Social Firms UK

 In the beginning
Concept Conference Centre in Birmingham provides employment and training opportunities to blind and partially sighted people, within a hospitality and catering setting.

Concept started as a Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) research project into the feasibility of developing employment opportunities for blind and partially sighted people. Deborah Fox from the RNIB was looking into the social enterprise/Social Firm model and met Jo Miller, a registered blind chef working at a local college. The idea for Concept came out of a barely-used staff kitchen area in the basement of RNIB’s offices in Birmingham. In January 2006 they opened Concept to provide low-cost, flexible room and meal options for day delegates, primarily from Third Sector organisations.

Going it alone Whitehouse Enterprises was originally set up as a supported business in 1980 to provide supported employment to people with disabilities. It is now a Social Firm with 4 main business areas in packing, assembly, signs and catering; including 5 cafes.

Pluss is a Company Limited by Guarantee, having externalised out of local authority control about 5 years ago as a special purpose vehicle in order to bid for the DWP Workstep contract. It is currently owned by 4 local authorities and is a profit-reinvesting Social Firm – the largest in the sector, employing over 500 people, with about 55% having a disability and a 2009 turnover of £23.5m. Pluss has a number of supported businesses; their aims and objectives are around working with the most vulnerable clients, primarily within the field of disability though they are branching out to work with ex-offenders. Income comes from the local authority contracts, the Workchoice Programme and from commercial activity.

While at the Social Firms UK conference in July 2007, Mark Powell of Social Firm development agency, Broomby (www.broomby.co.uk) gave an interview to Social Enterprise Podcasts. In it he talks about how he came to work in the Social Firm sector, the importance of Social Firms and the need for more to be set up. To listen visit:  http://www.sepodcasts.org/podcast.php?p=174

Pluss (www.pluss.org.uk) is a Star Social Firm which provides employment, development and equipment services for people with disabilities in South West England.

  This case study is of Scottish manufacturing sub-contractor, Haven Products (www.havenproducts.co.uk).

  Travel Matters Enterprises Ltd is a fully bonded travel agency offering a comprehensive range of travel services. They can arrange anything from domestic flights to worldwide tailor-made holidays, and are not affiliated to any individual tour operator or airline so can offer independent advice when arranging their customers' travel plans. Travel Matters also provides training and work experience opportunities for individuals recovering from mental health problems in a real work environment.

  Six Mary's Place was created 22 years ago when its Acting Chairperson, Andy Hunter, gave Edinburgh Community Trust (now Forth Sector) a soft loan with which to buy the premises. It is an extremely comfortable and beautifully refurbished Georgian (1829) town house with a warm, friendly ambience, based in the heart of Edinburgh. It offers Bed and Breakfast accommodation and Private Business Meeting Room Hire and has been given a rating of three stars by VisitScotland and four diamonds by the AA. The hotel recently won the prestigious Scottish Thistle Award for Outstanding Customer Care, was the only new entry in Edinburgh in the Which 'Guide To Good Hotels 2004' and has won a Green Tourism Silver Award.

  Pack-IT Product Promotions Limited was established in 1988 as a small enterprise carrying out light industrial packing services. It is now a thriving three-pronged business supplying mailing, storage & distribution and on-line fulfilment, with an enviable reputation as a fast turn-around specialist. It also provides specialized finishing services such as subscription fulfillment and cross matching of short-run hand mailings, full web-based real time stock control facilities and customer services capabilities.