The term ‘social enterprise’ came about from the recognition that in the UK and across the world, there were organisations using the power of business to bring about social and environmental change without a single term to unite them.
Since the term started being more widely used in the mid 1990s, there has been a lot of discussion (and sometimes confusion) about what social enterprise is, and whether the social enterprise label could be ‘hijacked’ by businesses that aren’t social enterprises, but are keen to pretend they are.
These are valid concerns, and need proper consideration, but not at the risk of restricting the growing social enterprise movement in the UK and around the world, which has already achieved so much.
At Social Enterprise UK we feel we must be clear but pragmatic when it comes to defining social enterprise.
At a time when the spotlight is shining more brightly on social enterprise than ever and many are looking to it as the future for social change, those of us in the sector must protect our collective ‘brand’ and the values we stand for. That is not to say that we shouldn’t be open to new ideas and new models which may challenge our pre-conceptions, but align with our values.
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