What is the Social Enterprise Mark?
The Mark is necessary
Social enterprises are working to make a difference across the UK and beyond, but not enough people know what they are or how they work. The Social Enterprise Mark, as the brand for social enterprises, will raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.
The Mark is timely
There are 62,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £24bn to the UK economy and employing around 800,000 people. Ethical buying has grown considerably in the past decade, and the recession has not slowed it down – there is a clear appetite for people to connect with businesses doing more than just ‘the usual.’ the Mark will link existing businesses with a more receptive public, and encourage new connections with the private sector and government.
The economy needs social enterprise
Social enterprises are emerging as an ambitious business sector, and their contribution to the UK is real and growing. Recent data (State of Social Enterprise Survey, Social Enterprise Coalition 2009) shows that despite the recession, social enterprises are twice as confident of future growth as typical small to medium enterprises (48% of social enterprises as opposed to 24%). Additionally, since the economic downturn began, 56% have increased their turnover from the previous year whilst less than 20% have seen it go down. This is a considerably better performance than SMEs in the UK, where only 28% increased their turnover and 43% saw it go down.
The Mark sets a new standard for business
The Mark is awarded to businesses who meet specific criteria that demonstrate they are working primarily for social and/or environmental goals, and that 50% of their profits are reinvested towards those goals. We want as many businesses as possible to be set up as social enterprises, and hope the existing organisations consider how to become social enterprises.
The Mark comes from the social enterprise movement
The Mark is administered by a joint venture set up between the Social Enterprise Coalition, the national body for social enterprise, and RISE, the social enterprise regional network for the South West. A steering group made up of social enterprise leaders and supporters agreed that a Mark was important for the sector and together agreed its design, purpose and criteria. It was informed by The Social Enterprise Mark already piloted by RISE in the South West of England.
The Mark itself is a social enterprise
The Social Enterprise Mark Company has been set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) Limited by shares. It is a joint venture between the Social Enterprise Coalition and RISE.
The Mark is legitimate
The design and possible uses of the Mark was researched and tested by the COI and supported by Office of the Third Sector. The criteria for the Mark have been agreed by leaders and representatives from support organisations within the social enterprise movement.
