"While nothing is predictable in today’s world," says the British Asian Trust's Abha Thorat-Shah, outcome-based financing can be "the panacea that drives sustainable, systemic social change for common good".
In an exclusive interview, the chair of the Commission on Social Investment says his report’s recommendations can deliver ‘levelling up’ – but the UK government must get serious about social enterprise and social investment.
One of the UK’s first impact investment specialists, and once describing itself as “Europe’s leading impact investment bank”, ClearlySo went into administration at the end of 2021, owing more than £10m to creditors and shareholders.
“The future comes very, very quickly.” Podcast guests Tej Dhami and Zoe Portlock on why a social enterprise's longevity means much, much more than dusty risk registers – and why current ways of working may put the wider movement itself at risk.
Locavore’s goal is to make grocery shopping more affordable for shoppers and beneficial to the local economy. The social enterprise supermarket is the latest business to receive support from Social Investment Scotland in the last few months.
Confidence in impact investment grows five-fold in three years – but six in 10 of those polled find the process 'challenging', pointing to communication and consistency as areas for improvement.
In our second Fit for the Future podcast in partnership with Buzzacott, social investor Isabelle Irani and P3 Charity boss Mark Simms share expert tips when seeking social investment – and reveal some pitfalls to avoid.
Covid-19 has highlighted the fact that many common forms of social investment are inflexible and have failed the social enterprises they seek to support, says Ben Smith, head of social investment at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. But being patient and flexible is not without its challenges.
