150 young social entrepreneurs from 13 schools across the City of Glasgow came together to pitch their innovative ideas at the Glasgow Schools Social Enterprise Dragon’s Den last week. Established in partnership with Social Enterprise Academy, Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Social Enterprise Network, the event is part of the Social Enterprise in Education Programme […]
Can social enterprise still take the moral high ground? [Guest blog]
Jonathan Coburn from Social Value Lab reflects on the evidence arising from recent studies into social enterprise and socially responsible business behaviours in Scotland. Business, for better or worse No matter what your views on the ‘business’ community are, there’s certainly no way to ignore it. There are an estimated 361,345 private sector businesses operating […]
Support for Third Sector Procurement
In a month where there has been much discussion about tax avoidance by big companies, Christian Aid has started a campaign targeting local authorities to adopt policies that stop them from procuring or commissioning from companies that have aggressive tax avoidance measures in place – the campaign is actively trying to get public bodies to […]
A taste of Scotland for Asian and African delegation
CEIS was pleased to welcome over 50 delegates to Scotland from the UK, Asia and Africa as part of the British Council’s Business and Investment Readiness programme. The delegation convened in Scotland’s capital to provide an update on the progress within the social enterprises in Asia and Africa with the support of their appointed UK […]
Social Enterprise in 2016 – Ecosystem or Infrastructure? [Guest blog]
Rachael McCormack reflects on the social enterprise model as she departs Highlands and Islands Enterprises. What do you think of when you hear the word ecosystem? I’m taken back to Mr Bennett, my rather shy, rather nervous biology teacher who introduced me as a reluctant pupil to this term – and the words I still […]
Corporate Scotland is doing good – but still a long way to go!
Scottish businesses must be motivated by more than the financial bottom line if they are to help build a fairer and greener Scotland. That’s the conclusion of Better Business, a ground-breaking study published today (Tuesday 19 January) into responsible business practices in Scotland. The study, the first of its kind in Scotland, was conducted by […]
Community vision bears fruit for Lochside and Lincluden
Local people in the Lochside and Lincluden area of Dumfries have banded together with the support of CEIS and funding from the Big Lottery to realise a joint vision of regenerating the community. The ‘Our Place’ project began (see our last post – Our Place initiative gets off to a blooming start) with local volunteers […]
The Times They Are A-Changing…
Will ‘for-profit’ firms change social enterprise for better or worse? The Mile-High-City of Denver, Colorado has a rarified atmosphere and a reputation for doing things differently. Originally a mining outpost during the Colorado Gold Rush, it has always attracted pioneers, including social entrepreneurs. Denver’s SAME (So That All May Eat) Cafe with its ‘pay-what-you-can’ policy […]
Social enterprise takes centre stage in Scotland [interview with Gerry Higgins]
Social enterprise has a long and proud history in Scotland but the results of the country’s first comprehensive sector census (pdf) show that it is thriving today as never before. We asked Gerry Higgins, the CEO of Glasgow-based CEIS and a founder of the Social Enterprise World Forum, to draw on his 30 years of […]
Census reveals impact of Scots social enterprises
As public awareness of social enterprise increases, so do the questions about what it actually contributes to Scotland’s economy and society. What’s been missing, up until now, are hard statistics about social enterprise and the kind of robust economic data that demonstrates the practical impact of Scotland’s social enterprise businesses. We’ve now solved this issue […]