Minister of State for Care officially opens PDSE’s Dental Education Practice

NEMI Teas, the award-winning London-based social enterprise, has officially released its 2025 Impact Report. The report highlights a landmark year of operational growth, environmental milestones, and life-changing employment opportunities for refugees resettling in the UK. Operating through a unique business model that prioritises social impact over private shareholder value, NEMI Teas combines a premium, 100% organic tea brand with its hands-on Changing Journeys employment programme. Transforming lives through tea Amidst a global displacement crisis, NEMI Teas continues to chip away at the systematic employment barriers faced by refugees. Through its chain of London-based impact hubs, TRAMPOLINE Café, the enterprise provides paid work experience, accredited hospitality training, and vital UK references. Key social impact highlights from the 2025 report include: Direct support: 19 refugees supported directly through training and mentoring, spanning 12 different nationalities (including Syria, Ukraine, Iran, and Eritrea). Fair wages: 2,302 hours worked by refugees, earning £34,669 directly at London Living Wage. Economic savings: Over £1million generated in government savings by moving individuals into stable employment. Empowering Graduates: In October 2025, NEMI handed over the keys of its first TRAMPOLINE Café site in Angel, London to programme graduate Yogi, transitioning the space into a highly rated independent Sri Lankan restaurant. "2025 was a year of investment and growth," said Pranav Chopra, Founder of NEMI Teas. Refugees arrive in the UK with incredible skills and resilience, but too often hit a wall: no UK reference, no foot in the door. NEMI exists to chip away at that wall. Every cup of our tea served in a café, hotel, or office is a direct contribution to that mission. Innovation in the cup and for the planet The past year also marked substantial expansions to NEMI’s product line and sustainable manufacturing infrastructure: TRAMPOLINE Teas launch: NEMI introduced its everyday, highly ethical sister brand featuring 100% Organic and Fairtrade certifications. Major B Corp corporate caterer Houston and Hawkes became the pioneer partner to swap mainstream office tea for the TRAMPOLINE range. Solar-powered production: NEMI brought its chai syrup manufacturing completely in-house. 100% of its finished goods are now blended, packed, and shipped under one solar-powered roof in Somerset. Landfill Diversion: By utilising plastic-free, plant-starch NeoSoilon teabags and NatureFlex wood-pulp envelopes, 11,570,200 teabags were diverted from landfills and safely composted with food waste in 2025. SBTi recognition: NEMI received official Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) recognition for its commitment to zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions through 2034. Industry recognition and looking ahead to 2026 NEMI’s unique intersection of quality and purpose did not go unnoticed. In 2025, the brand was named to the SEUK Top 100 List for the 8th consecutive year and won the prestigious Footprint Drinks Sustainability Social Impact Award. Corporate giants like Nationwide Building Society and Accor Hotels have further integrated NEMI into their procurement chains to meet ambitious sustainability targets. Looking forward to the rest of 2026, NEMI Teas aims to scale its impact by targeting a 150% increase in refugees trained through its Bounce and Jump tracks. For the first time, the social enterprise will also open its programmes to individuals seeking asylum, while working to open a third TRAMPOLINE Café site through joint-venture partnerships. CLICK HERE TO READ NEMI'S IMPACT REPORT About NEMI Teas Founded in 2017, NEMI Teas is a London-based social enterprise that sources and sells exceptional organic teas. The company acts as a catalyst for social mobility by employing and training refugees, helping them break into the UK workforce and regain financial independence. nemiteas.com

Two new reports launched today set out recommendations for reforming NHS commissioning and public procurement to better support social enterprises, with Lord Victor Adebowale arguing the choice is "what kind of country we want to become". This morning, Social Enterprise UK launched two reports at the House of Lords containing recommendations for how the government can further support social enterprises to create fairer, more resilient, and healthier communities.  The British Government committed to using its supply chain to create social value back in 2012 with the Social Value Act. It then doubled down on that commitment in 2025, with the National Procurement Policy Statement stating that social enterprises “are more likely to generate diverse and thriving local economies, creating jobs and economic growth” and asking commissioners to maximise spending with them.    The legislation was an important step. But years after they’re first implemented, systems need updating to remain fit for purpose. By tackling issues such as too many short-term contracts, risk averse local government commissioners and lengthy, repetitive bidding processes, the potential of social enterprises - and the communities they work in - can be fully unleashed by the government.   And it’s the same in the NHS. 1,200 social enterprises deliver billions of pounds worth of vital NHS care across the country, employ tens of thousands of staff, and play a central role in community health, mental health and social care.   They got on with delivering the objectives of the recent NHS 10 Year Plan (from hospital to community; from sickness to prevention) for many years before it became policy. Yet social enterprises remain disadvantaged compared to other NHS service providers.  The All-Party Parliamentary Group of the Social Cooperative and Community Economy has been conducting a series of inquiries looking at the contribution to public services that social enterprises make, with many leaders attending meetings to provide that evidence. Mark Simms, CEO of P3, which works to prevent homelessness and support individuals with complex needs, was one of those who did so. As he put it at the launch of the reports today, “We have become very good at managing the consequences of social failure and far less ambitious about solving the causes.”   ‘Accelerating NHS reform: levelling the playing field to unlock social enterprises’ looks at the disadvantages that social enterprises encounter in delivering health and social care services. The report contains a number of recommendations for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) that doesn’t require new legislation – but does ask for parity when it comes to access to funding, capital and resources.  ‘A £400bn opportunity: unlocking social value for a fairer, more resilient UK’ is introduced by Patrick Hurley MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group of the Social Cooperative and Community Economy. It focuses on changes to procurement that could help the government achieve the kind of ‘good growth’ that raises living standards and reduces inequality.   “This is bigger than social enterprise,” said Lord Victor Adebowale, Chair of Social Enterprise UK at the launch of the reports.   “It is about what kind of country we want to become. A country that extracts value, or a country that creates value. A country that waits for problems to become crises, or a country that invests in prevention and people. A country that concentrates wealth and opportunity - or one that shares both more widely.  “Social enterprises have spent decades proving what works. The evidence, innovation and leadership is there; the communities are ready. The only question that remains is whether policy and politics can catch up with practice.”  Thank you to our partners Access – the Foundation for Social Investment, Better Society Capital, Baxendale, Fusion 21, GLL and Locala for their support in producing these reports.

Helping disabled people to take rollercoaster rides, rock out or roar on their favourite team is the Access Card, created by UK Social Enterprise Award winners Nimbus Disability. We went to meet them. When you walk into the buzzing office of Nimbus Disability in Derby, you’d never guess that just a few years ago, the team consisted of just four people. Now home to 44 staff, the office feels like a fun, happy place to work, complete with a basketball ring and full sized (amputee) Star Wars stormtroopers looking on from one corner. The majority of staff at Nimbus are disabled, which reflects Managing Director Martin Austin’s view that they make the best employees for this kind of work because they've got lived experience. “But it’s also this constant message of ‘what is social impact?’ and having a proper methodology for giving meaningful employment opportunities to disabled people is a part of our social impact itself,” said Martin. The team is expanding, and just about to take up more space on the floor upstairs. How did it all go so right? Going viral In 1996 Austin was working at charity Disability Direct, when laws were passed which required both local authorities and private companies to take steps to avoid discrimination of people with disabilities. As a result, more enquiries came in asking for consultancy to help with the changes, and Nimbus was born as a trading arm to the charity. The gamechanger was the Access Card, launched in 2013. Ticketing agencies and entertainment venues needed a simple way to know that someone applying for disabled access was genuine. Disabled people needed a simpler way to access live entertainment without having to fill in lots of forms. The Access Card was the solution. And then it went viral. Customers started turning up at venues and showing them the card; those venues would then get in touch with Nimbus. “Over the last few years, I think we've just gotten to a point of saturation where the awareness of the scheme amongst disabled people and businesses has just flooded in,” said Martin. The technology behind the card means the experience of disabled people attending live events has been transformed. Venues can now provide nuanced, dignified, and personalised support for more than 1,000,000 members having over 5 million experiences each year. As well as venues, the Access Card helps holders get into festivals and theme parks such as Alton Towers. Award winning tech Little surprise then, that Nimbus Disability took the Technology Social Enterprise of the Year award home at the UK Social Enterprise Awards last year. Martin had applied to the awards previously seeking peer recognition, and the company had been listed as finalists in 2013. “We've won industry specific awards, and we've won disability specific awards, but the SEUK Award was always the one that was really special to us because it was the one that came from people that really understood who we are and what we do,” said Austin. He goes on to say that it felt particularly good because in some of the early years of the business, they couldn’t afford to attend the awards. Austin compares the value of the award to that of having SEUK membership – proof of their values to the businesses that they work with. For the individuals who take up the Access Card, he feels the award cements the fact that Nimbus is an impact first business. The process of applying, even when they’ve been unsuccessful in previous years, has also been useful, regardless of the outcome. “The hardest thing that we found over the years was talking ourselves up. But to be able to think about yourself in terms of celebrating what you do is really important. The ambition of being an award winner is a useful benchmarking exercise,” said Austin. “If you don’t get shortlisted, you get invited to a great night out with some great networking anyway!” nimbusdisability.com