Thought Leadership

Articles and publications covering evidence on social enterprise in the UK and globally. If you’d like your publication to feature, please contact jess.lomax@socialenterprise.org.uk Social enterprise growth by design: using design to incubate and accelerate social enterprises - 2024 Authors/publication: Kwon, H., Choi, Y. and Hazenberg, R. Social Enterprise Journal Aims to understand the impact of design on social enterprise ecosystems and on improving outcomes for social entrepreneurs. The Purpose Dividend - 2023 Authors/publication: Demos Explores how shifting towards a purpose-led economy with better business at its centre would boost GDP, generate more capital investment, and increase wages for the lowest paid in society. Understanding the Contribution of Social Enterprise to the Social Care Sector: An Exploratory Study - 2023 Authors/publication: Dr Kelly Hall, Dr Philip Kinghorn, Dr Chloe Alexander, Kelly Hayward, Dr Janelle Kerlin, Meng Ye Explores the role of social enterprises in the social care sector, and how they compare to for-profit and not-for-profit providers. Do Social Enterprises Fulfil their Social Promise? Quality of Social Care CICs and Other Legal Forms - 2023 Authors/publication: Janelle Kerlin, Meng Ye, Kelly Hall Examines why social care social enterprises consistently outperform for-profit social care providers on all social care quality measures. Public service mutuals: Transforming how services are delivered through social enterprise and democratic governance - 2022 Authors/publication: Vickers, I., Lyon, F., Sepulveda Ramirez, L. and Brennan, G Demonstrates the effectiveness of the mutual model and how it has been adapted in diverse contexts to deliver public and community services. Financing Social Enterprise in the UK: Responding to New Challenges in Competitive Markets Authors/publication: Mswaka, W., Aluko, O., Hussein, S., Armindo dos Santos de Sousa, T. and Cai, H Scrutinises the operations of social entrepreneurs in resource-constrained environments, highlighting how opportunity spotting and innovation in financing strategies are central to effectively financing social enterprise. The Ecosystem of UK Social Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analysis of Contemporary Studies Authors/publication: Gareth R. T. White, Robert Allen, Anthony Samuel, Dan Taylor, Robert Thomas, Paul Jones Examines social enterprises as both an alternative and addition to traditional enterprise ecosystems, and identifies constraints on the development and success of social enterprise ecosystems in areas of economic deprivation. Gender Empowerment in Social Enterprises in the UK Authors/publication: Maria Granados, Lilian Miles, Anastasia Alexeeva A gender empowerment guide for use by social enterprises, to empower the women they employ. Social Enterprise Places: A Place-Based Initiative Facilitating Syntactic, Semantic, and Pragmatic Constructions of Legitimacy - 2021 Authors/publication: Anthony Samuel , Gareth R.T. White, Kenneth Peattie, Robert Thomas, Aston University Examines how the Social Enterprise Place programme has legitimised social enterprises by enabling the identification of common social goals and the mobilisation of resources towards their resolution. Social Enterprise in the UK: Models and Trajectories - 2021 Authors/publication: Mike Aiken, Roger Spear, Fergus Lyon, Simon Teasdale, Richard Hazenberg, Mike Bull, Anna Kopec Massey Examines the landscape of social enterprises operating in the UK, including their models, fields of operation, and trajectories. Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship: Developing the Evidence Base Using the UK Small Business Survey - 2020 Authors/publication: Catherine Robinson This review considers the developments amongst social enterprises in the UK. Using the Small Business Survey, it compares those small firms in the UK that declare themselves to be social enterprises with traditional for-profit firms.  The Contribution of the Social Enterprise Sector to the UK Economy - 2019 Authors/publication: Kah, S. European Journal of Business and Management Presents the development, scale, and scope of social enterprises, and examines their social, economic, and environmental contributions to the UK. Social Enterprises and their Ecosystems in Europe - 2019 Authors/publication: Stumbitz, B., Vickers, I. and Lyon, F Explores the growth of the social enterprise sector, and how public policy has supported the growth of social enterprise ecosystems in Europe. The Emergence of Social Innovation within the Social Economy: The Case of Social Enterprises in England -2019 Authors/publication: Irurita, M Examines how social entrepreneurs develop innovative ideas to solve important societal problems. The Evaluation of CSR and Social Value Practices Among UK Commercial and Social Enterprises - 2018 Authors/publication: Paul Agu Igwe, Afam Icha-Ituma, Nnamdi O. Madichie Evaluates the scope of CSR initiatives among corporations and social enterprises, finding that social enterprises embed social value initiatives during the enterprise creation stage. Progressive Business Models: Creating Sustainable and Pro-Social Enterprise - 2018 Authors/publication: O'Higgins, Eleanor and Zsolnai, László, eds An analysis of progressive businesses operating across the world. The Age of the Social Entrepreneur - 2017 Authors/publication: Mhairi Tordoff, Demos Argues that although it is early days, social enterprises are a dynamic and ambitious section of our economy that contribute billions to the economy and employs millions of people. Social Enterprises, Social Inclusion, and Positive Social Change - 2017 Authors/publication: Ute Stephan, Aston University Demonstrates how social enterprise can be a force for social inclusion and social change. The Place of Social Enterprise in UK Contemporary Policy - 2016 Authors/publication: Ian Buchanan Examines the role of the third sector in addressing perceived failures in state welfare provision. Social Enterprise as Hybrid Organisations: A Review and Research Agenda - 2014 Author/publication: Bob Doherty Assesses the influence of the dual mission (financial sustainability and social purpose) on social enterprise management. Measuring social impact in social enterprise: the state of thought and practice in the UK - 2013 Author/publication: Jim Clifford Kate Markey and Natasha Malpani Explores the common threads between impact measurement tools and approaches, and how measurement varies to meet differing commissioning areas for social enterprises working in public service markets.

A pioneering social enterprise in northern England offers a vision of what the NHS could be like if it took prevention seriously Why would a healthcare provider fund a cafe in a primary school? Or support a confidence-building youth club? And why on earth would the same organisation provide cash to help its employees repair their car, fix a leak, even set up their own tattoo business. From the perspective of conventional healthcare, this is all very puzzling. Until that is you understand the ethos animating FCMS - a social enterprise operating across northern England. The idea is simple: keeping and making people happy and healthy not simply delivering healthcare. In practice, that does mean providing some demanding healthcare services: urgent treatment centres, emergency dental care, the 111 helpline, diagnostic services, and many others.  But what makes FCMS different is its determination to set this work in a much wider context of health inequalities and the social conditions that lead to either good or bad health and well-being. Put simply, FCMS doesn’t think it’s enough to just patch people up who come through their doors - they also aim to stop people coming through their doors in the first place. And that means intervening elsewhere. Tea and cake The school cafe is a case in point. Based in Flakefleet Primary School in Fleetwood and set-up with funding from FCMS, the Strive cafe serves a number of purposes. It creates a very pleasant place for human connection in an area facing deep poverty and isolation. It acts as a welcoming hub where people can come to seek help from local public services and the voluntary sector. It gives pupils and their families a relaxing space to speak to school staff about challenges they may be facing. And, of course, it also serves excellent but affordable coffee, tea and cake. Is Strive a health intervention? In the conventional healthcare world, it most certainly is not. Getting a ‘business case’ to fund Strive approved within an NHS Trust would be a challenge to say the least. But from the point of view of FCMS, Strive is very much an investment in health. It is a direct way of providing the things that create good health and well-being: human connection, living in a friendly and supportive place, having easy access to local services and sources of help. And when such an intervention occurs in a place like Flakefleet, it is a direct response to the inequalities that damage health and well-being. The same can be said of FCMS’s other activities such as backing The Boat House Youth - a voluntary organisation designed to develop young people’s confidence, funding free breakfasts and holiday activities for school children, helping adults develop basic maths skills, and supporting Flakefest - a summer festival for the Flakefleet community. These and many other similar investments now total over £1 million into communities, largely, but not exclusively, across the Blackpool and Fylde coast. Oompf! Importantly, this spirit of using resource to address the underlying and holistic causes of good and bad health also informs FCMS’s own services. In recent years, the organisation has focused heavily on making sure healthcare can get to some of the most marginalised communities. Taking a highly flexible approach to how, when and where their services are delivered, FCMS has made it a goal through its Complex Lives programme to take healthcare to homeless people, asylum seekers and those removed from GP registration. But this holistic approach doesn’t stop at patients and service users. It is also committed to the health and well-being of its own team. An approach that includes a fund called Staff Wishes which offers hard cash to make the lives of team members a little bit better, or sometimes a lot better. That might mean helping repair a broken down car or troublesome plumbing but, in one case, it meant helping a staff member follow their dream of setting up their own business by funding the purchase of tattoo equipment. Not many organisations would pay to lose a valued member of staff but it simply displays FCMS’s commitment to placing health and well-being ahead of everything else. If the NHS is to become truly focused on prevention of ill-health rather than just its treatment, as the Government claims to want, then it has much to learn from an organisation like FCMS: working closely with the voluntary and wider public sector; developing highly flexible services designed around the reality of people’s lives; investing in community-based solutions to local challenges. These are all important but perhaps there is one lesson that overrides them all: doing whatever it takes to keep everyone as happy and healthy as possible. Staying true to such a principle means thinking and working well outside the boundaries of conventional acute healthcare. It also means always being ready to ask tough questions of one’s own organisation about whether it is using its resource in the most effective way to address the things that make people ill and unhappy. Such self-reflection, if done honestly, would certainly upend many of the practices across an NHS that seems unable to break out of its acute focus, overcome its aversion to frontline innovation, and respond adequately to a pressurised and unhappy workforce. A good place to start that learning is by looking at FCMS’s core values. The language, simplicity and the values themselves say something about the fundamentally different culture nurtured at the social enterprise: being awesome, having fun, remaining humble, having the courage to challenge norms, being go-getting, and my personal favourite, displaying natural, infectious “oompf”! These are values that speak to a culture that esteems creativity, collaboration and sheer damn impact above everything else. It’s an ethos of oompf we desperately need to spread rapidly across the NHS and whole public sector. By Adam Lent This case study forms part of a series we are producing together with the healthcare consultancy Baxendale and think tank King’s Fund, to demonstrate the innovation shown by social enterprises delivering health and social care.

Charitable social enterprise and worker-owned co-op GLL have announced 2,830 athletes from across the UK will benefit from the 2025 intake of its GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) – the largest independent athlete award programme in the UK. Now in its 17th year the GLL Sport Foundation has so far contributed over £17m worth of athlete funding and support and distributed over 30,000 awards to young and talented athletes in 70 areas of the UK where GLL operate and across 117 different sports.  At a National Launch Event held in the London Borough of Newham on 25 April, athletes and partners gathered to hear how this year's athlete award fund of over £1.4m will help support talented athletes on their sporting journey.  GLL added Newham to its list of leisure partnerships in 2024, extending the opportunity of the GSF Awards to east London's sports stars of tomorrow.   The GSF supports athletes through financial bursaries, access to physical rehabilitation and mental wellbeing support and all athletes are also given access to over 250 sport and leisure facilities across the UK operated by GLL under its "BETTER" brand. Over 17 years, the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) has continued to be at the forefront of developing local young athletic talent with the majority of athletes under the age of 21 and on average 88% of athletes receive no other funding or athlete support, which underlines the importance of the scheme to up and coming athletes.  GLL’s recent research shows that many talented athletes struggle to realise their dreams of sporting glory due to rising costs of equipment, training, physiotherapy, travel and nutrition. For them, a GSF Award can be the lifeline to staying in training and meeting their potential. Current GSF National Ambassadors include Joe Clarke, Kimberley Woods, Tulley Kearny, Louise Fiddes, Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson and amongst GSF Alumni are Tom Daley, Ellie Simmonds, Daryl Neita and Anthony Joshua. GSF Patron Sally Gunnell OBE said: “Now in its 17th year, the GLL Sport Foundation continues to make a difference, extending support for young athletes just at the time when they need it - keeping them in training and helping them realise their sporting dreams. "It's fantastic to see so many young sportsmen and women accessing the scheme this year and I wish them the very best of luck in their sporting careers." GSF Chair and GLL CEO Peter Bundey said: “GLL is a unique organisation that over 32 years has expanded its public service offer, bringing measurable benefit to local communities. “Our GLL Sport Foundation is a key part of our remit to widen and deepen our social impact by offering unique opportunities to talented young athletes and build a legacy through sport. “Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and our own purposed business model we are delighted to announce a record 2,830 athletes will benefit from the programme this year. I want to wish them every success and we look forward to seeing them in competition here and abroad in years to come." GSF Legacy Ambassador and Athlete Representative on the GLL Sport Foundation Abdul Buhari said: “As an athlete that's had a career in sport, I know firsthand for the impact the GSF has in both a practical and financial sense. "The cost of training and preparation remains high, and I know many athletes will be able to succeed because these awards remove another barrier to competition. "The ability to do something you are passionate about with the help of GSF is priceless”.                                             The GSF Annual Report will be released shortly.  For more information visit www.gllsportfoundation.org The GLL Sport Foundation's Patron is Sally Gunnell, OBE and partners involved in the programme include; SportsAid, SportsAid Wales, Mary Peters Trust, sponsors from GLL's supply chain and local authority partners.

Belu's latest Impact Report is an enlightening summary of everything they achieved throughout 2024 with the support of their ever growing network of partners and customers.  From impactful investments at both local and global levels to continued progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it’s a snapshot of a purpose-led business in action. Belu structures their work and their Impact Report around four key pillars: Purpose, People, Product, and Profit. Purpose comes first, shaping every decision they make and driving their mission forward. In 2024, against a backdrop of global uncertainty, from escalating conflict and the deepening climate crisis to rising living costs, Belu continued to make bold decisions and do business better. The UK saw a new Labour government, the Paris Olympics united us in sport and the hospitality industry powered on, showing resilience and strength. As well as heading up the business alongside Charlotte Harrington, Belu’s Co-CEO, Natalie Campbell ran for London Mayor, finishing as the leading Independent candidate. Meanwhile, Belu launched their innovative Curve Tap, expanded internationally into Singapore, and moved into a new London HQ.  Through it all, they stayed focused on bottling, filtering, and refilling with purpose. Achieving higher revenues than in 2023 and welcoming a host of new partners. Belu's 2024-25 Impact Report is well worth a read, offering inspiring insights into how a social enterprise like Belu is leading with purpose and creating measurable, lasting impact. Read Belu's latest Impact Report About Belu Belu is a drinks business that puts people and the environment first. Our purpose goes beyond our products, by 2030 we will change the way the world sees water. At Belu, we believe something as simple as water can make a difference to some of the local and global challenges we face. Our method is clear, we are powered by ethics and we give away all our profit in pursuit of our purpose. belu.org

Social enterprises had plenty of ideas about the different ways they could significantly increase their positive social impact during the first evidence session of the Social, Cooperative and Community Economy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)’s inaugural inquiry into the government’s commitment to grow diverse business models this week. Co-op and social enterprise leaders also listed straightforward and low or no cost barriers that the government could remove.  Peter Bundey, CEO of GLL, which operates 254 of the UK’s leisure centres, explained how supporting social enterprises would help with the government’s economic growth ambitions. “A 10% increase in our company would get 100,000 people more active and create 1000 more jobs,” he said. In terms of productivity, this could help a lot with the £138bn lost to sick days, he added. Whilst acknowledging “commendable aspiration” around social value and procurement, Bundey said progress was being held back by “conservative legal restrictions on public service procurement” and asked that the guidance and legislation that surrounds public sector commissioning is clarified.  “We need clarification so that councils can be more agile, more innovative and more prescriptive about wanting civil society organisations rather than turning to lowest cost,” said Bundey.  Peter Westall, Chief Value Officer of the Midcounties Co-op (which runs travel and childcare services as well as the familiar local Co-op shops) told the inquiry “We could do more, but the biggest challenge we face is cost pressures.”   The inquiry heard that a more unified, strategic approach to supporting the social enterprise sector was needed, with greater support, legislative reform, better access to finance, and a greater understanding of the value social enterprises bring to the economy and society.  Legislation  With revenues of £850m, 650,000 members and 6000 employees, Mid Counties Co-op made a profit of £12.4m last year but faces an increased National Insurance bill of £9.3m following changes for employers introduced in April.  Westall thought the government could help by changing ‘one size fits all’ legislation that means Midcounties Co-op face similar business rates and taxes on plastic packaging for their shops as supermarkets that operate giant stores in retail parks. His view was echoed by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) CEO Peter Holbrook, who asked the government to consider how tax could be used to incentivise good behaviour for businesses, particularly around business rates and corporation tax.   Grace Harrison, Organisational Development Lead at Kitty’s Launderette (pictured above), a coop and community hub in Liverpool, asked that community right to buy legislation be tightened up so social enterprises could find properties to operate from.   Harrison also introduced an idea she’d encountered in Italy, where legislation requires both public and private employers with more than 15 employees to hire a certain percentage of disabled people. Employers can also fulfil the quota by entering into agreements with social value organisations. “This has massively transformed the access to work opportunities for disadvantaged groups,” said Harrison.  Access to finance  Finding investment to grow remains an issue for social enterprises irrespective of size. Midcounties Co-op is one of the biggest UK childcare providers offering nearly 4000 places and Westall explained they’d like to expand this service but “as a co-op we are unable, as other business types are, to go to the city and raise funds. How do we get additional finance backing to enable us to do the things that we want to do?”. The government has established an advisory group to look at ways of mobilising social impact capital.   Jonathan Atkinson of Carbon Co-op also called for a bigger spectrum of finance options to be made available and described having limited options for using an overdraft from banks unable to assess their business risk as a social enterprise.  More grant-making startup funds were requested by Harrison, who cited a reduction in non-repayable early-stage funding sources.    Support  More awareness and practical support across the board was also requested – for local authority commissioners looking to contract social enterprises and for business support for social enterprises. Westall also suggested that more co-op development agencies were needed, but this was challenged by Baroness Glenys Thornton who thought something broader was needed who said “this isn't just about developing cooperatives, this is about developing social enterprises and social businesses writ large.”  Holbrook thought government officials should establish “a single vision for how cooperatives, mutuals, and social businesses can collectively recover our economy.” He suggested this might take the form of a Social Business Unit so that every government department could benefit from a level of expertise and knowledge about these diverse business models.  This was the first of four evidence sessions for the Inquiry. All the evidence presented will now be collated and incorporated into a report that will be delivered to government and other stakeholders later this year.  

Community Dental Services CIC (CDS) has partnered with Luton Borough Council to deliver a free pop-up dental clinic, at the Park Town Family Hub, for almost 100 local children under 10. The pop-up session combined oral health advice, information on healthy eating and a ‘lift the lip’ assessment by the dental team. Any children found to require further care were signposted to a general dental practitioner or offered appointments with CDS. Luton has above the national average number of children experiencing tooth decay and the initiative was designed to focus on helpful prevention advice for families around key oral health messages and awareness of healthy eating, combined with a dental assessment. Where appropriate an application of fluoride varnish was also offered – an important preventative treatment for many children. The timing, during the Easter holidays, ensured a busy day, and free toothbrushes and toothpaste were handed out for all the children to take home. Helen Paisley, CDS CEO, who also attended and carried out some of the assessments, said: “A pop-up clinic like this is a fantastic initiative and we were delighted to be involved and get out of our clinics and into the community. We know that many children, especially the ‘Covid Generation’ have struggled to access and see a dentist regularly. A pop-up clinic means we can share oral health information, explain and show toothbrushing techniques in a fun and engaging way and provide a simple ‘lift the lip’ assessment to see if any treatment is needed. It is also a really valuable way for children to become acclimatised to seeing the dentist as we know an increasing lack of acclimatisation is contributing to children being more dentally anxious when they do come to our clinics needing care.” About CDS Community Dental Services CIC (CDS) is a 100% employee-owned social enterprise providing community dental services to the NHS and oral health improvement programmes throughout Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk & Waveney, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire.  - Together we will enable our communities to enjoy a better quality of life - communitydentalservices.co.uk

Introducing an exclusive offer for Social Enterprise UK members from cyber insurance specialist Coalition and the team at Keegan & Pennykid Imagine opening your laptop one morning to check the accounts of your social enterprise, only to see a number of transfers have been made to a supplier you don't recognise. You try to open your email to check the notifications you're always sent when you make payments but you're locked out. What's going on?  According to insurer Coalition, the average claim from not-for-profits resulting from cyber breaches (when someone gains unauthorised access to your data) is £86,500. That covers the cost of investigating the breach, removing criminals from your systems, and restoring data and functionality. It doesn’t include legal fees, business disruption, or the potential reputational hit.  When you’ve bought off-the-shelf security software, it’s easy to assume your data is safe. But how many of us take the time to ensure that software is properly configured to suit our organisation's needs?  A big part of cyber security is simply knowing what to look for. For instance, many social enterprises rely on email to communicate with supporters, clients, and staff. But are those emails encrypted? Is two-factor authentication enabled for logins?  If hackers gain access to your inbox, they may also get hold of customer details, intellectual property, and other sensitive information. In the worst cases, this can create serious legal and reputational risks.  More broadly, who’s actually responsible for cyber security in your organisation? Are their responsibilities clearly defined? Have you allocated any budget to this area?  If you’ve got concerns about your cyber security, we’re here to help.  Taking control of cyber risk  Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) members can now access Coalition Control, a cyber security risk management platform, for free, thanks to our long-standing supporter member, Keegan & Pennykid.  Keegan & Pennykid are independent, family-owned insurance brokers with a UK-wide reputation for ethical, expert advice to individuals, businesses, social enterprises, and charities.  This is just one of the many benefits of SEUK membership. By joining, you're not only part of a business network committed to social justice and sustainability – you can benefit from offers like this from supporter members. Your membership also supports research that helps demonstrate the value of social enterprise to government, which has led to favorable policy. Members also gain access to exclusive events and resources. Learn more about SEUK membership.  Here’s how the cyber security risk platform works. Coalition Control scans your organisation’s entire digital footprint - including your domains, IP addresses, apps, and services - and flags potential risks like data leaks and phishing vulnerabilities. It then highlights data leaks and phishing risks.  The platform provides a clear view of your most pressing cyber threats and helps you take action before they turn into problems. It gives you a prioritised list of vulnerabilities, so you can focus on the ones most likely to cause damage.  This means you can build your cyber resilience in a practical, step-by-step way—making your organisation more secure and less vulnerable to attack. In fact, Coalition has found that users of its platform experience 64% fewer claims than those who don’t have access.  To help you explore this further, we’re running exclusive SEUK member webinars to demo the platform and answer any questions. Here are the details To register, sign into our Members' Area and click on RSVP. If you're a member but have not yet registered to our online community please get in touch with us at membership@socialenterprise.org.uk  1. Taking Control of Cyber Risk – 22 May, 12pm  Cyber-attacks against non-profit organisations are increasing at an alarming 63% year on year. During the first of our free webinars on cyber security presented alongside our colleagues at Coalition, we will provide practical advice on what your organisation can do to better protect itself.   2. Cyber resilience and Coalition Control – 5 June, 12pm   As mentioned above, Coalition Control provides a clear view of your most pressing cyber threats and helps you take action before they turn into problems. In this webinar we’ll show you how the Coalition Control platform works, demonstrating how straightforward and easy it is to use. We’ll also be considering what you can do to make your organisation more cyber resilient.   3. Cyber insurance – 12 June, 12pm  The focus for this session will be the vital role that cyber insurance plays within the cyber risk management process and how better protecting your organisation may not be as daunting as perhaps you might think. Remember, these webinars are exclusive to members. Join the world’s largest social enterprise network. 

WYK Digital (WYK) is a social enterprise set up to ensure that ‘what you know’ outweighs ‘who you know’ in the digital sector. Founded in 2020, it’s on a mission to lower the barriers to entry into digital marketing and technology jobs for young people from underrepresented backgrounds. It does this by running free full-time courses running from 8-14 weeks, focused on specific jobs within the digital careers space. These offer not just technical training using tailor-made, hands-on syllabuses but also help participants develop the soft skills needed in a work environment, such as how to communicate effectively and collaborate with peers. Programmes are set up to meet the criteria of exactly what employers are looking for ensuring that when trainees apply for a job, they are fully prepared. Something that really sets WYK apart and which Rob Jackson, their Founder, describes as its USP, is that after a month of deep dive work on a given digital discipline, participants spend two weeks running live campaigns for a real business. WYK works with 200 small businesses for whom trainees run digital marketing projects using real money. As Rob puts it: “There’s that whole thing of you can't get the job without the experience and you can't get the experience without the job - we give them that real world experience as part of the programme and so they've worked in a professional services environment, with a real client and real budget, and the challenges that come with that.” Around 69% of trainees report going into either full-time work, self-employment or further training after completing programmes. WYK has supported a remarkable 1,000 young people in just four years. In 2024, it helped 400 people gain vital skills and is aiming to support a further 600 in 2025. How does WYK work with government departments? WYKs courses are funded by the Department of Education’s (DFE) Skills Boot Camps, for which WYK won a competitive tendering process. The business is on the DFE’s dynamic purchasing system (DPS) – a platform allowing organisations to respond to callouts for contracts that became available through the department. DPS’s are a great way for VCSEs to engage with government procurement as being on one can cut down procurement times. Sometimes if you’re not on a framework you cannot bid as they effectively are a pre-qualification process. WYK responded to deliver services on the Skills Bootcamp, putting in three bids across three different areas, namely performance marketing (including training on paid online ads), digital bespoke programmatic marketing and ad-tec, and data analytics programmes to upskill young people to become data analysts. The contract is a two-year one with the first half delivered in 2024 and the second half in 2025. What were the main benefits to the DFE of working with WYK? As a social enterprise whose articles of association commit it to lower barriers to entry for underrepresented young people, WYK can showcase extensive impact supporting people launch sustainable and meaningful careers. Just under three-quarters of trainees are from minority ethnic backgrounds and over half come from the three lower indices of multiple deprivation deciles. As Rob puts it: “We can show that not only are we getting people into work, we're actually helping people who would really struggle with the barriers that they're facing to get into meaningful employment.” With the purpose of the contract being to support more people into work, another benefit that WYK brings to the delivery of the contract is its “incredibly strong ties to the industry” with its biggest partners being the largest advertising companies in the world, including Omnicom and GroupM. Out of the big six advertising businesses, it works with half of them. It has a deep and wide relationship with Omnicom, with the business having hired 150 of WYK’s trainees over the last four years. Partnering with WYK not only benefits the young people on programmes but also businesses looking for the best talent. WYK has essentially “de-risked” the recruitment process for them as they’ve supported businesses “access upskilled talent they can have confidence in.”  The quality, strength and impact of the social enterprise’s programmes can be summed up by Omnicom telling them that “the best entry level candidates they have coming into the business are from WYK”. How does this benefit the DFE? In short, as well as creating jobs for people traditionally shut out from the tech industry, WYK’s close and trusted relationships with businesses enables a pipeline of motivated, talented young people who themselves are transforming the dynamics of the digital sector. As Rob puts it: “We get the outcomes, we have the ties to business and we can also really point to our impact when it comes to the types of people that we’re supporting.” Top tips for VCSEs looking to work with central government departments A top tip from Rob for other VCSEs looking to work with government is to “lean into the support that’s out there” from organisations which exist to help social enterprises and charities access government money. WYK have been “massively helped through resources from organisations like Social Enterprise UK, by Hatch who carried out an impact accelerator for us and by the School for Social Entrepreneurs.” Based on a conversation with Rob Jackson Founder of WYK Digital wykdigital.com