20,000 Coutts clients 'excited' by social enterprise

A major shift in philanthropic giving towards social enterprise has been predicted by a top banker to UK entrepreneurs.

Andrew Haigh, managing partner at Coutts and Co’s entrepreneurs client group, told Social Enterprise: ‘We are seeing the beginnings of market disruption in the philanthropy sector.’

Speaking exclusively to Social Enterprise at the launch of Coutts’ social enterprise advisory service last night, Haigh said the bank’s 20,000 entrepreneur clients were excited by the potential of the sector.

The group of successful entrepreneurs banking with Coutts had always shown their wish to use their wealth for good – but until now, they had mostly taken a traditional, philanthropic route, supporting charities or causes with donations rather than social investment.

In 10 years from now, their philanthropic and investment portfolios would shift in a fundamental way – but probably in a way that none of us could predict.

‘It’s not about us moving them. It’s they who are going to move. Innovation and business takes its own path,’ Haigh said.

Coutts’ social enterprise advisory service will work with social investment service ClearlySo, the School for Social Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs’ foundation UnLtd to help the bank’s clients invest in, support and start social enterprises.

Coutts now plans to deliver ‘a big education piece’ in London and the regions, including a series of speed networking events at which potential investors will have the chance to meet social enterprises after investment.

Haigh said the bank was launching the advisory service because ‘it is the right thing to do’.

‘This is not about doing corporate social responsibility in a little box on the side,’ he said. ‘It’s about doing something new.’

He added: ‘We are taking our relationship management with our clients to a completely different level.’

Coutts also launched a guide to social enterprise for its clients, along with a film profiling social enterprises such as Bikeworks and HCT.

In the guide’s foreword, Coutts’ CEO Michael Morley says: ‘It is easy to see the growing impact of social enterprise on the economy and our society, and to chart the increasing engagement of the broad enterprise community… We have launched our social enterprise advisory service with the aim of educating our clients about the sector and presenting new and exciting ways for them to get involved, be it through mentoring, investment or even starting a social enterprise.’

Speaking last night, Morley said he had been inspired by his job swap with Nigel Kershaw, CEO of Big Issue Invest, earlier this year, organised as part of the Social Enterprise Ambassadors programme.

Morley said that in the 1980s, the entrepreneurs’ motto was ‘who dares, wins’ but that this had now shifted to ‘who cares, wins’.

He added that he was looking forward to further announcements from the government on the role of the Big Society Bank.