Social enterprises are outperforming the rest of the UK economy in terms of growth, according to the RBS SE1001 Index unveiled at an event in London this week.
According to the index, which was set up to track the performance of the sector in the UK, the top 100 social enterprises in the index grew on average by 91% (compared to 79% last year).
Meanwhile, the total combined revenue of the top 100 enterprises on the index grew by 51% and the revenue growth of all those on the index who submitted figures was 14%. This compares well with revenue growth of the FTSE 100 in 20103, which was around 5%. It also compares well against the fastest recorded growth period of UK SMEs4 (in 2006) when their revenue growth was 8.4%.
This year a total of 409 social enterprises entered the RBS SE100 Index and 18 organisations were shortlisted across three awards.
Surrey-based Cool2Care was named “Growth Champion”, Scotland-based the Wise Group was named “Impact Champion” and London-based Healthy Planet was named “Trailblazing Newcomer Champion”. The winners will share a total of £25,000.
Growth Champion: Cool2Care, based in Surrey but working across the UK, is an innovative social enterprise, which acts as an introductory agency for families with disabled children. It recruits, screens, trains and places care workers who then support these young people and their families.
Its income grew by 343%, in one year, with a turnover of £280,569 in 2009, to £1.2m in 2010. In the next five years Cool2Care wants to at least double its revenues and quadruple its social impact in terms of the young people and the families it helps.
Impact Champion: Scottish social enterprise the Wise Group designs and manages efficient, innovative and flexible ways into sustainable employment by increasing job and training opportunities for people. It also contributes to the regeneration of communities, and helps create a greener society. The Wise Group's success in using impact measurement to win business from the private sector was one of the key factors that made it this year's Impact Champion.
Trailblazing Newcomer: London based social enterprise, Healthy Planet, encourages, inspires and provides opportunities to all parts of society to take greener, healthier steps in their everyday lives. Its self-funding initiatives include Books for Free, which saves unwanted books from landfill by giving them away for free via stores based in unused commercial buildings, and Adopt a Plot, a charitable gift scheme focusing on protected parks around the world.
The organisation's ambition coupled with its impressive results make it this year's Trailblazing Newcomer, the award given to organisations with fewer than three years of accounts. It understands the need to communicate its impact and recorded an 8,362% growth in turnover from 2009 to 2010.
The data report indicates how businesses measuring and demonstrating a positive impact can give them a competitive edge. Nearly three quarters (74.2%) of those who supplied their impact data said they had a public statement about their impact – and the impact leaders on the index were using this data to improve services and win millions of pounds worth of business.
Social enterprises also appear to be leading the way in terms of the number of women in senior management positions. Of 2,080 people on the leadership teams of social enterprises on the index, 940 were women – (45%). In comparison, only 12.5% of directors on FTSE 100 boards were women at the end of 20105.
Peter Ibbetson, Chairman, small business, RBS commented: "The SE100 helps us demonstrate the unique role this sector plays in terms of its social impact and rapidly increasing contribution to the UK economy. RBS has a strong heritage in supporting social enterprise, working hard to improve the flow of credit to this often overlooked sector.” Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said: “I am extremely encouraged to see the RBS SE100 going so strong in its second year, with a greater number of entrants on the index, showing that more businesses are recognising the importance of measuring and reporting both financial and social bottom lines. “The outstanding growth reported on this year’s index and an increase in the number of organisations who monitor their impact demonstrates the excellent, positive contribution that social enterprises make and will help boost private finance into the sector. I would strongly encourage more social sector organisations to sign up to the SE100 index.”
Tim West, Director of Society Media and founding editor of SocialEnterpriselive.com, commented: “Together with RBS we developed the SE100 Index to build intelligence about this exciting marketplace – and to put the facts and figures behind the powerful stories about businesses striving to make a real difference.
“This index enables us not only to see current growth but to track and benchmark the success of the social business sector over time. This is a vibrant and entrepreneurial sector that is both growing and getting smarter, defying the downturn with innovative ways of delivering products and services that have value beyond the bottom line.”