Welcome
Welcome to the spring issue of the Social Enterprise Business Support Programme newsletter. You'll find that as well as providing updates on all the projects of the component programmes, the newsletter now contains a number of new sections, including: current thinking, project case studies and a key issues ‘surgery'. The newsletter will keep you up-to-date with all the progress from the component programmes as well as the steps that are being made to connect and strengthen the wider business support landscape for the sector. Current Thinking: The Importance of Investing in Social Enterprise Business Support The new government's concept of ‘Big Society' is about empowering communities and boosting social responsibility and action. In light of impending spending cuts, it will also encourage and enable third sector organisations to deliver public services. This is an exciting time for social enterprise and as Peter Holbrook comments, the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) will be "working hard to influence the government more broadly on how social enterprise can play a stronger role in the wider economy." However, if we are promoting and encouraging social enterprise to step up to the opportunities that Big Society provides, thought needs be leant to the provision of business support. Effective business support is a key factor in terms of success and growth and there is a general consensus that improvements need to be made to the current landscape. The State of Social Enterprise Survey, produced by SEC in 2009, indicated that existing mainstream business support is not sufficiently tailored to meet social enterprise needs. In light of this, Jon Woolfson, Senior Policy Officer at SEC, explains that "there is a need for an approach which recognises what social enterprises are trying to achieve. Business support for social enterprises needs to be appropriate, flexible and tailored, and Government business support funding should be channelled into products for which a demand exists." In addition to the findings of this survey, a recent report by the Office of Civil Society (formally Office of the Third Sector) identified that although a range of services exist, the landscape is fragmented, difficult to navigate and is therefore in need of improvement. The Capacitybuilders' Social Enterprise Programme and the Big Lottery funded Investing in Social Enterprise Expansion (I-SEE) Programme are working to develop business support from within the sector. But it is the clear that further investment is needed. The sector needs to unite to create a comprehensive, cohesive infrastructure capable of effectively supporting existing social enterprises, as well as a new generation of start-ups encouraged by the raised profile of the sector. This sentiment sits firmly with Peter Holbrook: "Running any business creates huge challenges, for social enterprises, perhaps even more so. Effective business support significantly increases the chance of success and if our movement is going to rise to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, then investment in business support is vital."  The Social Enterprise Business Support Programme The Social Enterprise Business Support Programme brings together the work of two existing business support programmes: the Capacitybuilders funded National Knowledge Management Programme and the Big Lottery funded Investing in Social Enterprise Expansion Programme. The aim is to work in partnership for the creation of effective sector products, services and knowledge-sharing networks, which stimulate and encourage the growth, development and sustainability of social enterprises in England. Great progress has been made over the last quarter. The component business support projects are progressing well and social enterprises are reporting benefits from the tools and services that are being developed. SEC has continued to encourage and promote the sharing of learning across the two programmes and the benefits of the consequent collaborations and partnerships is becoming increasingly clear. SEC has also continued to promote the programmes and their component projects to the wider sector and key strategic links with other third sector organisations and projects are beginning to be made - helping to unite the social enterprise business support landscape as a whole. Further work is planned for the coming months including a key knowledge sharing event in July.  National Knowledge Management Programme: National Learning Project Updates TRADING KNOW-HOW - delivered by Social Enterprise West Midlands (SEWM)
Thematic project area: Knowledge Management
Region: West Midlands  Great progress continues to be made in all five strands of the project and, whereas the first two years of the project were focused on delivery, the final year will focus more on consolidating the learning collected so far to share with the wider sector. Following the success of the first ‘Growing your Social Enterprise' summer school for social enterprises in September 2009, arrangements for a second in September 2010 are currently being finalised and reports indicate that the event has inspired similar schools in both the South West and East of England. In order to capture the true success of this concept, an online survey is being developed which will feed into the overall project evaluation process. SEWM has also continued to work closely with their flagship social enterprises; involving them in the launch of the networks prospectus; producing promotional short films; and involving them in the design and delivery of the 2010 summer school. The structured study visits have also continued to prove a success. Since February, a further three have taken place and have attracted social enterprises from inside and outside of the region. A second ‘Marketing your Social Enterprise' Good Practice Forum has taken place and a third is planned for June. A forum on ‘Franchising and Replication' is also being planned and will take place later this year. Finally the new SEWM website is under construction and will include a picture and video library for use by social enterprises. It is hoped this will launch in the next few months. For more information please contact Ranjit Bansal, Marketing & Operations Manager, Social Enterprise West Midlands.
THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MARK - delivered by the Social Enterprise Mark CIC
Thematic project area: Business Development
Region: Nationwide  Three months on from launch, the Social Enterprise Mark CIC and the new Mark are going from strength to strength. RISE (the social enterprise regional network for the South West) and SEC have continued to promote and advocate the Mark and there are now over 160 Mark holders, with many more are in the application process. Peter Holbrook, Chair of the Social Enterprise Mark CIC, presented the Mark at the 2010 Social Enterprise Summit in San Francisco. It received high levels of interest and was a great gauge of the Mark's international potential. As a start-up social enterprise itself, the Social Enterprise Mark CIC has welcomed the support that the movement has shown and with continued support, can continue to focus its attention on developing the Mark - a product created by the movement, for the movement. The joint venture between the two organisations has also been a great example of how, in today's climate, working in partnership and collaboration can be a great route to growth and development - both for the specific businesses involved and the sector as a whole. Read more about the joint venture between RISE and SEC in a new case study. For more information please contact Lucy Findlay, Managing Director, the Social Enterprise Mark CIC.
CATALYZING CONSORTIA - delivered by Social Enterprise North West (SENW) and SELNET (Social Enterprise Lancashire Network)
Thematic project area: Scaling-up & Procurement
Region: North West   The project's Consortium Action Team (CAT) has continued to support new and existing consortium groups across the North West by providing expert advice and support. The work is seeing excellent results with a total of thirteen social enterprise consortiums having benefited so far. One consortium has won three tenders and another has been able to work with partners to position themselves as a key player on a national level. In addition to this, the Opportunities North West website now hosts an increasing amount of resources for social enterprises searching for advice on forming and bidding as consortia, and the CAT have had numerous chances to speak directly with social enterprises through promotions at various events. So far consortia activity has been supported in three of the five sub-regions of the North West and SELNET and SENW plan to increase this to all five over the remainder of the project. SELNET and SENW will also continue to develop case studies over the coming months, to promote the programme to further potential beneficiaries. As well as benefiting the social enterprises themselves, the project has also greatly benefited SENW and SELNET; helping to enhance the service they deliver as support organisations. For more information please contact Val Jones, CEO, Social Enterprise North West or Liz Tapner, SELNET
SELLING ADDED VALUE TRAINING COURSE - delivered by the Social Enterprise Support Centre (SESC)
Thematic project area: Impact Assessment
Region: Yorkshire & Humber  Three business coaches have now been trained to deliver the 'Selling Added Value' SROI training course across the Yorkshire and Humber region. Feedback from social enterprise participants has been very positive regarding the usefulness of the course in terms of improving understanding of the SROI approach and increasing confidence in tendering activity. The programme and course have also attracted interest from a key health sector commissioner and talks are under way on how the "approach can increase social enterprise involvement in the supply chain in major facilities management contracts." Further courses are planned for this year, with the next taking place in June. The project is hitting its targets and this final year's activity and evaluation process will reveal the true impact of the project on supporting social enterprises in Yorkshire and Humber to secure public sector delivery contracts. For more information please contact Dave Smith, Project Manager, the Social Enterprise Support Centre.
OUTCOME ASSESSMENT FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES (OASES) - delivered by Social Enterprise London
Thematic project area: Impact Assessment
Region: London  Since September 2009, eight awareness raising workshops and three two-day workshops have been run on impact assessment and the new diagnostic tool that SEL has developed. These events have reached over 100 social enterprise beneficiaries and received high levels of positive feedback. It was important to reach social enterprises from all over London and this was achieved by holding the events in various different boroughs. Providing enough one-to-one support was also an identified issue and is being addressed by ensuring specific time is structured into future events. The final year of the project will include a number of further events which will increase the number of social enterprises beneficiaries and will further raise awareness of the importance of effective impact assessment in securing contracts. Through the project, SEL has gained a comprehensive understanding of the different impact assessment models, the suitability for different social enterprises and the wider importance of the process; something which has benefitted them in numerous other areas of their work. For more information please contact Sabina Khan, Project Manager, Social Enterprise London.
THE SEASON PROJECT - delivered by Co-operatives South East and the SE2 Partnership
Thematic project area: Networks
Region: South East  The SEASON network has now run a number of seminars for its members. These seminars have been delivered by a number of industry experts and topics covered include Companies Act 2006, Community Shares and Social Impact. The social enterprise advisors that make up the network have been granted access to continued professional development (CPD) opportunities through the seminars and great feedback has been received: an interim evaluation identifying that 100% felt the network was meeting all, or a proportion, of their needs. Partnership working between Co-operatives South East, the SE2 Partnership and the East Sussex Social Enterprise Network (ESSEN) has maintained momentum in the promotion of the network and there is a steady number of advisors signing up to be members. Raising the profile in this way has also attracted attention from an increasing number of contractors; using the network to advertise tendering opportunities. With these successes, there have been some challenges: management of the project requires greater capacity that was at first anticipated, however this has been overcome by sub-contracting activities out to partner. A project planning/strategy session in April resulted in clear plans for the remainder of the project; including further seminars on additional topics and a focus on supporting the social enterprise advisors through formal and informal networking. For more information please contact Jo White, Executive Director, Cooperatives South East.
MULTIPLYING SOCIAL CHANGE - delivered by Social Enterprise East Midlands (SEEM)
Thematic project area: Business Development
Region: East Midlands
 SEEM are now registered and trading as part of two new joint venture businesses. The first is the Northamptonshire Enterprising Skills Agency CIC (trading as 3E) which is run in partnership with the University of Northampton Business School and provides a ‘job shop' for NEETs (those not in employment, education or training), redundant professionals and unemployed graduates. The second is Responsible Futures (UK) Ltd, run in partnership with Hill Holt Wood, TREES, STRIDE and Sherwood Energy Village. This second joint venture is in the early stages of development, but will "offer a range of services with the primary aim of winning large public sector contracts and subcontracting these to other local social enterprise partners." A third joint venture is also in the pipe-line and more news will follow on this in the coming months. The project has also enabled SEEM to secure funding to produce a feasibility study on a potential new eco-park; another exciting project development. A toolkit (stage-gate model) is also being produced as part of the project and will act as a guide to joint venture activity; identifying needs and potential challenges. An executive summary on this tool will shortly be made available by SEEM and the tool completed after that. There have some challenges in the project. Ongoing evaluations, although planned, weren't always possible and this led to retrospective analysis. But this has still successfully fed into some key briefing papers that will soon be available from SEEM. The activities of the project will potentially enable SEEM to move from grant funding to a sustainable trading organisation - ensuring that it remains in place to support social enterprises in the East Midlands. The project activity and learning is also a great resource for other social enterprise support bodies in the current economic and political landscape. For more information please contact Ric Ellis, Business Development Manager, Social Enterprise East Midlands.
DEVELOPING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES - Delivered by the North East Social Enterprise Partnership (NESEP)
Thematic project area: Scaling-up & Procurement
Region: North East
 The Developing Social Enterprises project is being managed by NESEP and bases its learning on opportunities for developing and growing social enterprises through social franchising. There are two main aspects to the project. Firstly, linking into the I-SEE Social Franchising Support project, the North East Social Enterprise Partnership is looking at further developments and potential markets for social enterprises wishing to expand through replication or social franchising. The project aims to clarify the process and provide consistent and easily accessible knowledge and information. The North East is piloting and expanding training for business advisors, potential franchises and expanding new areas for replication opportunities. Secondly, in response to the barriers to accessing public sector contract opportunities, NESEP is working with VONNE (the North East's VCS body) to further develop a pilot database. The database will hold information on third sector suppliers in the region and will allow the public sector to search locally or regionally for social enterprise suppliers. The database provides a matching service for contract opportunities and private partner/supply chain consortium development areas. For more information please contact Karen Woods, CEO of the North East Social Enterprise Partnership . The Social Enterprise Knowledge Exchange  The Social Enterprise Knowledge Exchange (SEKE) is at the heart of SEC's National Knowledge Management Programme. Formed in 2008, it is a community of practice where the CEOs of the regional social enterprise networks meet on a quarterly basis to share information, expertise and good practice from their regions and projects. Having been running for over 2 years, the existence of the group has delivered very positive results. Feedback from members has revealed that the regular meetings are highly valuable and have allowed the nine English regions to unite and collaborate, share information and support each other. These initial findings will be investigated further over the coming months through the introduction of a group assessment survey. The success of the group has also inspired ‘spin-offs' in the form of quarterly meetings between regional Communications and Membership teams. The three groups allow the regions and SEC to unite; sharing valuable information and benefitting the movement as a whole. The last meeting took place in April and was hosted by RISE. Amongst the key topics discussed were: the Social Enterprise Mark; information sharing techniques; the new SETAS website and the social enterprise business support landscape; and funding and future sustainability in the current economic and political climate. The next meeting of the SEKE group will take place in July and will be hosted by Social Enterprise West Midlands (SEWM). Programme Visits Knowledge Sharing Meeting with the West Midlands' Capacitybuilders Project Managers  On the 22nd April, SEC staff working on the Social Enterprise Business Support Programme (Projects Manager, Craig Carey and Project Communications Officer, Holly Hampton) met with the Project Managers of the West Midlands', Capacitybuilders business support projects. This was a successful and valuable meeting for the projects as it enabled them to share valuable information and learning; talk through key challenges and future plans; and make strategic links with other organisations and delivery partners. The meeting also provided key insight into the value of the Knowledge Sharing Workshop planned for July; an event that will bring together the complete portfolio of Capacitybuilders projects to share learning and experience.  Investing in Social Enterprise Expansion (I-SEE) Programme: Project Updates LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT - delivered by the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC)
Thematic project area: Start-ups & VCS access  Over the last three months some significant research has been undertaken on the project including: an online survey; focus groups; and interviews with social enterprise leaders and practitioners. This has provided a sound evidence base and foundation for the project as it moves forward into the next stage of work. The initial focus of the project will be to work with the ‘right to request' group of social enterprise leaders. The Right to Request is an NHS policy drive that gives NHS staff the right to request to move out of the NHS to establish independent social enterprises. The aim of the I-SEE project will be to develop a leadership curriculum that allows social enterprise leaders to: transform and develop their organisations to deliver key services; maintain focus on its customers; and provide value for money - all within the context of a changing funding environment. The content of the curriculum is still in the design phase but key elements have been agreed. A pilot series of workshops is planned for later in the year and will run on a monthly basis for four to six months. For more information please contact Craig Carey, Projects Manager, Social Enterprise Coalition
EXPANSION OF THE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS - delivered by the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE)
Thematic project area: Scaling-up 
This project has created an exciting period of growth for the School for Social Entrepreneurs franchise. The total number of Schools has now reached 10 and the newest of these, Yorkshire and Hampshire, are already training their first intake of students. The project focuses support on these new schools, ensuring they secure adequate and sustainable funding. Expanding the number of Schools through the social franchising model enables the benefits of the schools to be felt more widely, and figures show that in the past year the numbers of social entrepreneurs accessing a SSE programme has dramatically increased from 56 to over 200. The SSE are now investigating further opportunities for expansion of the franchise. The SSE Network Director has visited various regions, including the West Midlands, North West and East of England, to build key partnerships with organisations that will ultimately lead to the creation of additional Schools. The project has also enabled SSE to invest further support in the established schools to ensure they also continue to grow and prosper. This is having a great impact on the level of support available to social enterprises and social entrepreneurs - especially in more deprived areas where support provision used to be lacking. As well as continuing to support all 10 Schools, further discussions and developments are planned for the remainder of the project. For more information please contact Larissa Litchfield, Funding & Contracts, School for Social Entrepreneurs.
STRENGTHENING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE RETAIL SKILLS IN RURAL AREAS - delivered by the Plunkett Foundation
Thematic project area: Business Development  The Plunkett Foundation has made great progress on their project this quarter. An initial scoping exercise and training event earlier this year identified the need to improve the support available to existing shops. This included updating their existing advice sheet; encouraging interaction between community shops; updating the roles and responsibilities of the advisor network; and developing a new diagnostic tool to assist their Advisors. Work on these priorities commenced quickly and a second training day took place in April. This involved a consultation with the Advisors on proposed changes to their roles and responsibilities, and an introduction to the prototype diagnostic tool and updated advice sheet. The next stage of the project is to trial the new tools and approach to improve the support provided to existing community shops. This project has enabled the Plunkett Foundation to carefully assess the service they provide in order to ensure that rural social enterprises receive the best possible support. Read more about how they have achieved this in a new case study. For more information please contact James Alcock, Community Retail Manager, Plunkett Foundation.
THIRD SECTOR CONSORTIA DEVELOPMENT - delivered by REalliance CIC
Thematic project area: Scaling-up & Procurement  The activity of this project is currently focused in two locations: Manchester and London (including Surrey). In London and Surrey, REalliance is delivering the project in partnership with the London Community Resource Network (LCRN). An initial scoping exercise revaled that whereas LCRN had historically brokered single public sector delivery contracts between single social enterprises and local authorities (LAs), the LAs revealed they would prefer to commission multiple services from multiple social enterprises as single contracts and wanted to do so through LCRN directly. In addition to this, it was discovered that the Greater London Authority joint Waste Disposal Authorities (WDAs) were keen to integrate waste and recycling services across the London boroughs. As a result, REalliance and LCRN asked members, social enterprises, training organisations and housing authorities to submit ideas on potential partnership agreements that could meet both opportunities. Three resulting partnerships were formed: West Riverside Waste Authority (WRWA); London Reuse Framework (LRF) and a Electronic Reuse and Repair service in the London borough of Islington. In all three cases LCRN plays a key role in supporting the partnerships to achieve success. In Surrey, a key partnership has been formed between REalliance and Surrey County Council (SCC) after SCC approached REalliance to carry out an exercise on the potential of a portfolio of integrated services. The interim report on this scoping exercise has now been submitted to SCC and it is hoped that a plan for a "coordinated clustering approach with a single point for contracts" will soon commence. Good work is also taking place in Manchester. REalliance is working within the Rochdale and Trafford areas to support social enterprises to deliver waste collection services as part of consortiums, and progress has been encouraging. In other boroughs the project has identified that whereas it can be suitable for social enterprises to bid for contracts as consortiums, it is appropriate for the delivery of the contracts to remain with individual social enterprises. This is a key area of learning in terms of understanding and adapting to the actual needs of the social enterprises: "it is important that the groups do the right thing for themselves in terms of going for a consortia or bidding individually" ( Ian Scott, Manchester Project Manager, REalliance). For more information please contact Emma Hallett, Programme Manager, REalliance CIC.
REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRAINING AND SUPPORT (SETAS) WEBSITE - delivered by Coin Street Community Builders
Thematic project area: Knowledge Management
  The last few months have been a key time for the redevelopment of the SETAS website. Due to the clear vision that existed for the site, the first stage of the rebuild was swift and by March 2010, the delivery partner UnLtd World had produced a fresh, modern beta site. Although detailed research and discussions had influenced the design, stringent testing was still required to ensure that the functionality and style met the required standards. The project's Steering and Advisory Group reconvened to test and discuss the beta site and access was granted to key bodies who fed into the research stage. Using the same research and test audience ensured that the input remained focused and relevant, and that the testing process proved successful in ‘fine tuning' the anticipated final product. The 22nd April was a landmark day for the project as the new SETAS site went live. An announcement then followed at the Shine Unconference on the 14th May. There is great excitement surrounding the potential of the site - marketed as ‘ the UK's one-stop marketplace for social enterprise training and support' - to help transform the social enterprise business support landscape. The official launch is now scheduled for Social Enterprise Day 2010. The launch of the new SETAS site is by no means the end of the project. The Steering Advisory group will continue to guide the evolution of the site and there are also key strategic links being made between other key organisations, services and business support projects. All of which will be explored over the coming months. More information on how the SETAS site was developed can be found in the lastest SETAS case study. For further information please contact Harjinder Nijjar, Training & Business Advisor, Coin Street Community Builders or visit the SETAS site.
SOCIAL FRANCHISING SUPPORT - delivered by the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC)
Thematic project area: Scaling-up
Over the last quarter, SEC, alongside key parties, has continued its research and planning for this project. The key aim of this BIG Lottery workstream is to ensure that social enterprises understand and have access to information on potential growth model options. Included in this will be a focus on demystifying and defining terms such as ‘social franchising', ‘social licensing' and ‘replication' and a series of guidelines and tools will be produced alongside this. SEC will be undertaking research in the social franchising field to ensure that the project has a sound evidence base. The project will also develop a training course for a number of potential stakeholders; including business advisors, franchisors and franchisees. Pilot workshops (1-2 days) are also planned in a number of regions towards the end of 2010 and start of 2011. A social franchising event is scheduled for November/December this year and will be open to all parties interested in growing social enterprises. The event programme will include key note speakers and will share some of the key information and learning to date as well as providing networking opportunities. The project will not duplicate existing work but will aim to complement existing workstreams to build a sound evidence base and provide clarity on the subject area. Interesting areas to be looked at include key success criteria for a franchise; what makes a franchise a ‘social' franchise; understanding your organisations values; and the issues of intellectual property. A project steering group will be formed to oversee the development of the project. This will ensure multiple input and will quality assure any materials/information that is made generally available to the sector. More information on the project will follow over the next few months and will be posted on the SEC website. For more information please contact Craig Carey, Projects Manager, Social Enterprise Coalition
Roll-out of the Micro Coaches Programme - delivered by Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE)
Thematic project area: Peer Support
 Peer-to-peer business skills transfer is a valuable tool in the social enterprise sector and frequently occurs informally. However, by this nature, it can often lack clear processes and boundaries which prevent it from being as beneficial a process as it could be. Standardisation can greatly benefit this valuable tool. SEEE has developed the Micro Coaches programme; a tested and structured programme of peer-to-peer business skills transfer. The project has formalised the skills transfer process so that support is available to both parties and the service becomes more readily available. With Big Lottery funding, SEEE now aim to roll-out the project nationally through a social franchise model. Interest has been high and it is hoped that Micro Coaches will soon be available in other English regions. For more information please contact Michele Rigby, CEO, Social Enterprise East of England. New Programme Case Studies  FORMING A JOINT VENTURE: HOW RISE AND SEC JOINED FORCES TO MANAGE AND DEVELOP THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MARK
This case studies looks at the processes involved and the learning achieved by RISE and SEC as they formed the Social Enterprise Mark CIC - a new joint venture created to manage and develp the the Social Enterprise Mark.
Read more here...
HOW EXAMINING THE NEEDS OF THEIR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS HAS ENABLED THE PLUNKETT FOUNDATION TO IMPROVE THE SUPPORT IT PROVIDES TO EXISTING COMMUNITY OWNED SHOPS
This case study looks at the work that has taken place so far on the Rural Retails Skills I-SEE project; in particular how the Plunkett Foundation has carefully assessed the needs of both community shops and their staff in order to improve the service they deliver.
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Key Issues Surgery: What is Knowledge Management? The Social Enterprise Coalition is delivering the Capacitybuilders funded National Knowledge Management Programme, but what does the term ‘Knowledge Management' actually mean? It is not a term we use in everyday life and its corporate connotations often mask what is e | 
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington CarverWhat is Social Entrepreneurship?Statement of Faith
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