Economy The recruitment squeeze ahead
NewsApril 2nd, 2024
With the right support, the social enterprise model can be a transformative solution to the challenges facing Wales, says Bethan Webber, Chief Exective Officer of Cwmpas.
As the challenges facing Wales grow, it becomes clearer than ever that we need to change the way we do business and be bold and transformative in the way we seek to develop our country. Rather than business that extracts money from our communities, we need to use our collective innovation to build community wealth, embed sustainability and develop an inclusive, re-balanced economy.
Social enterprise and its triple-bottom-line – prioritising people and planet to at least the same extent as profit – offers an economic model that can produce that change. It isn’t a new idea, and Wales already has a thriving and vibrant sector that is ready to step up and do even more, but we need to be radical and bold in our support for the sector to develop and maximise its impact.
Social entrepreneurs face two competing forces during times of economic uncertainty – although their services are needed more than ever, it becomes harder to do business.
Our biannual mapping of the sector gives a picture of its health. Our 2022 report found that the sector is going from strength to strength, with 2,828 businesses now operating in Wales, an increase of 22% since 2020 – showing a recovery from the stalled growth caused by the Covid-19 crisis. But we cannot be complacent – businesses highlighted the significant challenges that remain, in the shape of reduced public funding, inflation and rising energy prices.
What has stuck out to me, however, is the high optimism for the future within the sector. Businesses were broadly optimistic about their growth prospects over the next three years, with 69 percent of businesses expecting their turnover to increase – with many confident about their ability to diversify and develop new products and services.
This is what social entrepreneurs do. They see challenging times as opportunities to use innovation and creativity for the benefit of community, not just private profit.
Social enterprises are disproportionately found in regions that have been abandoned by others, creating jobs and opportunities where people need them most. We saw this during the Covid-19 crisis too – social enterprises diversified their services, finding innovative solutions to continue to provide their essential services during the most challenging period of people’s lives.
Cwmpas and partner organisations have formed the Social Enterprise Stakeholder Group to be strategic about the sector’s plan for the future. Our ambition is for social enterprise to be the business model of choice in Wales by 2030. This means new entrepreneurs picking this model for their business, the public sector prioritising social value in their procurement and development strategies, and we as the general public thinking more about the social impact of the money we spend. If we achieve this, we can transform our economy into one that prioritises its impact on communities and the environment and is more resilient in times of crisis and uncertainty.
In my first few weeks as CEO at Cwmpas, I have been inspired by the hardworking and innovative people I have met, both within our own team and in the wider social enterprise sector. Whether it’s our specialist advisors and their clients in Social Business Wales, the diverse range of people and their different experiences at one of our Hacks of Kindness™ or the social entrepreneurs working across so many different sectors, it is clear to me that Wales has the people and energy needed to transform our economy. Although we have many different challenges, I am confident that with the right support, investment and trust, the social enterprise model can be the bold and transformative solution to the challenges facing Wales.
