Social Enterprise is a growing business model and is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Scottish economy. Often referred to as “not-for-profit”, a more accurate description would be “profit for good”.

Social enterprise is not a legal structure, rather a business model, but the key element is that in order to be a social enterprise your business must have an ethical, social purpose and the profits that it makes are reinvested in it for the development of its services and to benefit its customers, environment or users. Social enterprises may or may not have charitable status.

CVO East Ayrshire has a remit from the Scottish Government to support the development of Social Enterprise, and we do this by providing training and networking, brokering collaborative tendering opportunities and providing specific support to organisations who are considering a more business focused model, moving away from being reliant on grant funding and planning to make their services sustainable in the long term. We’re happy to speak to your staff and board about the key considerations and implications of social enterprise.

In addition, we lead by example and operate our own enterprises, the profits from which contribute to us being able to provide a wider range of support to the third sector and the people living in our communities.

For more information about Social Enterprise or the support we can provide, please contact:

Fiona Fawdry, Chief Executive
Fiona.Fawdry@cvoea.co.uk
01563 574000