Business engagement in some of Britain’s most deprived neighbourhoods has grown by a fifth (20%), an interim evaluation of the government’s Business Brokers pilot programme finds. The programme, which funds brokers in ten areas, tests how to get more effective business engagement with Local Strategic Partnerships and Neighbourhood Renewal Units. Among those involved are Whitbread in Luton, IKEA in Brent and Lloyds TSB and EDF Energy in East London. The evaluation assesses the added value brokers have created so far and helps to inform the development of the pilot and wider practice in involving business in regeneration. It finds that business has contributed to all six Neighbourhood Renewal themes – education, health, crime, employment, housing and the environment. Practical benefits include brokerage of mentoring, work experience and sponsorship of training. Contact Vicki Arnold, BITC, on 020 7566 8767 (http://www.bitc.org.uk)
Neighbourhood watch
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published on June 3 Local neighbourhood renewal strategies: document analysis and review. The report focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies underpinning local initiatives to overcome deprivation and identifies areas where local strategic partnerships may need support to develop renewal strategies. Contact ODPM on 020 7944 4400 (http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
Going for brokerage
Business in the Community recently published Brilliant Brokerage: Tips for Success, a book of tips and practical toolkits aimed at people who broker business community partnerships or people thinking of employing a business broker. The report:
l explains the role of a broker
l gives advice on a variety of issues, such as how to win business support
Social Enterprise in the Balance, a study carried out by the Charities Aid Foundation and Manchester University, claims that funders of and investors in social enterprises often have unrealistic expectations of risks and returns. The report says the sector must identify effective tools for measuring social and economic return, to ensure that the needs and demands of stakeholders are met. It calls for:
l greater clarity in the funding roles of different private, public and charitable funders
l dedicated funding mechanisms to support the development of funding strategies for the longer term
l appropriate targets and objectives should be mutually agreed by both the funders and the recipients.
Putting Down Roots in Market Towns, published on May 6 by The Countryside Agency, Business in the Community and Tesco looks at how businesses and communities can work together to build strong futures for the market towns in which they exist. The guide depicts why and how businesses can get involved with the local community, economy and environment and the mutual benefits that can result, including sourcing from local suppliers and donating employee time for volunteering. Contact Vanessa Strauss, BITC, on 020 7566 8762 (http://www.bitc.org.uk)
A growing field
More than one in twenty (6.6%) of the UK population is involved in some form of social entrepreneurial activity, while 0.7% of Britons manage a viable social enterprise according to a new report from the London Business School. The Social Entrepreneurship Monitor aims to highlight the difficulties that social enterprises have in getting funding from conventional finance sources. Published on March 24, the Barclays sponsored report identifies four types of social enterprise: those funded entirely by public sector grants, entirely by foundations, by a mix of sales and public funding, and those that survive purely on sales. The authors argue that the concentration of social enterprises in education, health and recreation means that they can benefit from growing public expenditure. Interestingly, the numbers involved in social enterprise in London and the South East are found to exceed traditional small business activity in these regions. Contact Andrew Routledge, London Business School, on 020 7699 4509 (http://www.london.edu)
National centre for skills
Sixteen experts from across sectors are set to be assembled by the UK government to help deliver a National Centre for Sustainable Community Skills. The centre, recommended by Sir John Egan in his report on the skills needed in regeneration, is due to open next year. The expert taskforce is believed to include IBM UK director of government business, Rebecca George. Contact ODPM on 020 7944 3049 (http://www.odpm.gov.uk)
The Community Development Finance Association launched the first annual report on the CDFI sector in the UK on May 7. Inside Out includes details of the locations, structure and major market of CDFIs.[i]Contact CDFA on 020 7430 0222 (http://www.cdfa.org.uk)
London-based companies are increasingly adopting socially responsible practices, but capital-wide policy initiatives have yet to systematically harness the private sector and so realise the full potential of organisational civic mindedness, a London Assembly report finds. Regeneration, Competitiveness and Sustainable Development was published in April. Contact Denise Malcolm, GLA, on 020 7983 4090 (http://www.london.gov.uk)
Bank of America’s Community Development Banking Group announced on May 6 that it is providing $16.5m to rehabilitate 181 units of affordable rental housing in Yonkers, New York. The housing will be reserved for families earning no more than two-thirds of the median income for the area. Contact Tara Burke, BoA, on 00 1 212 847 6488(http://www.bankofamerica.com)
The government has given the go-ahead for the growth of Urban Regeneration Companies beyond the initial target of 15. First announced in 2000, URCs are independent companies set up by local authorities and Regional Development Agencies to engage the private sector in sustainable regeneration.
The Social Enterprise Coalition in partnership with Natwest/RBS and the DTI’s Small Business Service is launching the National Social Enterprise Award on May 17.
A social enterprise that aims to improve the economic and environmental quality of underserved urban neighbourhoods through real estate development on urban brownfields was among the four winners of the fifth Globe Social Venture Competition. The event is supported by the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
Contact Chris Williams, GS, on 00 1 212 357 5296 (http://www.gs.com)
Editorial Comment
Inner city regeneration was arguably the cradle of the corporate community involvement movement in the UK, with the mass unemployment of the late 1970s and early 1980s acting as the midwife. Similar concerns about deprivation in the United States led to a mandatory approach, with financial services companies required through the Community Reinvestment Act to get engaged. In the UK, a voluntary approach is being followed, with much more mixed results. Business in the Community’s study of business brokers shows it can be done, and in market towns and rural areas too. But the government’s own review of local neighbourhood renewal strategies concluded that most say little about engaging business. This mirrors the wider difficulties that Local Strategic Partnerships have in achieving effective private sector involvement.Why is this? At a superficial level, the alphabet soup of constantly changing acronyms and initiatives doesn’t help. More fundamentally, many companies simply don’t know what they can practically do, beyond the occasional donation to a worthy project. At heart, deprived neighbourhoods will not be regenerated until the people living there get into productive economic activity. Hence the growing interest in social enterprise: involving individuals who would never see themselves as business men or women, putting existing social and subsidy-based activities on an economic footing, and ultimately keeping more wealth within the community. Big business can help in very practical ways. Sharing skills and mentoring is one way. Banks can offer finance, working through specialist CDFI intermediaries. All companies can look at their supply chains, as even a small service contract, say for cleaning or catering, can have a huge impact on a fledging social enterprise. As ever, the key to success is mainstreaming, not relying on charity.
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