How We Support Social Enterprises
We support social enterprises by providing resources, guidance, and a strong community for growth.
Driving Social Enterprise Forward
We provide tailored support and strategic services to strengthen and grow the social enterprise sector across the East of England. From working directly with communities and local authorities to managing funding programmes, we create the right conditions for social enterprises to thrive.
Our work spans hands-on project delivery, strategic consultancy, research, and policy influence. Whether you’re starting a new social enterprise, scaling an existing one, or shaping policy to support the sector, SEEE is here to help. We bring together expertise, partnerships, and practical tools to deliver real impact where it matters most.
How We Support Social Enterprises
We provide tailored support to help social enterprises thrive.
Our services encompass everything from strategic advice to capacity building, ensuring your mission is impactful and sustainable.
Consultancy
Unique consultancy powered by sector expertise, resources, and insights from SEEE.
Networking & Events
Where community comes alive and connections are formed - events are essential for bringing together the third sector.
Social Enterprise Hubs
A place where brilliant ideas and individual talents come together for the benefit of communities.
Social Enterprise Place
A network that is part of Social Enterprise UK - Social Enterprise Places are locations where there is a strong social enterprise economy.
Working With You.
Be Part of the Movement.
Work with us to amplify your social impact and drive meaningful change in our communities.
What Is Social Enterprise?
Social enterprises are businesses that trade with a clear social or environmental purpose at their core. They prioritise impact—reinforcing mission over profit—and reinvest most of their earnings back into community benefit.
Social Enterprise Definition
According to SEUK, a social enterprise must:
- Have a clear social/environmental mission embedded in governance.
- Operate independently from government, earning over half of its income through trading.
- Reinvest or donate at least half of its profits to that mission.
- Maintain transparency in both operations and impact.
Legal Structures
There’s no single legal model for social enterprise—they can take various forms, including:
- Community Interest Companies (CICs)
- Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs)
- Companies Limited by Shares (CLSs)
- Co-operatives
How they’re different
- Earn income through trading.
- Embed their social mission in governance documents.
- Reinvest surpluses to further impact.
- Often include an “asset lock” to prevent private gains.
- Are commonly community-owned.
- Provide jobs for those often excluded from mainstream labour markets.
The value they provide
These enterprises create jobs, stimulate local economies, and deliver public good; Especially for vulnerable communities.
In the UK, there are around 131,000 social enterprises, employing 2.3 million people, generating £78 billion in turnover, and reinvesting £1 billion in surpluses to drive their missions.
Learn more
Explore the State of Social Enterprise Report by SEUK—a comprehensive look at sector growth, challenges, and trends.
Social Enterprise FAQs
Learn a little bit more about social enterprise with some of the most frequently asked questions.
If we’ve missed something you want to know, please get in touch!
What are some examples of social enterprise?
Social enterprises come in all shapes and sizes. Just a few examples include:
From Babies with Love (Hertfordshire) – sell baby clothes and gifts. All profits go to orphaned and abandoned children across the world.
Community Dental Services (Bedfordshire) – referral only dental service for people who cannot be treated in general dental practice. The surplus they make is reinvested straight back into patient care, oral health improvement or into community projects.
Leading Lives (Suffolk) – an employee-owned enterprise providing social care support in the home and in the community. They reinvest back into services for their customers or in the local community through their Community Benefit Fund.
Are social enterprises nonprofit or not-for-profit?
Like any successful business, the aim is to create a profit through trading (selling products or services) to be self-sufficient. Where social enterprise differs is by committing to reinvesting the majority of profits into supporting the social purpose identified in their governing documents, rather than benefiting individuals or shareholders. In this way social enterprises are often referred to or refer to themselves as ‘not-for-profit’.
This is distinct from ‘nonprofit’ organisations which are often funded through charitable donations and are exempt from income tax, eg charities and charitable trusts.
Can charities be social enterprises?
Charities are nonprofit and must follow different financial regulations overseen by The Charity Commission. However, some charities set up social enterprises as a separate business through a trading arm, whose social purpose supports the work of the charity. For example, St Helena’s Hospice in Colchester is a registered charity. They also have two social enterprise activities, Total Clean in support of St Helena commercial cleaning business and St Helena Care & Support home care business. Income generated from these activities goes back into helping fund the hospice.
How are social enterprises funded?
Like any business it needs to trade by selling goods or services to make a profit to sustain its core social purpose. In a similar way to any business, it needs capital for the initial set up or to add investment at a later date in order to expand. In some circumstances, grants may be available, although this is becoming trickier to find and shouldn’t be relied upon as a sustainable way of funding a social enterprise activity. Social investment funding is growing in popularity. Similar to traditional business loans, they usually have more generous terms and conditions as well as extra business support to help social enterprise activities succeed in the long-term.
Can an existing business become a social enterprise?
Yes, businesses can and do transition into social enterprises. Researching and understanding what you want to achieve is crucial as well as getting good legal advice on the different types of structures available to choose from.