Social Enterprise growth could lead to West Midlands jobs boom

Taking social enterprise to the next level could create hundreds of new jobs in the West Midlands over the next few years and have a major impact on how we run our public services it was revealed yesterday.

Kevin Maton, Network Director for Social Enterprise West Midlands, made the prediction during the launch of ‘The Time is Now’ - the new vision and prospectus for the sector, which calls for greater understanding, innovation and support.

Backed by Advantage West Midlands, the prospectus aims to galvanise everyone who operates in this arena from the social entrepreneurs who make it happen, to the consumer who benefits, investors that lend, the public sector who procure services and business support agencies who are there to facilitate growth.

It comes on the back of latest statistics that show there are currently more than 157,000 people employed in 5,500 social enterprises in the West Midlands, generating in excess of £5.7bn in the process.

Kevin explained: “We truly want social enterprise to become part of everyday life and in order to achieve this we need all stakeholders to be on board and respond to the calls to action we have set out in the prospectus.

“With the recent growth we have seen and the recession-fuelled desire for our economy to become more diverse, there has never been a better or more important time for social enterprise to establish itself as a credible, sustainable and mainstream business model.”

The half-day event, which was held at the ICC in Birmingham, attracted more than 100 senior level delegates and laid out a blueprint for five specific audiences to drive forward.

Social entrepreneurs were challenged to be more innovative and to position their businesses so they can compete for mainstream opportunities.

There were calls for business support agencies to continue to develop and improve specialist assistance and to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet growing demand for advice and guidance.

Finally, it urged the public sector to increasingly look at the way it procures its services, after two thirds of the British public said they would prefer them to be delivered by social enterprises.

Kevin continued: “In addition to launching the prospectus we also wanted to make the event as interactive as possible and held two technology driven feedback sessions that enabled delegates to immediately respond to the vision, question what they heard during the launch, pose new ideas for the future and pledge their support.

“This was a huge success and provoked some interesting conversations and providing inspiration to act, particularly after hearing from five flagship social enterprises in Fordhall Land Initiative, Gateway Family Services, Halo Leisure, Marches Energy Agency and Project Management Training.

“Between them these social enterprises have a turnover in excess of £12.5 million and employ over 650 people and that is before you examine the additional social and environmental impacts they generate. They have been chosen as pioneers in their field and spoke passionately about their experiences, the challenges they have overcome and what’s required to move forward.”

Event host Jon Argent of Halo Leisure added his support for the prospectus:

“We have come so far as a sector and events of this magnitude make us realise what we have achieved. However, the time has come for us to take it to the next stage and the prospectus provides a clear route map for us all to follow.”

Social Enterprise West Midlands is the regional body responsible for championing the sector and currently boasts over 400 members.

Its work includes influencing regional and national policy, facilitating network and knowledge exchanges, developing business support structures and in launching new activities.

As part of its approach, it also manages the Social Enterprise Centre of Expertise (SECOE), which is funded by Advantage West Midlands.