Social Enterprise Mark CIC statement on Clarity & Co.
Social Enterprise Mark CIC is aware of the situation where former social enterprise Clarity & Co. is alleged to owe £200,000 in unpaid wages. In response to recent news articles, we wanted to make a short statement to clarify our position on this matter.
Clarity & Co. previously held our Social Enterprise Mark accreditation, but their licence to hold the Mark was expired in April 2020 following the sale to Mr Marks, when it became apparent they no longer met our criteria and did not intend taking action to return to the required standard.
Organisations are permitted a short period of grace to remove all mentions of the Mark from their website and communications following such action. We have since consistently repeated our requests for our Mark to be removed and have received assurance that this is now being actioned. We note that the Clarity & Co. website is currently unavailable, so are unable to confirm this action has been taken at this time.
We are deeply troubled by the allegations surrounding Clarity & Co. and hope that the situation is resolved as quickly as possible for the staff involved. It is sad to lose one of the UK’s longest standing social enterprises, which, over the last 160 years, has provided valuable employment and training for vulnerable and disadvantaged workers.
This matter has raised the important point of how social enterprises which fall upon hard times can be supported to remain true to social enterprise principles, in the event of a transfer of ownership. It is our policy to allow any Mark holders who are identified as not meeting the standard a fair period of time to take action to address issues and return to the good practice the Social Enterprise Mark encapsulates, although failure to demonstrate what actions they have taken will result in their accreditation being revoked.
Our accreditations are designed to encourage the maintenance of social enterprise good practice and raise aspirations to achieve standards of best practice, whilst regularly scrutinising and recognising these standards are maintained.
We are committed to working with our partners, regulators, Government and other stakeholders to protect the integrity of the social enterprise sector.
