12pm Thursday 22nd April

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This session will provide an overview of social investment. What it is, what it isn’t, the different types, where to get and what you can do with it. Richard O’Brien from Triodos Bank will provide a practical guide about what to think about when considering social investment. He will be joined by Ruth Anslow, founder and director of HISBE Food CIC an ethical supermarket based in Brighton which has successfully raised social investment. Ruth will talk about HISBE’s funding journey, sharing some the successes and challenges the business has encountered as well as navigating the ongoing pandemic.

Richard works in the Triodos corporate finance team helping clients to raise capital and providing investment readiness support. He has advised renewable energy, charitable, social enterprise and profit with purpose businesses raising capital between £300k and £10 million. Before joining Triodos Bank, he was an Investment Manager at CAF Venturesome and was responsible for appraising investment opportunities as well as managing a portfolio of social investments.

Richard is a chartered accountant who worked for six years at Smith and Williamson.

Ruth is a social entrepreneur and a keen advocate of doing business for social benefit, beyond just making profit. In 2010 she decided to take on supermarkets and cofounded HISBE Food with her sister, Amy. HISBE is a supermarket chain with a difference, built on a social enterprise business model and designed to support a sustainable future for food and farming. Alongside running HISBE, Ruth cofounded The Good Business Club, to connect entrepreneurs who are starting, running and growing a “business for good” with the support and resources they need. In 2019 she started “HISBE Bootcamp,” to equip the next generation of food rebels to follow in HISBEs footsteps and launch their own change-making shops and brands.