SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DAY: Recession-busting social enterprises positive about future

19 November 2009
by
Gemma Hampson
Jonathan Bland

Bland: 'There is every reason to consider social enterprise an emergent business sector that is ambitious, growing and dedicated to providing meaningful employment'

Social enterprises entered the recession on a high with stronger turnovers than small businesses and more confidence in their future performance, according to new research released today, Social Enterprise Day.

The State of Social Enterprise Survey 2009, commissioned by the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC), was based on interviews with 962 social enterprise bosses.

Although this is a small percentage of the estimated 62,000 social enterprises in the UK, it gives a snapshot of how the sector is coping in the downturn.

The survey found 56 per cent of social enterprises increased their turnover from 2006/07 to 2007/08, while less than 20 per cent saw it go down.

This is a considerably better performance than the UK's SMEs: only 28 per cent of these increased their turnover and 43 per cent experienced a decrease.

Jonathan Bland, CEO of SEC, said: 'Some results from the survey were unexpectedly powerful, such as learning that social enterprises are doing well overall despite tough economic times. That was very heartening, as this is an incredibly tough climate for all businesses.

'I believe this shows that business models that are built to be sustainable and accountable to a wide variety of stakeholders are often better able to withstand economic uncertainty.'

Size proved to be important, with social enterprises appearing to be more profitable, less grant dependent and faster growing once they reached a £1m turnover. However, there were also examples of social enterprises that have found a profitable, sustainable business model at lower turnovers.

This success may be down to positive thinking, as the survey showed social enterprises were nearly twice as confident of future growth as SMEs, with 48 per cent of social enterprises responding positively as opposed to just 24 per cent of SMEs.

Bland added: 'There is every reason to consider social enterprise an emergent business sector that is ambitious, growing and dedicated to providing meaningful employment.'