Call Britannia first to secure investment from Bridges

A new UK social enterprise call centre has become the first business to secure funding from the Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund.

Call Britannia, which is headed by Karen Darby, the founder of price comparison site Simply Switch, has secured a total of almost £1.3m in investment and funding to help it set up work training call centres in some of the UK's most deprived neighbourhoods.

The Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund has invested £500,000, Big Issue Invest has invested £350,000 and the management team of Call Britannia has itself invested £150,000.

The social enterprise has also secured £292,500 from the government's Future Jobs Fund to help it create 45 jobs in Croydon in the next six months.

Darby has worked with Bridges Ventures in the past when the venture capital company invested in Simply Switch, which was sold to the media group Daily Mail and General Trust plc for £22m in 2006.

Darby said: 'I am delighted to be working with Bridges Ventures again and very grateful for the generous support from Big Issue Invest and the Future Jobs Fund. We can't wait to get started.'

In another first the deal includes bonus targets for management based on both financial and social returns.

Big Issue Invest director of investments Ed Siegel said: 'We are confident that the company will be equally committed to the making of social returns as well as financial ones.

'This is an absolute requirement of Big Issue Invest, and the investment agreements include a newly-designed incentive scheme for Call Britannia owner-managers which is triggered only after both financial as well as strict social performance targets are met.'

Eventually Call Britannia hopes to create 10,000 six-month jobs in 10 UK centres over the next seven years. These will act as a stepping stone to further employment with Call Britannia helping its employees to move into long-term jobs.