News & Events
Join the new BMKSEN forum - meet other like minded people interested in or even running successful Social Enterprises!
More details >>
Are you running a Social Enterprise? Thinking of setting one up? If you need commercial input and direction take advantage of FREE one to one advice and support! This is a special partnership between Business Link, Buckinghamshire Community Action and BMKSEN.
More details >>
A new report suggests Social Enterprises have an opportunity to bid for contracts worth up to half a billion pounds for the 2012 Olympics.
More details >>
Welcome to the Buckinghamshire
& Milton Keynes Social Enterprise Network
What is Social Enterprise?
Social Enterprise comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from the high profile ventures of the Big Issue and Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant to other smaller projects which simply benefit the local community.
Social Enterprises are business first and foremost but they trade with a social purpose – they put their social aims above the need to maximise profits and they employ ethical business practices. They benefit society by re-investing profits, supporting their aim of addressing specific social issues. A successful social enterprise will combine a public service ethos with the entrepreneurial drive of a business approach.
According to figures from the Small Business Services, there are at least 55,000 social enterprises operating in the UK, with a combined turnover of £27bn per year so they are a very important section of our economy.
In Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes there is evidence of many established social enterprises as well as a high number of social enterprises who are either unacknowledged or have the potential to work in more business like ways to achieve their social goals.
Contact us online to find out about BMKSEN and become a member.