A new social enterprise to help people with autism find jobs has launched in Scotland. Specialisterne Scotland is set to recruit a dozen trainees with autism over the next six months. Those chosen for the programme will undertake four months training before being given jobs as software testers for major Scottish companies. These are jobs [...]
Despite the government’s rhetoric on big society, it has announced £11 million of spending cuts to the department responsible for social enterprise. The Office for Civil Society has had its 2010/11 budget cut to £136.9 million, down from £147.9 million. Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, said: “Every area of government is looking at reducing [...]
A £3m fund designed to help social enterprises expand has closed after making only one investment in two years. Triodos, the bank operating the fund, said most social enterprises are not yet ready for large capital injections. “The recession is having an impact,” said Charles Middleton, Triodos UK managing direction. “But our experience was mainly [...]
Mid-year figures from Charity Bank and Triodos Bank show both lenders are on track for a record year of lending. During the first six months of this year, Charity bank agreed £20.9 million of new loans. This is compared to a total of £22.9 million for the whole of 2009. Figures from Triodos show new [...]
Savers could use their ISA funds to invest in social enterprise under the government’s plans for a Big Society Bank. Money invested in the Big Society ISAs would be used to build new schools, to rehabilitate criminals, and for other socially useful projects. The ISAs would provide a way for social enterprises to raise capital. [...]
More than half of Brits are clueless about the fastest growing sector in the UK economy — social enterprise. A study by O2 and Social Enterprise Magazine found many people are confused about the difference between a social enterprise and a charity. Over 50% of those polled wrongly believe social enterprises get most of their [...]
Social enterprises defied the recession to achieve substantial growth during the economic downturn, according to a new study published this week. Research by the Royal Bank of Scotland found the 100 highest growth firms in the sector reported an annual growth in revenue of 79% in the year to March. Of the 350 firms that [...]
Microfinance is one of the few sectors to have escaped the impact of the financial slowdown, according to a new report published this week. Unitus-Hewitt Microfinance Compensation & Benefits Survey found employee compensation in India-based microfinance institutions (MFIs) has held steady through the recession. Looking at employee compensation is a considered a reliable measure of [...]
Investors looking to profit from microfinance are no better than loan sharks, a pioneer of the industry has claimed. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus said he is concerned that investment funds are viewing microfinance as a way to make a profit. “Poor people should not be presented as an opportunity to make money,” said the Bangladeshi [...]
The biggest “unconference” in social enterprise launches today with a post-election party and a debate on how the coalition government will affect socially responsible businesses. The Shine Unconference is “the opposite of a traditional business event, offering a dynamic network where you can be a part of helping the whole movement grow,” conference organisers said [...]
Big Issue Invest, Britain’s first social enterprise investment fund, is set to close its first round of investments having raised almost £3 million towards a £10 million total. Investors in the fund are similar to investors in a mainstream investment fund, and include pension funds, pop stars, and other wealthy individuals. “We are offering investors [...]
Call Britannia has secured £500,000 of investment to help it create 10,000 new jobs for long-term unemployed people across Britain. The funding was secured from specialist investment firm Bridges Ventures, which uses its funds to meet social and environmental goals. The new jobs will be created in ten new outsourced customer call centres in economically [...]
Social enterprises are underfunded because they lack access to capital, according to a new report launched this week in Australia. The Financing Social Enterprise report, researched by Foresters Community Finance, said social enterprises are often unable to access finance from mainstream lending institutions. “The greatest challenge for emerging social businesses is their lack of access [...]
A new social enterprise is looking to transform redundant Victorian river weirs into hydroelectric turbines. H2oPE is installing the turbines at two locations in northern England, and is looking for small-scale investors to back the new schemes. Investors can buy shares in a particular turbine for just £1 each, with a minimum purchase of 250 [...]
Social enterprise will have its own government minister if the Liberal Democrats win the general election next month. In their election manifesto published today, the Lib Dems pledged to build an environmental, sustainable economy. “We believe that mutuals, co-operatives and social enterprises have an important role to play in the creation of a more balanced [...]
Mobile phone operator O2 this week announced a £5 million project offering cash-in-hand grants to young people who plan to make a difference in their local communities. The three year programme, Think Big, will allow 13-25 year olds to apply for a £300 grant to fund projects designed to address local problems as identified by [...]
The Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) this week said it aims to treble the contribution of social enterprises to the UK economy by 2020. SEC said if it is to achieve the goal, announced in its official manifesto published on Tuesday, it needs the full support of the British government. The manifesto, “No More Business as [...]
New measures to make it easier for Community Interest Companies (CICs) to attract investment are to be introduced later this year. From April, CICs, a form of social enterprise, will be able to pay dividends to investors of up to 20%. The cap on interest for loans to CICs will also be increased to 10% [...]
Social enterprise in the West Midlands received a boost this week with the launch of a Forum for the sector’s specialist advisers to share skills and expertise. The Forum, set up by the Social Enterprise Centre of Expertise (SECOE), plans to increase the level of support offered to social entrepreneurs in and around Birmingham. “This [...]
Social enterprises continue to thrive despite the economic downturn, according to statistics released this week. Research by the Social Enterprise Coaltion found that social enterprises are bucking the downward economic trend, with over half increasing their annual turnover since the recession began. Fewer than 20% of social enterprises have seen their turnover drop. Two thirds [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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