Create has today announced plans to unveil an innovative funding scheme, designed to encourage high net worth individuals to invest in social enterprises.
Create offers employment and training to hundreds of people in its corporate catering businesses across Leeds, Sunderland, Manchester and Doncaster, as well as in its flagship restaurant in Leeds. With plans to expand nationally, Create will introduce an investment vehicle to promote more sustainable investment from private investors.
Norman Pickavance, Chair of Create said:
“We’ve been waiting for the Government to launch an investment mechanism for Social Enterprise for two years, but we couldn’t wait any longer. There’s a real need for the work we do in helping people back to work. Create’s got a proven track record, but social enterprises like ours depend on private investment to survive and to continue supporting local people. We’d like to see business leaders using a percentage of their bonuses to invest back into their communities and hope this vehicle will catalyse this movement. I will be writing to the leaders of big businesses across the country to ask if we can contact their high net worth employees about the scheme.”
There are an estimated 62,000 Social Enterprises currently operating in UK. It is estimated they contribute nearly £25billion to the economy each year and employ around 800,000 people. It is hoped the investment scheme developed for Create will significantly contribute to the growth of this valuable sector.
Hazel Blears MP for Salford and Eccles and a supporter of Create said:
“The work that Create do to support the most vulnerable into work is invaluable in our communities. In the current economic climate a scheme to help bring investment into social enterprise organisations like Create is to be welcomed.”
Sarah Dunwell, Chief Executive at Create concluded:
“The trainees in our Employment Academy are looking for a hand up, not a hand out. Our food businesses have an excellent reputation and provide people with a wide range of entry level jobs, allowing them to train and work alongside expert staff and to feel proud again. We believe people are looking for an easy way to do good and an investment in Create will enable us to do this kind of good on a grand scale”
Create will be launching the investment opportunity this week to high net worth investors.
I don’t think there’s many places like Create in the country. Where people can come from all sorts of different backgrounds – homeless, unemployed, struggling domestically – and get completely retrained in three months and end up in the world of work pretty soon afterwards.
The award winning social enterprise Create was proud to open the doors of its newly refurbished café in the Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre on April 18th 2012.
