Brighton becomes UK's social enterprise hot-spot: Worth £21 Million to the city

by Oliver Maxwell, on 26th March 2007

 

 

Judith Badger, Hannah Corbett, Cllr Sue John, Oliver Maxwell and Thea Allison launch the new report. 

A new report out today reveals that over 110 social enterprises operating in Brighton and Hove are contributing £21 million to the economy and employ 1,262 people; proof that social enterprise is making a huge impact on the triple bottom line of the city.

Social enterprises work in sectors from pubs and PR to composting and care. They are run as businesses but they have strong social or environmental aims and use their profits to support their positive impact on the community or environment.

The 110 enterprises can be found in a new online directory (http://se.bhbcp.org.uk) where social enterprises can register their details or browse the organisations that are already signed up.

The report provides a real insight into the scale and scope of the sector and findings include:

The rise of the sector in Brighton is no doubt due to its thriving community and voluntary sector as most social enterprises have emerged from voluntary sector organisations and have traditionally been both grant dependent and in some cases working to a niche social agenda.

The research, led by the Brighton and Hove Business Community Partnership (BCP) in collaboration with the University of Brighton, aims to promote the social enterprise sector, identify their support and training needs and create greater networking opportunities amongst social enterprises.  

Organisations involved in the research stage include established social enterprises East Communications and Sussex Community Internet Project as well as Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust.

"This information has never been collected in the city before and we suspect that the number of social enterprises is likely to be even higher than shown in this report" said Oliver Maxwell of Business Community Partnership who compiled the Report.  "The research confirms that Brighton and Hove has a growing social enterprise sector and that businesses with a social conscience play a significant role in the economic success of the city.  Working in partnership with the University of Brighton has made this cutting-edge project possible.  Both BCP and the University are committed to putting Brighton and Hove on the social enterprise map".

Hannah Corbett, MD and founder of East Communications, a social enterprise PR and Marketing agency based in east Brighton said "The best way to support social enterprise is at the procurement level and this report highlights the choice of organisations that statutory organisations and businesses can approach when it comes to large scale tendering opportunities.  Social enterprises like East are competing well in a lively procurement environment and are standing tall against larger and more traditionally run businesses."

Cllr Sue John, Deputy Leader and ward councillor for South Portslade said, "This is the most comprehensive survey of this sector ever undertaken in the city. The mapping exercise demonstrates that social enterprise is growing and with a little more support could make an even greater contribution to the local economy. Many of them are also performing a valuable social role and offer an accessible route into employment for vulnerable people who would find it hard to get a job with one of the big corporates."

Anyone who is interested in the social enterprise directory should visit http://se.bhbcp.org.uk to register their details or browse the organisations already signed up.