enterprises gained from thorough web searches, a sample target list of enterprises from across the UK was developed. 40 social enterprise organisations were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, mostly by telephone, with some face-to-face interviews and an overall picture of the issues facing social enterprises regarding technical business support was completed. The sample was broken down by size (SME definitions) and location (RDAs), activity (Triodos sectors) and a mixture of Triodos clients and non-clients. Specific sub sector interviews including the electrical and electronics waste refurbishment and recycling sector, and the care sector were carried out (some 10 enterprises were involved).

Partners and Funding
Commissioned by Triodos Bank.

Key Findings
The research found that:
• While policy and strategy in the UK appears to suggest that substantial progress is being made in developing support for the social business sector, the reality on the ground is less convincing.
• There appears to be a lack of coherence and integration, a degree of confusion about what support is available, and a general lack of understanding of the specific requirements of social enterprises
• There is a lot of work for technical support services at all levels if they are to reach a basic level of satisfaction for the support they provide the social enterprise sector
• There is nothing unusual about the support these enterprises require - they want help with renting buildings, refurbishment, accounts, tax, management of employees, health and safety and all the things that face ordinary businesses.
• Their distinctive need is for support organisations to understand that the nature of the business, the motives and objectives of the entrepreneur, and the support and training needs of staff will all differ subtly to those of businesses driven exclusively by profit.
• The research highlights the need for social enterprises to be more vocal about their demands, for business support agencies to be more co-ordinated and better focused towards social enterprise issues, and for the government to commit to supporting the sector more sensitively and effectively than it has done to date.