Yesterday (11 November) businesses across the UK celebrated Social Enterprise Day, part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. As part of this celebration we took part in #WhoKnew – a global digital campaign designed to give social enterprises the chance to tell their stories, show what makes them different from traditional businesses and shout about the impact of their work.
Social enterprises are businesses which trade for a social or environmental purpose. There are 100,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £60bn to the UK economy, each one being set up to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face from homelessness to the climate emergency.
#WhoKnew the Growth Company’s mission is to enable sustainable and inclusive growth, create jobs and improve lives?
GC has recently been accredited as a genuine social enterprise through the Social Enterprise Mark, an independent guarantee that an organisation puts the interests of people and planet above shareholder gain. We've been externally assessed against sector-agreed criteria and proved our commitment to using profits and income to create benefits for society and the environment.
Our ambition, which we are working towards, is to gain the Social Enterprise Gold Mark Accreditation by the end of March 2022.
Alongside the Social Enterprise Mark, we've also been shortlisted in the Education, Training and Jobs Social Enterprise category at the UK Social Enterprise Awards, recognising us as one of the leading social enterprises in the country.
We'll be joining other shortlisted organisations at the prestigious awards ceremony held at London’s iconic Guildhall on 8 December.
Mark Hughes, Chief Executive, commented on the latest achievements:
“Gaining accreditation through the Social Enterprise Mark and being nominated for a Social Enterprise UK award demonstrates the Growth Company’s commitment to being acknowledged as a leading social enterprise.
The Growth Company exists to drive forward business, economic, personal and professional development within communities by boosting employment, skills, investment and enterprise for the benefit of all.
We’re proud to driven by our values, and will continue to work to operate with a positive impact on the world we live in.”
Visit the Social Enterprise UK Awards and Social Enterprise Mark websites for more information.