A campaign to boost British businesses with a social mission has attracted major names, from banking to pharmaceuticals, but is far from its goal of channelling £1 billion (Dh4.51bn) into the sector by 2020, its founders said.
Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, consulting firm PwC and Santander bank have signed up to the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, launched in 2016 by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), which represents the growing sector.
About a dozen companies participating in the scheme have spent a total of £45 million over the past two years with organisations that aim to address social and environmental issues as well as making a profit, SEUK said.
"We need to recruit many, many, more companies to make the dream of a £1bn spend with the sector a reality," Peter Holbrook, SEUK's head told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Britain is seen as a global leader in the innovative social enterprise sector, with about 70,000 businesses that employ nearly 1 million people, according to SEUK.
One of the initiative's aims is to demonstrate that businesses in any sector can buy from social enterprises, going beyond traditional conceptions of corporate social responsibility to include them in core business spending.
The insurance company Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society (LV=) announced recently that it was joining SEUK's Buy Social Corporate Challenge.
As one of Britain's biggest insurers, it said it spends about £1bn pounds a year across its supply chain.
"If we can look to spend just some of that with social enterprises who are trying to make a difference and help others, then we absolutely should," the company said.
LV= is already buying from Glasgow-based WildHearts Office, which supplies paper, pens and pencils and uses its profits to fund microfinance schemes in developing countries.
"Through those microloans, it is typically women that set up a business and the funds are used to educate their kids," said LV='s head of procurement Karl Poulsen.
"As a business, it's costing us no more to do this. In fact it's a bit cheaper than our previous incumbent. Why wouldn't we want to do that?"
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SEUK's chairman, Victor Adebowale, said several other businesses had expressed interest in joining the campaign.
"What you've got to do is talk to the unconverted," he told participants at an event in parliament.
"If your story is good, why not tell it to someone that hasn't heard it yet? That's how we get to a billion."
In addition, SEUK is encouraging UK start-up social enterprises by removing the member fee for smaller social enterprises, enabling them to join the largest social enterprise network in the world.
With a boom of these new start-up social enterprises, an increasing consensus that mutual models can rebalance the UK economy and deliver inclusive growth, and the never-more urgent need of the social enterprise model across the world, SEUK said its new membership model, implemented last month, will strengthen the collective voice of the sector, build the research base and support a bigger mandate for social and economic change.
Now, membership for all social enterprises with a turnover of less than £100,000 is free.
SEUK will also be enhancing and consolidating its membership offer for larger social enterprises who will now benefit from more exclusive offers, more opportunities to contribute to policy and lobbying work, as well as more practical support.
“Today we’re calling on all social enterprises to join our movement. The country’s current economic model is broken but together we can use our collective voice and mandate to bring about the change that is so desperately needed," Mr Holbrook said in a statement on the group's website.
"Increasingly more and more people recognise that social enterprise must be the future of business, we are seeing more and more CICs, community businesses, mutuals and co-ops emerge. Our message is that together we are much more powerful than we can ever be alone – our country and our world is crying out for economic models that nourish and support our communities rather than extract wealth and exploit. We are building a powerful movement and we need more of you involved."
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
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Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
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Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
RESULTS
Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
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Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')
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Teaching in coronavirus times
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
