Social Enterprise = Social Justice








By Grant Edgar

Social enterprise is primarily concerned with delivering a social objective. Social entrepreneurship is the innovative use of business practices for social improvement of underprivileged and marginalised groups. Differentiated from conventional businesses by their social mission, social enterprises in the UK tackle a wide range of pressing social and environmental issues. These types of businesses are in a unique position to tackle social problems as they differ from conventional businesses in that:

- 40% are led by women, compared to 17% SME’s and 5% of FTSE 100

- 35% of social enterprises have BAME directors, compared to 5% SMEs (SEUK).

- 88% of social enterprises actively minimise their environmental impact, with 75% considering that environmental impact outweighs cost, compared to 24% of SME’s.

- 73% work with disadvantaged individuals, with 28% operating in the most deprived communities in the UK.

- 85% recruit locally

(Figures provided by the State of Social Enterprise Report 2019)

Enactus encourages social entrepreneurship engagement with a global network of student social entrepreneurs spanning across 37 countries, consisting of over 1,730 university programmes and 72,000 students annually. Each student-led enterprise differs in their social mission, targeting social and environmental issues with sustainability at the core of the business.

Enactus enterprises are united in their intention for social improvement for disadvantaged groups, such as asylum seekers residing in the UK. Re-lingo, to “restart life with language”, is a project run by students at Enactus Middlesex, teaching English to asylum seekers in London to facilitate their integration into society; ‘Blossom’ empowers refugee women in Manchester to sell artisanal crafts online.

The ‘As Told by Them’ social enterprise consists of 4-week workshops run by students at Enactus LSE to increase the employability of homeless people, equipping them with IT, CV and interview skills, acting to break the homeless cycle comprising 400,000 people in the UK.

Other social enterprises are determined to tackle societal imbalances in elderly and disabled communities. Students at Enactus Hertfordshire developed Accessible Chair Yoga, aiming to improve quality of life through accessible Yoga sessions indiscriminate of age or ability. Similar sessions are run by the Motion team at Enactus Sheffield in care homes across Sheffield, improving physical and emotional wellbeing.



Social enterprises such as OnTarget aim to benefit younger communities, connecting with secondary school students through sport, one-to-one mentoring, and professional experience to tackle youth exclusion by boosting the prospects of at-risk secondary school students in Sheffield.

These social enterprise innovations, proactive in tackling environmental and social issues, demonstrate the capabilities of social enterprises in delivering positive change in countless communities across the UK.

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