Backbone of Britain – State of Social Enterprise 2025

The Government’s 10 Year Plan for the NHS may have just recently been made public, but social enterprises have long been delivering the kind of services it aspires to. Read this new report, published with the King's Fund and Baxendale, and find out how social enterprises are ahead of the curve in already delivering the very type of healthcare which the Plan envisions. From breaking down barriers to care for vulnerable groups such as female prisoners to reducing emergency admissions, from working with patients to co-create services to finding innovative ways to lower waiting times - you'll find examples of the social enterprise effect from across the country.

Corporate supply chain spend offers significant potential gains in social and environmental outcomes. However, if we are to fully realise the potential of social procurement for societal and environmental benefit, there needs to be a better understanding of how it fits in with the ‘bigger picture’ of sustainability in procurement, and of corporate behaviour. We must move beyond understanding social procurement’s ‘why and benefits’ and reposition it as a change agenda. Therefore, we need a comprehensive outlook on what that ‘change’ should look like, and how it might be delivered. This report summarises findings from a 3-year PhD by Dr Josephine Chikwana, that maps understanding of the status quo, of gaps, and provides future recommendations.

The year 9 report for the Buy Social Corporate Challenge revealed a landmark surge in procurement spending with social enterprises, as 33 big businesses together spent £179 million on goods and services, a 46% year-on-year increase, the highest since the initiative launched in 2016. In total, corporate partners have spent £656 million with 2,100 social enterprise suppliers, creating nearly 6,000 jobs. The premise of the Challenge is simple: working with corporates to use their core business spend to create positive social and environmental impact. Read on to find out more about the transformative impact of social procurement.