National event in Cardiff showcases Wales and social enterprise

Voice10, the Social Enterprise Coalition’s annual conference, took place 1 and 2 February in Cardiff at the International Arena, and saw close to 1,000 delegates meet to debate and discuss the conf

Voice10, the Social Enterprise Coalition’s annual conference, took place 1 and 2 February in Cardiff at the International Arena, and saw close to 1,000 delegates meet to debate and discuss the conference theme ‘No More Business as Usual.’

Social enterprises are businesses trading primarily for social and environmental purposes. There are 62,000 social enterprises in the UK working in almost every industry including employment, health, housing, retail, IT and education and contributing £24billion to the UK economy. The Social Enterprise Coalition is the UK’s national body for social enterprise.

The Welsh Assembly Government was the principal sponsor of the conference, and Carwyn Jones, First Minister for Wales said at the conference: “It has been a great pleasure to welcome the social enterprise sector to Cardiff and Wales. We have a thriving social enterprise sector and I am proud to be part of showcasing it to the rest of the UK.”

Research by the Welsh Assembly Government found that there are approximately 3,000 social enterprises in Wales with an estimated turnover of over £2billion. Social enterprises in Wales employ close to 50,000 people in full-time or part-time work.

Nigel Annett, managing director of Welsh Water, also spoke at Voice10 and talked about the role social enterprise can play in delivering essential public services. Welsh Water provides safe drinking water and reliable sanitation to more than 3 million people living in Wales and some adjoining parts of England. Welsh Water does not have any shareholders and this means that all profits are retained in the business and reinvested for the benefit of Welsh Water’s customers. In recent years this has included paying an annual ‘Customer Dividend’ which has helped to offset increases in bills.

Annett said: “We can do things more efficiently as a social enterprise than as shareholder-owned, and social enterprise is a better way to own, run and deliver public services to our customers.”

The conference also saw the launch of the Social Enterprise Mark, a new brand for social enterprises (www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk) that will identify businesses which meet defined criteria for social enterprise, and consumers will recognise that businesses displaying the Mark are trading to benefit society and the environment. The Mark, and its strap line ‘Trading for People and Planet’ is also available in Welsh (image available upon request). The launch included a performance by Cardiff-based social enterprise NoFit State Circus.

Other speakers at the conference included John Bennett, managing director of award-winning Welsh social enterprise Pack-IT; Philip Blond, director of think tank ResPublica; and John Bird, founder and editor-in-chief of the Big Issue.

Claire Dove, chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition, welcomed delegates to Cardiff by reflecting on the long tradition of social enterprise in Wales: “Social enterprise has an impressive history in Wales, and some of the country’s most inspirational and dynamic social enterprise are right here. However, it’s the future that looks especially bright for social enterprises in Wales, and being here at the start of a year that is going to bring fresh challenges and opportunities feels very appropriate."