Social Enterprise
Social enterprises are businesses with primarily social objectives
whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in
the business or in the community, rather than being driven by
the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.
Social enterprises tackle a wide range of social and environmental
issues and operate in all parts of the economy. By using business
solutions to achieve public good, the Government believes that
social enterprises have a distinct and valuable role to play in
helping create a strong, sustainable and socially inclusive economy.
Successful social enterprises can play an important role in helping
deliver on many of the Government's key policy objectives by:
- helping to drive up productivity and competitiveness;
- contributing to socially inclusive wealth creation;
- enabling individuals and communities to work towards regenerating
their local neighbourhoods;
- showing new ways to deliver public services; and
- helping to develop an inclusive society and active citizenship.
The Government’s vision is of dynamic and sustainable social
enterprise strengthening an inclusive and growing economy. In
July 2002, the Government launched a three year strategy, Social
Enterprise: a strategy for success, setting out a programme
of action to work towards this vision. The strategy identifies
the issues that directly contribute to the success of the sector
and seeks to remove the barriers that prevent its growth and development.
Working with key partners, the Government aims to achieve three
key outcomes:
- create an enabling environment for social enterprise
- make social enterprises better businesses
- establish the value of social enterprise
DTI’s Social Enterprise Unit (SEnU) has
responsibility for carrying forward the strategy.
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