New businesses will benefit, says social enterprise support charity
A charity that supports start-up social enterprises is developing a system to help new businesses qualify for the social enterprise mark.
Social enterprise support organisation UnLtd said it was in talks with the Social Enterprise Mark Company, which manages the mark, to help new businesses take it up.
"At the moment, there are difficulties for new social enterprises," said Cliff Prior, chief executive of UnLtd. "The social enterprise mark requires proof of an asset lock and of social return, but demonstrating these is difficult for a new social enterprise."
He said new businesses were often most in need of recognition and needed a clear pathway to entry.
"The mark needs a clear entry route; it can't be a closed shop," he said. "We want to work with the mark company to develop that pathway so new social entrepreneurs know exactly what they have to do to achieve the mark."
A spokeswoman for the Social Enterprise Mark Company confirmed it was in discussion with Prior. The social enterprise mark was launched at the start of February by the Social Enterprise Coalition and Rise, the umbrella body for social enterprises in south-west England.
