P3 - a leading provider of services for young people across London and the Midlands - is heading for a turnover of £7m following its merger with Kilburn Youth Centre (KYC) and Unique, a community interest company.
KYC is the largest voluntary youth services provider in north west London, with a £625,000 turnover. Since it was established in 2000, it has worked with more than 8,000 young people.
Nottingham-based youth charity Unique was also set up in 2000 and is an award-winning social enterprise with 22 employees and a turnover of £486,000. It offers a range of services from alternative education programmes to a coffee bar, which attracts 14,000 visits a year.
Martin Kinsella, CEO of P3 and a social enterprise ambassador, said the merger had put the company in a stronger position than ever, especially when in competition with the private sector.
‘Mergers are more often associated with the private sector so it is exciting to see this kind of growth among social enterprises. At a time when most businesses are worrying about the credit crunch, it's particularly exciting to be approaching a £7m per annum turnover,' he said.
‘Increasing our scale not only puts us in a stronger position to provide more services for the local community, but it reassures local commissioners that we have the scale to deliver on big contracts.
‘We are increasingly able to compete with the big private providers and this can only be a good thing. Because we have social aims at the heart of what we do we know we deliver more.'
Kinsella added that both KYC and Unique share the values of P3 and that the growth will ‘help us to act on our belief that young people need somewhere to go, something to do and somebody to be with'.
Maureen Baker, service manager of KYC, said P3 had ‘embraced the staff team with a genuine openness and honesty about what our expectations should be once we are fully embedded into their existing structure. It has been a smooth ride so far and it is generally felt that the services provided by each organisation will complement each other well.'
Alison Farr, spokesperson for Unique, said: ‘By pooling our resources and expertise in this way we can really add value to all aspects of our work, enabling us to continue to develop and deliver high quality services that benefit young people, the environment and the local community.'
