UK Social Enterprise Reader’s Choice Award 2015: Vote for one of these five worthy contenders
Rachel Connolly profiles the five contenders on the shortlist for this year’s UK Social Enterprise Reader’s Choice Award
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Your support makes all the difference.The Independent on Sunday is proud once again to support the UK Social Enterprise Awards, taking place next month.
Social enterprise is a unique kind of business model based on the premise of improving society or the environment. Operating without shareholders, social enterprises do even more to benefit the community than the average ethical business.
Profits are spent directly on a cause such as education, or reinvested back into the business to expand the potential for social improvement.
There are currently 70,000 social enterprises in Britain employing around a million people in total. Many social enterprises have female leaders, with 40 per cent of social enterprises now led by women.
The opportunity to put business acumen to use tackling social and environmental problems is proving an appealing prospect for British entrepreneurs, ensuring that social enterprise is a growing sector of British business. Some initiatives deal with local issues, while other focus on causes abroad, in the developing world.
The following five inspiring social enterprises have been shortlisted for The Independent on Sunday Reader’s Choice Award, and who wins is up to you.
The House of St Barnabas
The House of St Barnabas is no ordinary private members’ club. Fees from the Soho club’s 2,000 supporters fund an employment academy that trains more than 125 homeless people a year. Nadra Shah, director of culture at St Barnabas, describes the 12-week academy as “an incubator where we can grow some amazing talent”. Beneficiaries “learn business and hospitality skills from a buddy”, and 80 per cent of academy graduates move into paid work after three months. Every beneficiary is paired with a mentor, who provides at least 12 months’ support.
Old Spike Roastery
Newcomer the Old Spike Roastery opened in February and aims to tackle homelessness. Founder Richard Robinson says the coffee-bean roastery was inspired by his “love of New York coffee culture”.
“Homelessness in Britain has increased 32 per cent from 2013 to 2015 and we feel this is a solution,” says co-founder Cemal Ezel. By employing homeless people and training them as baristas, the roastery “gives them confidence to show their skills and a sense of purpose”, adds Robinson.
The team works with The Big Issue to identify candidates, providing them with housing, bank accounts and therapy to give them the tools to leave homelessness behind.
Their ethos is “good coffee, making a difference”, and they sell high-quality coffee at their shop in Peckham, south London, as well as online and to restaurants.
WildHearts In Action
WildHearts In Action founder Mick Jackson sees business as “a force for good, not in theory, in practice”. To date, The WildHearts Foundation has used £2.4m of profits raised from selling office supplies, to “readdress economic injustice” in the UK and developing countries.
The company funds micro-loans to enable people, especially women, in developing countries to start small businesses. “We don’t believe in patronising the poor, empower them,” says Jackson.
He designed the Micro-Tyco challenge to “unleash entrepreneurship in children, and inspire the next generation of business people to do good”. Teams from schools compete with business professionals from companies such as Barclays to make as much money as possible in four weeks, starting with £1. All money raised funds micro-loans in developing countries.
Tea People
Neeraj and Vishaka Agarwal were “living corporate lives in London” when a volunteer friend told them about the dire conditions at a school in their native Darjeeling, India and they felt compelled to help. Neeraj says he saw their fundraising act as “a trigger to turn the school around”, but realised “this problem was not limited to this particular school”, so fundraising was not a long-term solution.
Although tea is a £20bn global industry, wages for tea workers remain low and education standards are poor. Tea People, which imports tea and sells it in the UK, was founded when Neeraj spotted “a gap in the market for high quality tea that could be the solution to this problem”.
Fifty per cent of profits are spent educating children in tea growing regions, with a particular focus on girls. “When you educate a girl you educate the entire village; they give back to the whole community,” says Neeraj.
One success story is a girl “who thought she would have to work on the tea plantations after her mother left and father died, now studying medicine”, thanks to financial support from Tea People.
The Soap Co
The Soap Co has as its mantra: “Skincare that is good and does good”. What started as a small shop in the Lake District has joined forces with the UK’s oldest social enterprise, Clarity, to launch as a national brand.
Founded by Elizabeth Gilbert, who lost her sight aged three, Clarity has been employing people with vision impairments to create skincare products since 1854. Miss Gilbert’s original ethos of empowering blind people to help themselves and earn a living remains the focus of the company.
“Around 80 per cent of Soap Co’s employees have a disability,” says Kate Watson, project manager. Products are made with natural extracts and added vitamins and are never tested on animals. Packaging features Braille labelling.
How to vote
To vote, tweet your choice to @indyonsunday; email: social.enterprise@independent.co.uk; or write to Lisa Markwell, Editor, The Independent on Sunday, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Voting closes at midnight on 6 November, and the awards take place on 26 November.
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