Social enterprises challenge glass ceiling

26/11/2009

A survey has revealed that 26 per cent of social enterprises could be described as ‘women-led' - almost twice as many as small businesses.

Conducted for Social Enterprise Day (November 19th), the report also found that despite the recession, social enterprises are twice as confident of future growth as typical small to medium-sized enterprises.

The survey was carried out by the Social Enterprise Coalition, the UK's national body for social enterprise.

It also showed that social enterprises are as capital-hungry as small businesses, with a third seeking finance over the past 12 months – mainly to invest in new projects and expansion.

Jonathan Bland, CEO of the coalition, said: "This important research gives us much needed evidence about the state of the social enterprise sector.

"Through it we can learn what in the sector is working and what needs greater attention, and how best to support the continued growth of social enterprise."

He added that some results were "unexpectedly powerful", such as learning that social enterprises are doing well overall despite tough economic times.

There are 62,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £24 billion to the country's economy.

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