The Editor’s Post: Why the UK’s social investment pioneers now face uncharted territory

Big Issue Invest this week celebrates reaching £100m of social investments since it was founded, as one of the UK’s pioneering social investors, in 2005. Its executive chair Mark Porter reflects on the journey so far in an article to mark this milestone, pointing out: “What began as a largely uncharted sector when we set out on this mission has evolved and grown exponentially – yet the road ahead feels more uncharted still.” 

That sense of uncertainty strikes a chord. Last week, to mark Pioneers Post’s 500th weekly newsletter, we looked back at the first newsletter which was published in 2012. That year was declared a ‘watershed moment’ by many in the UK social investment movement, and it really felt like things were all coming together. A film we made in November 2012 features Nick O’Donohoe, who was then CEO of the freshly minted Big (now, of course, ‘Better’) Society Capital, talking about the “enormous amount of momentum” behind social investing. Jonathan Jenkins, then CEO of Social Investment Business, says the “enabling environment” for social investment was the best it had ever had been. And Nick Hurd, then minister for civil society under David Cameron’s Conservative government, says: “The government’s aspirations for this market are very big”, pointing to work that civil servants were doing to examine the regulations and tax incentives as well as to develop new opportunities for social enterprises to deliver public services and to own and run community buildings.

So, by now, social investment should have a clear roadmap and be accelerating confidently towards its destination. 

Maybe not.

As well as highlighting Big Issue Invest’s undoubted numerous achievements, Mark Porter points to the UK’s current “testing landscape”, highlighting that social investors, including Big Issue Invest, must play a greater role in supporting marginalised communities. And, importantly, he describes some of the main challenges that social investors must still overcome. 

These are big bumps in the road ahead, which we’ve frequently reported upon at Pioneers Post. We need more capital to flow into the social investment market, many social entrepreneurs feel that the social investments on offer don’t meet their needs, and the big question of interest rates is raised again and again. 

What’s more, that very clear UK government support that the movement enjoyed in 2012 no longer exists, although many are optimistic about the chancellor’s commitment to create a new social impact investing vehicle. 

And while social investors are trying to navigate the best way forward, there are some angry protesters at the roadside. Bayo Adelaja recently argued powerfully that Black-led social enterprises find it too difficult to secure funding because of the systemic power imbalances that persist in UK social investment. The Oversight Trust’s quadrennial review of Better Society Capital criticised the wholesaler’s focus on returns rather than impact. And Lord Victor Adebowale remains incensed at the slow rate of progress among social investors in meeting the real needs of social entrepreneurs. 

So which way should everyone turn now? At Pioneers Post, our role is to offer a space for different voices to be heard, to highlight what works – and what doesn’t, and to encourage connections and dialogue. We look forward to seeing, and reporting upon, Big Issue Invest’s next £100m of investments as it enters its third decade, and the global social investment movement’s journey forward.

This week's top stories:

Big Issue Invest deploys £100m: what’s next for the UK social investor?

Projects cancelled as EU scraps social economy unit in key department

Beyond certification: B Lab boss on why all B Corps must become advocates for change

The Impact World This Week: 29 May 2025

Top picture credit: Liam Gant