Social enterprise has only 'scratched the surface', says Bland in final weeks

The Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) and the social enterprise movement need to do more to have a greater impact in the UK.

This is the message from Jonathan Bland as he prepares to step down from his role as CEO of SEC at the end of the month.

Commenting exclusively in this month's Social Enterprise, Bland says recession and an up-coming election means it is a 'truly critical time' for a movement that has 'enormous potential', but that has 'only scratched the surface'.

Different investment mechanisms and working with the private sector were some of the areas Bland said social enterprise needed to explore.

'Looking ahead, SEC will need to work with the movement to do more in other areas,' he said.

'I think we need much deeper knowledge, especially about different social enterprises' business models and investment mechanisms and how they relate to different markets.

'We also need to develop skills and do more to encourage co-operation among different types of social enterprises and with private business.'

Politics would play a major role in the development of the movement, he said. While proud of the cross-party support SEC has developed over the past ten years, Bland said the movement needed to ensure it grasped opportunities in the run-up to the next year's general election.

'The playing field is ripe with both challenges and opportunities,' he said.

Sunlight Development Trust CEO Peter Holbrook will take over from Bland as SEC CEO in January.

In the meantime, Bland plans to move to Finland and is already in the process of setting up

a new international consultancy called Social Business International, which will work in the UK and across Europe.

Click HERE to read Bland's full comment for free.